Biden pushes plan to beat the heat

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Jul 02, 2024 View in browser   By Arianna Skibell President Joe Biden speaks during a visit to the D.C. Emergency Operations Center on Tuesday in Washington. | Evan Vucci/AP President Joe Biden has a new plan to keep people alive in blistering heat: Require water and rest breaks for some 36 million U.S. workers. The nation’s first federal safety standard would cost $7.5 billion — a fraction of the estimated $100 billion that heat exposure cost the U.S. economy in 2020. The proposed rule aims to reduce worker injuries and deaths from one of the most dangerous climate impacts. Heat kills more people every year than floods, hurricanes and tornadoes combined. But Biden’s proposal — which wouldn’t be implemented until 2026 — could be swiftly undone, writes Ariel Wittenberg. If former President Donald Trump wins November’s election, he could roll back not just the worker safety standards but also Biden’s broader plan to adapt to rising temperatures and climate-fueled disasters. That includes a new rule requiring the Federal Emergency Management Agency to factor in future flooding for any federally funded construction project. FEMA is also announcing nearly $1 billion in grants for over 650 projects to help communities protect against natural disasters, including extreme heat, storms and flooding, Biden said at a news conference today announcing his proposal. “Ignoring climate change is deadly and dangerous and irresponsible,” he said. The costs of extreme weather are only growing. Last year, the largest weather-related disasters cost over $90 billion in damage and drove nearly 2.5 million people out of their homes, according to federal figures. Temperatures this summer have already broken records in New England and elsewhere. Heat has caused emergency room visits to spike and killed a construction worker in Rhode Island who collapsed on the job last week. For decades, workers have called on the federal government to protect them as high temperatures killed an estimated 815 laborers between 1992 and 2017 and seriously injured some 70,000 more, according to federal estimates. The federal safety standard would require employers to offer safety measures such as providing water, a cool place to rest and 15-minute paid rest breaks on dangerously hot days. Employers would also be required to ease new workers into hot jobs to help their bodies adjust. Industry groups have already come out against the proposal, with the National Association of Manufacturers posting on social platform X that the proposal "adds to the regulatory onslaught facing manufacturers in America." The group called for “a heat standard that provides greater flexibility.”   It's Tuesday — 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.   THE GOLD STANDARD OF DEFENSE POLICY REPORTING & INTELLIGENCE: POLITICO has more than 500 journalists delivering unrivaled reporting and illuminating the policy and regulatory landscape for those who need to know what’s next. Throughout the election and the legislative and regulatory pushes that will follow, POLITICO Pro is indispensable to those who need to make informed decisions fast. The Pro platform dives deeper into critical and quickly evolving sectors and industries, like defense, equipping policymakers and those who shape legislation and regulation with essential news and intelligence from the world’s best politics and policy journalists. Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced, and better sourced than any other. Our defense reporting team—including Lara Seligman, Joe Gould, Paul McCleary, Connor O’Brien and Lee Hudson—is embedded with the market-moving legislative committees and agencies in Washington and across states, delivering unparalleled coverage of defense policy and the defense industry. We bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY.     Power Centers Former U.S. President Donald Trump at a campaign rally on Nov. 2, 2023, in Houston. | Brandon Bell/Getty Images Trump energy allies see ‘massive momentum’ Trump's allies in the energy and environmental policy world were buoyed by a series of events this past week they say can only help Trump's reelection bid, writes Robin Bravender. Following the presidential debate that prompted heartburn among Democrats, the Trump-stacked Supreme Court obliterated the Chevron legal doctrine that’s long been reviled by conservatives. And a pair of high court rulings Monday on presidential immunity and on legal challenges to regulations handed more victories to Trump and his Republican and industry allies. Judge blocks Biden’s LNG export pause A federal judge put the Energy Department’s pause on natural gas export permits on hold, dealing another legal blow to the Biden administration’s climate agenda, writes James Bikales. In January, the administration halted reviews of new LNG export applications to non-free-trade-agreement countries, saying it needed to review how to account for climate risks of projects before approving exports, writes Niina H. Farah. Climate deadlines pass on by Only four of the 27 European Union countries met a Sunday deadline to submit their blueprints for slashing planet-warming pollution by 2030, writes Zia Weise. A fifth county filed a day late. Most EU countries were already late last year in submitting drafts of their climate plans. And when the documents did finally trickle in, the EU executive said the pledges showed the bloc wouldn’t hit its 2030 goal to slash at least 55 percent of its emissions compared with 1990 levels. In Other News Electric future: Tesla deliveries slumped, but not as much as feared. Dirty truth: How bad will hurricanes get? Scientists look for answers in mud. Subscriber Zone A showcase of some of our best subscriber content. Traffic moves along the 110 Freeway in Los Angeles on Nov. 22, 2022. | Jae C. Hong/AP Fossil fuel interests want the Supreme Court to review California's authority to set stricter emissions standards for cars and trucks than the federal government. In a post-Chevron world, FERC Chair Willie Phillips said he's confident the commission’s rule to update the nation's electric grid can survive challenges based on its merits The Interior Department announced the approval of commercial-scale offshore wind development off the coast of New Jersey, the ninth offshore wind power project to advance under Biden. That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.   SUBSCRIBE TO GLOBAL PLAYBOOK: Don’t miss out on POLITICO’s Global Playbook, our newsletter taking you inside pivotal discussions at the most influential gatherings in the world. Suzanne Lynch delivers the world's elite and influential moments directly to you. Stay in the global loop. SUBSCRIBE NOW.       Follow us on Twitter Arianna Skibell @ariannaskibell   Follow us

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