Extreme Heat
Extreme heat has rapidly become an enormous crisis with implications for myriad sectors of our society – leading states, counties, and cities around the country to experiment on the fly with policy interventions.
While state and local governments can make significant advances, national extreme heat resilience requires a “whole of government” federal approach, as it intersects infrastructure, energy, housing, health, food security, homeland and national security, international relations, and many more policy domains.
FAS is determined to find transformational policy opportunities to tackle the heat crisis, meeting with stakeholders across the public and private sectors, along with academic researchers and current and former government officials. This dedication to surfacing and developing solutions for combatting the effects of extreme heat is centered around communities and populations disproportionately affected by the problem.
The cost of inaction is not merely economic; it is measured in preventable illness, deaths and diminished livelihoods.
Through investments in infrastructure for heat safety, Congress can save lives, protect the economy, and enhance resilience nationwide.
The good news is that even when the mercury climbs, heat illness, injury, and death are preventable. The bad news is that over the past five months, the Trump administration has dismantled essential preventative capabilities.
The Federation of American Scientists supports H.Res. 446, which would recognize July 3rd through July 10th as “National Extreme Heat Awareness Week”.
The Federation of American Scientists supports H.R. 3738 of the 119th Congress, titled the “Heat Management Assistance Grant Act of 2025.”
To protect rural America, Congress must address extreme heat’s impacts by repairing rural health systems, strengthening the preparedness of rural businesses, and hardening rural energy infrastructure
The federal government needs to strengthen energy systems through investments in energy infrastructure across energy generation, transmission, and use.
The Federation of American Scientists supports The Heating and Cooling Relief Act of 2025. With summer right around the corner, it is more important than ever to ensure life-saving home cooling is affordable to all Americans.
The Cool Roof Product Rebate Act of 2025 would direct the Secretary of Energy to establish a federal rebate program for the purchase and installation of cool roofs. Cool roofs can help households lower energy costs, prevent the negative health impacts of high indoor temperatures, and improve community resiliency by reducing the strain on the grid.
Extreme heat is the leading weather-related cause of injury and death and innovations in the built environment can save money and lives.
S.325 would establish a clear, sustained federal governance structure for extreme heat by bringing all responsible agencies together to coordinate planning, preparedness, and response, a key recommendation of FAS’ 2025 Heat Policy Agenda.
Understanding and planning for the compound impacts of extreme heat and wildfire smoke will improve public health preparedness, mitigate public exposure to extreme heat and wildfire smoke, and minimize economic losses.
This strategy provides specific, actionable policy ideas to tackle the growing threat of extreme heat in the United States and was co-signed by more than 60 labor, industry, health, housing, environmental, academic and community associations and organizations.
Extreme heat has become a national economic crisis: lowering productivity, shrinking business revenue, destroying crops, and pushing power grids to the brink. The impacts of extreme heat cost our Nation an estimated $162 billion in 2024 – equivalent to nearly 1% of the U.S. GDP.
To address challenges posed by increased extreme heat, USAID should mobilize finance through environmental impact bonds focused on scaling extreme heat adaptation solutions.
FAS has been a leading voice for action on this topic, and has developed a compendium of 150+ heat-related federal policy recommendations.
As temperatures rise, so do energy bills. Energy justice should be a federal priority as the extreme heat crisis exposes energy security gaps.
OSHA’s proposed heat rule aims to protect approximately 36 million workers in indoor and outdoor settings from heat-related illnesses and fatalities. Its success hinges on substantial investments to bridge the gap between policy and practice.
As people wait for this catastrophic grid failure to be remedied, much of southeast Texas, which includes Houston, is enduring dangerous, extreme heat with no air conditioning amid an ongoing heatwave.
The federal government plays a critical role in scaling up heat resilience interventions through research and development, regulations, standards, guidance, funding sources, and other policy levers. But what are the transformational policy opportunities for action?
FAS and our partner organizations welcome the opportunity to meet with the Department of Education to discuss recommendations as we enter another season of unprecedented heat.
Comprehensive heat safety standards are essential to mitigate the impacts of climate change on farmworkers and ensure the sustainability and resilience of agricultural operations.
We’ve created a tool to monitor the progress of federal actions on extreme heat, enhance accountability, and to allow stakeholders to stay informed on the evolving state of U.S. climate-change resilience.
In the absence of a national strategy to address the compounding impacts of extreme heat, states, counties, and cities have had to take on the responsibility of addressing the reality of extreme heat in their communities with limited resources.
Through the broad uptake and implementation of the Heat Action Planning framework by key agencies and offices, the federal government will enable a more heat-prepared nation.
Global episodes of extreme heat intensify water shortages caused by extended drought and overpumping. Creating actionable solutions to the challenges of a warming planet requires cooperation across all water consumers.
To better incorporate extreme heat and people-centered disasters into U.S. emergency management, Congress and federal agencies should take several interrelated actions.
The undercounting of deaths related to extreme heat and other people-centered disasters — like extreme cold and smoke waves — hinders the political and public drive to address the problem.
The U.S. must urgently reform its disaster assistance policies to incorporate extreme heat through an amendment to the Stafford Act.
The incoming administration should undertake a multi-agency effort to further develop the science and quantify the benefits of urban forests today and into the future.