Record heat has governments sweating

Your guide to the political forces shaping the energy transformation

Jul 21, 2023 View in browser   By Corbin Hiar A volunteer hands out water as temperatures soared to 119 degrees in Phoenix on Thursday. | Ross D. Franklin/AP Photo 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.   It's been a week — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Corbin Hiar. Arianna will be back soon! Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to chiar@eenews.net. Listen to today’s POLITICO Energy podcast Today in POLITICO Energy’s podcast: POLITICO EU's Federica Di Sario digs into the oversight problems, dodgy accounting and scandals imperiling the carbon offset market. Power Centers A satellite captures the Railroad Valley, a dry lakebed in Nevada that NASA uses to conduct ground-based calibration of Earth-observing satellite instruments. | NASA/AP Photo Biden backs satellites The Bureau of Land Management won't allow development of nearly 23,000 acres of lithium-rich Nevada lands because of their importance for NASA satellite calibration, Rebekah Alvey reports. Opponents argue the Biden administration's lease withdrawal will complicate a major mining project that could boost the United States' electric vehicle supply chain and local economies. Ford in focus Two House GOP committee chairs are launching a probe into Ford Motor Co.'s agreement with a Chinese battery company for a planned $3.5 billion plant in Michigan, Kelsey Tamborrino reports. The inquiry comes amid bipartisan concerns on Capitol Hill about China's control over green technologies that the U.S. will need to transition away from fossil fuels. Trump targets EVs Former President Donald Trump promised to roll back the Biden administration's electric vehicle policies on his first day in office, Timothy Cama reports. The remarks were the latest effort by Trump to turn President Joe Biden's clean-energy policies into a liability among the Rust Belt voters who could hold the key to the White House.   HITTING YOUR INBOX AUGUST 14—CALIFORNIA CLIMATE: Climate change isn’t just about the weather. It's also about how we do business and create new policies, especially in California. So we have something cool for you: A brand-new California Climate newsletter. It's not just climate or science chat, it's your daily cheat sheet to understanding how the legislative landscape around climate change is shaking up industries across the Golden State. Cut through the jargon and get the latest developments in California as lawmakers and industry leaders adapt to the changing climate. Subscribe now to California Climate to keep up with the changes.     In Other News Changing business climate: Industries including construction, manufacturing, agriculture, transport and insurance are all bracing for changes to the way they do business as high-temperature days become more routine because of climate change. Final interview: Hours after speaking to a Los Angeles Times reporter in Death Valley National Park, a 71-year-old man collapsed and died of what officials believe were heat-related causes. Subscriber Zone A showcase of some of our best subscriber content. President Joe Biden speaks about artificial intelligence at the White House on Friday. With him are (from left) Adam Selipsky, CEO of Amazon Web Services; Greg Brockman, president of OpenAI; Nick Clegg, president of global affairs at Meta; and Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Inflection AI. | Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo Big technology companies agreed to use artificial intelligence to address climate change and promised to ensure their products are safe before introducing them to the public. Nevada's largest electric utility aims to shutter its last coal plant by 2025 and develop gas-fired generation to replace it. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg talked about carbon pipelines, EV charging connectors, railway safety and high-speed rail projects during an interview. That's it for today, folks. Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend!   JOIN 7/26 FOR A TALK ON THE NEW ENERGY ECONOMY: Join POLITICO's lively discussion, "Powering a Clean Energy Economy," on July 26 to explore the effectiveness of consumer-targeted policies to boost sustainability and create clean energy jobs. How are the Inflation Reduction Act's provisions faring? Which strategies truly sway consumer behavior? Hear from featured speaker, Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), among other experts. Don't miss this insightful event — register today and be part of the conversation driving America's clean energy future! REGISTER NOW.       Follow us on Twitter Arianna Skibell @ariannaskibell   Follow us

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