To spur demand and send a strong signal for beneficial private sector innovation and scale, the federal government can lead by example to drive the market for products and services that build heat resilience.
Better data on working AC infrastructure in American homes would improve how the federal government and its state and local partners target local social services and interventions during extreme heat events.
The White House Climate Policy Office should establish a National Moonshot to Combat Extreme Heat, an all-of-government program to accelerate federal efforts to reduce heat risk.
Without a federal heat stress standard, there is no way to ensure the adoption of heat stress prevention strategies to protect vulnerable workers.
It is imperative for local government officials and city planners to understand who is most vulnerable to the impacts of extreme heat and how temperatures vary throughout a city to develop effective heat mitigation and response strategies.
The federal government needs to shift as much of its infrastructure investments as possible away from dark and impervious surfaces and toward cool and pervious “smart surfaces.”
Extreme heat kills more people on average every year than any other extreme weather event. A major operational barrier to extreme heat response planning is a lack of data-driven decision-making resources, such as impact-based forecasts.
Establishing an NIH Office of Infection-Associated Chronic Illness Research can guard against the long-term effects of Covid and lead to novel breakthroughs across many less understood diseases.
A supply-side tax credit (STC) could offer a tax incentive to material suppliers and professional service consultants that provide goods or services to affordable housing projects.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Department of Commerce, and Department of Transportation should jointly develop and manage a data resource—a Housing Production Dashboard—to track housing production within and across states.
Exempting affordable housing from volume caps would address the underlying issue and have the greatest impact in this housing emergency.
The U.S. should establish a national housing loss rate to stand alongside the national unemployment rate as a key indicator of social and economic well-being.