Watch Video of Senator Rosen’s Remarks Here
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV), a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, spoke in favor of the Preventing Health Emergencies and Temperature-related (HEAT) Illness and Deaths Act, legislation she co-sponsored, as it advanced out of committee.
“Extreme heat events have caused hundreds of deaths and devastated communities across the country; especially in Nevada. Reno and Las Vegas are two of the fastest-warming cities in the country, and we have seen significant public health effects related to the increase in temperature,” dijo el Senador Rosen. “I’m glad to see this bill move forward. It will strengthen and expand interagency efforts to address extreme heat, provide financial assistance to communities for projects that would help reduce extreme heat exposure, and offer recommendations for federal action on heat-health-related issues.”
los Preventing HEAT Illness and Deaths Act would:
- Establish the National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) Interagency Committee and enhance interagency efforts to address extreme heat;
- Require the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine to conduct a study on extreme heat and issue recommendations for policy, research, operations, communications, and data gaps affecting heat-health planning, preparedness, response, resilience, adaptation, and impacts to vulnerable populations; and
- Establish a $7.5 million financial assistance program to provide federal funding to community projects that reduce the health impact of extreme heat events, prioritizing projects in historically disadvantaged communities
This legislation is endorsed by the Union of Concerned Scientists, Sierra Club, League of Conservation Voters, Natural Resources Defense Council, Physicians for Social Responsibility, American Public Health Association, Climate Psychiatry Alliance, Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, and Climate for Health.
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