Millions of Americans are endangered by extreme heat due to federal policies that steer billions of dollars away from the nation’s hottest regions.
At least a dozen government agencies oversee programs that ignore or minimize the threat of extreme heat as rising temperatures shatter historical records across the U.S., an investigation by POLITICO’s E&E News found.
Disregard for the health dangers of heat is embedded in federal laws and regulations written decades ago, when home heating costs were soaring, air conditioning was rare and the risks of climate change were not widely understood.
The programs treat extreme heat as a discomfort rather than today’s deadliest weather events by denying millions of people federal aid to cool their homes and barring homeowners from using tax credits and government-backed mortgages to pay for window air conditioners.
