This summer's unprecedented, unrelenting heat waves are posing major challenges for policymakers from Sacramento, Calif., to Capitol Hill — and they're only a preview of the warming to come. The extreme heat blanketing Phoenix — with daily highs topping 110 degrees Fahrenheit for a record 21 days and counting — is now expected to continue into August. Meanwhile, cities in California, Nevada, Texas and Florida are forecast to top high-temperature records in the coming days, with triple-digit heat potentially extending as far north as the Canadian border. That means government leaders need to deal with the immediate heat emergency while also preparing for even more scorching summers to come as the burning of fossil fuels continues to dangerously overheat the planet, Daniel Cusick reports. In the short term, state and local leaders can open cooling centers and extend the hours of public pools. Grid operators and their regulators can also work together to ensure enough power flows to meet peak air conditioning demand. But experts say longer-term investments are needed, too. Home upgrades, tree planting and restoration of natural landscapes that help cool the Earth are critical, Daniel reported. In urban areas, for example, state and local officials can use lighter colors on roads and roofs to reflect the sun. Other options include developing heat plans and appointing heat officers to steer policy and oversee emergency response. Phoenix, Florida’s Miami-Dade County and other metro areas have taken those planning steps. Other warm-weather cities — from Houston to Las Vegas to Washington, D.C. — have not, leaving emergency responders with few additional resources to handle heat-related crises. "We have to help communities get prepared for what’s coming because it’s only going to get hotter and more dangerous," said Kurt Shickman, director of the extreme heat program at the Atlantic Council. A role for Congress? Extreme heat already kills over 700 people in the United States annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s much higher on average than any other type of disaster, including hurricanes, floods and wildfires. But technically speaking, the Federal Emergency Management Agency doesn't consider heat waves to be major disasters, Rebekah Alvey reports. That means city, state and tribal governments are effectively on their own when temperatures soar and demand for cooling services spikes. Bipartisan legislation from Reps. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas) and Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) aims to change that, opening the door to federal aid for such incidents. Yet the "Extreme Heat Emergency Act" and other bills intended to address heat and other climate impacts have gotten a frosty reception from Republicans, some of whom continue to reject the scientific consensus that human activity is driving climate change. "Climates adjust over time, but we're going to say that man did it now? Nope, not there," Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) told E&E News.
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