First White House Summit on Extreme Heat Asks for New Ideas

At the Sept. 13 White House Summit on Extreme Heat, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA) Doug Parker joined representatives from across the federal government to share how the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is taking action.

He shared updates on OSHA’s proposed rule to protect indoor and outdoor workers from heat hazards, noting that while heat can impact all workers, it disproportionately affects workers of color. 

This year, the U.S. experienced its fourth-hottest summer on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Globally, August 2024 was the warmest August in NOAA’s 175-year record.

In turn, at the summit, National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi announced a new Extreme Heat Call to Action, which calls upon state and local governments along with the private sector and nonprofit organizations to lead by example and use all of the tools at their disposal to protect people from extreme heat looking ahead to 2025.

The Call to Action invites interested organizations to submit a commitment to take action in advance of the 2025 heat season, including a wide range of approaches and tools which could be used to protect people and resources from extreme heat, such as actions highlighted in the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit and the National Heat Strategy. The White House will collect submissions for the Call to Action through Nov. 1.