The deadly toll of the ‘summer of heat’

Your guide to the political forces shaping the energy transformation

Aug 17, 2023 View in browser   By Arianna Skibell A Travis County medic assists a patient in an ambulance Aug. 8 in Austin, Texas. | Brandon Bell/Getty Images Human-caused climate change is fueling the hottest summer in recorded history, sending thousands of people to emergency rooms for dehydration, heatstroke — and burns from touching hot pavement. Even in regions where high temperatures are nothing new, people were unprepared for the deadly nature of this summer, Ariel Wittenberg writes in a deeply reported story on the rising toll. Take Ramona and Monway Ison, a retired couple on a fixed income in Baytown, Texas, whose air conditioner broke in June. It took three days for Ramona Ison to secure a $1,600 loan from a credit union to hire a repair technician. The money came too late. The couple were found dead, along with their terrier, Belle, just days into what has since become a two-month-long heat wave in the Southwest with few signs of relief. Global warming — largely driven by burning fossil fuels for power — is colliding with the Pacific weather pattern El Niño to fuel dangerous heat waves in North America and across the world this summer. The Pacific Northwest is the latest region in the country to bake. The deadly combination of heat and humidity that blanketed the southern United States starting in June has sent people to emergency rooms across the region at higher rates than in previous years. In Phoenix, doctors are treating heatstroke by dunking patients in body bags full of ice. When heat and humidity are too high, the human body stops being able to cool itself, which can prove deadly, especially for the elderly or those with underlying medical conditions. The week after Monway and Ramona Ison died, emergency rooms in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas logged 847 heat-related illnesses per 100,000 emergency department visits, according to data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. During the same week a year ago, ERs recorded 639 heat-related illnesses. The year before, the figure was 328, Ariel writes. That kind of strain on hospitals and health clinics has public health officials worried that cities simply aren’t prepared to handle the heat. Experts say the death toll is likely to reach into the thousands by summer’s end.   It's Thursday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Arianna Skibell. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to askibell@eenews.net. And folks, let's keep it classy.   GROWING IN THE GOLDEN STATE: POLITICO California is growing, reinforcing our role as the indispensable insider source for reporting on politics, policy and power. From the corridors of power in Sacramento and Los Angeles to the players and innovation hubs in Silicon Valley, we're your go-to for navigating the political landscape across the state. Exclusive scoops, essential daily newsletters, unmatched policy reporting and insights — POLITICO California is your key to unlocking Golden State politics. LEARN MORE.     Listen to today’s POLITICO Energy podcast Today in POLITICO Energy’s podcast: Hailey Fuchs breaks down how Louis DeJoy, who leads the United States Postal Service, has transitioned from one of Democrats’ biggest enemies during the Trump administration to a key player in President Joe Biden’s environmental agenda. Power Centers POLITICO illustration/Photos by iStock Inside the nation's leading green groups Robin Bravender reviewed workplace satisfaction ratings for 29 major national environmental and conservation groups. Such organizations are often instrumental in swaying federal and state policies on everything from climate change to land conservation. Earthjustice and the Nature Conservancy are among the top rated workplaces. Employees had fewer nice things to say about Defenders of Wildlife and Environment America, among others. Central Valley climate reckoning One of California’s thirstiest and Trumpiest water districts is going through a political transformation, writes Ry Rivard. After years of aggressively fighting for more water, Westlands Water District, which occupies some 1,100 square miles of the arid San Joaquin Valley, is planning to cover a sixth of the district with solar panels to start “farming the sun” instead of thirsty crops like almonds and pistachios. Devil in the oil well details As the Interior Department works to distribute $4.7 billion from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law to plug abandoned oil wells, the agency is running into a problem: definitions, writes Shelby Webb. The infrastructure law prevents Interior from mandating how states define a well as "orphaned." This means some won’t be eligible for funding because states have reclassified them — creating the potential for an uneven distribution of funds. In Other News Wildfires: Canada’s raging fires have burned the equivalent of Alabama. Impacts: A new study found that hurricane-related deaths have been significantly under counted, especially in the poor and vulnerable communities.   SUBSCRIBE TO 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. Subscribe now to California Climate to keep up with the changes.     Subscriber Zone A showcase of some of our best subscriber content. President Joe Biden greeted Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) during a celebration at the White House last year for the Inflation Reduction Act. | Francis Chung/POLITICO Top officials within EPA were ecstatic to the point of blurting out expletives last year as Biden's trademark climate law push was resurrected after a change of heart by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). The landmark court ruling Monday finding that Montana is violating kids’ right to a clean climate could pave the way for the state to reshape its historically coal-heavy electricity mix. Top lawmakers in Congress are aiming to permanently incorporate nearly $20 billion in new climate-related agriculture funds into the farm bill, which is revised every five years. That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.   Follow us on Twitter Arianna Skibell @ariannaskibell   Follow us

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