Mayor Gallego Joins Biden at the White House Announcing New Ways to Combat Extreme Heat

Climate Change is an existential threat to the nation and the world.

Those were sentiments of President Joe Biden who was joined by Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg at a virtual White House Event announcing additional steps the Administration was taking to combat extreme heat this summer and in the future.

Before the event, Mayor Gallego issued a statement, relaying:

“Heat is a regular part of Arizona summers, but the past month’s heat wave is a prime example of how climate change is making our heat more intense, both in Phoenix and across the country. I am looking forward to continued partnership with the Biden Administration to confront this phenomenon head on, and hope to see even more dedicated resources down the line.”

President Biden Justifies the Need for More Steps in Combatting Extreme Heat.

In his opening comments, the President, saying, “I don’t think anyone can honestly deny that climate change is a serious problem… or deny the serious impact it is having on Americans,” told the audience several reasons why it was necessary to take additional steps to combat the extreme heat that has plagued parts of the nation and the planet. These include:

• The need to protect communities from the extreme heat that is affecting over 100 million Americans.
• Historic floods in California and Vermont.
• The growth of more intense droughts and hurricanes.
• Wildfires spreading over thousands of miles disrupting air quality. 
• Record heat indexes in Puerto Rico (125) and San Antonino (117.)
• Phoenix has 110-degree temperatures for 27 straight days. Mr. Biden also relayed the account of a woman in Phoenix who fell out of her wheelchair for five minutes and suffered third-degree burns.
• Ocean temperatures Miami hot tub just hit 100 degrees

Noting that the number one weather-related killer is heat where “600 people die a year more than floods, tornadoes, and hurricanes combined,” the President reminded the people that “extreme heat costs us 100 billion a year and affects our most vulnerable the hardest: seniors, people experiencing homelessness, disadvantaged communities…and it is threatening farms, fisheries, and forests that so many families depend on to make a living.”

Mr. Biden also outlined the steps his Administration has taken to combat extreme heat and climate change including provisions in the:

• American Rescue Plan that promoted energy efficiency, prevented forest fires, and opened cooling centers.
• The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that upgraded the Electric Grid.
• The Inflation Reduction Act which represented the most significant climate investment anywhere in the world. 

The President finished this part of his comments by asking people to click on Heat.gov if they need to access or share life-saving information related to the extreme heat.

The Steps the President Outlined Today.

After noting that last year, The Department of Labor created the first National Program to protect workers from heat stress that has resulted in 2,600 heat inspections at workplaces nationwide to protect the health and safety of the workers, President Biden outlined several additional steps the Administration would take to combat extreme heat.

These include:

• Asking the Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su to issue a heat hazard alert: workers have federal heat-related protections and safeguarding them from hazardous conditions. Furthermore, inspections in high-risk industries like construction and agriculture would be intensified.
• One billion dollars in grants to help cities and towns plant trees from the Forest Services that will help repel the heat and expand access to green spaces.
• More investments from HUD To make buildings more heat resistant and energy efficient and also opening additional cooling centers.
• The Department of Interior spending $152 million in expanding water storage capacity to deal with the impacts of future droughts. 
• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in partnership with universities and local communities, investing seven million dollars to improve weather forecasts. 

Some of these steps are similar to a few actions Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs has taken in the last week at the state level.

In his closing comments before asking for the Mayor’s local input, the President touted the Biden/Harris Adminstration’s record $50 billion investment in climate resiliency.

He also warned that “our MAGA Extremists in Congress are trying to undo all this progress. Not a single Republican voted for the Inflation Reduction Act that…provides all this money to combat climate change. Now many of them are trying to repeal those provisions. We’re not going to let that happen.”

He closed his initial remarks by saying, “Help is here and we’re going to make it available to those who need it. Follow guidance from local leaders and public safety experts.”

Mayor Gallego offers the Perspective from Phoenix.

Calling local leaders “key” to combatting the climate crisis and extreme heat, the President asked Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego her perspective on the situation from the fifth largest city in the country.

Calling building climate resiliency something “dear to my heart,” the Mayor thanked the Administration for their leadership on climate change especially Inflation Reduction Act, calling it the “most important (climate legislation) in a generation.”

Calling the record temperatures this summer “unprecedented” that is “taking a real toll on our community,” the Mayor stated that Phoenix is “very much on the frontlines of climate change…working to out-innovate climate change.”

Saying we need a “whole of government approach,” she noted that Phoenix was the first in the country to have an office of heat mitigation. She also saluted staff and volunteers that were working hard to “keep citizens safe” on “heat safety, park trail closures, and responses to help our most vulnerable.”

In efforts to ensure people “remain inside as much as possible,” Mayor Gallego said that the city and county were providing cooling units, and respite centers, and encouraging hydration at water centers.”

She also praised Federal assistance programs from the Biden/Harris Programs that have spurred record investments in solar energy as well as making people’s lives “more comfortable,” assisting them in paying their electric bills and renovating and building homes that are more energy efficient. 

She said that they will apply for some of the one-billion-dollar Forest Service Grant to plant trees. Mayor Gallego and other local leaders like Mayor Regina Romero in Tucson have already launched one million tree-planting initiatives.

Noting that they deal with extreme heat and its effects including death every year, the Mayor repeated her call for Congress to give the President the ability to have FEMA declare heat a disaster emergency which would give additional aid and save lives. 

“There are a lot of great tools… and appreciate the partnership…We’re looking forward to working with you to become even more effective.”

When the President asked the Mayor to describe the City Office of Heat Response Mitigation has helped with the outreach efforts she, city staff, and volunteers were undertaking to make sure people know what to do during these high temperatures, Ms. Gallego responded:

“We’re getting better every year and we learn every year. We’re trying to get out and share maps of where all the cooling centers are. To deliver cooling kits…We have a formal program called Cool Collars at the City of Phoenix where you can register your family members or if you know you might need a check during the heat of the summer. We would love for more people to sign up and be checked on. The volunteers have been amazing. We’ve had thousands of engagements and that permanent office has given us a place for people to go, both with ideas and when they want to volunteer. We’ve been able to use your federal programs, including trying to find new ways to build housing indoors so that our construction workers are safer. We appreciate the partnership that’s made our heat office more effective.”

(UPDATE) Later, on social media, the Mayor posted:

We are committed to finding new and innovative solutions to get our unsheltered neighbors housed. X-Wing shipping container units — one of which we deployed today — will do just that by offering a quick, modern way to get folks inside safely and on a path to permanent housing. pic.twitter.com/7PCJllr7B8

— Mayor Kate Gallego (@MayorGallego) July 27, 2023

On Facebook, she posted:

“Today, I joined President Joe Biden to discuss the extreme heat affecting our region and how we are responding locally.

With the unprecedented heat waves we’re seeing across the country, the need for a coordinated, whole-of-government approach has never been more apparent.

Federal support has been crucial for us during Phoenix summers, and additional resources would enable us to save more lives and keep developing short and long-term solutions.

That’s why I reiterated the need for extreme heat to be added to FEMA’s declared disasters list.”

Please click here to read how Mayor Gallego, Mayor Romero, Governor Hobbs, and other Arizona leaders have worked hard and taken steps to combat extreme heat, tackle the climate crisis, and build a more resilient and clean energy/green sustainable future for the Grand Canyon State.