More than 110 congressional Democrats on Monday implored President Joe Biden’s administration to immediately enact a federal standard to protect workers from extreme heat.
The demand for executive action comes amid weeks of record-busting high temperatures propelled by the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency, which continues to intensify as the U.S. and other rich nations fail to adequately slash greenhouse gas pollution. It was led by Rep. Greg Casar (Texas), who says a new Republican-authored Texas law preempting local governments from implementing many progressive policies, including measures to safeguard workers, has made the need for federal intervention indisputable.
“Protection from extreme heat is a matter of life and death for many workers and their families across the United States,” says a letter the lawmakers sent to Julie Su, acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), and Douglas Parker, the DOL’s assistant secretary for occupational safety and health.
The letter calls for “the fastest possible implementation of an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) workplace heat standard to ensure that millions of people can go to work with greater confidence that they will return to their families alive and uninjured.”