Biden launches plan to address ‘silent killer,’ extreme heat

By MATTHEW DALY
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is moving to protect workers and communities from extreme heat. The initiative comes after a dangerously hot summer that spurred an onslaught of drought-worsened wildfires and caused hundreds of deaths from the Pacific Northwest to hurricane-ravaged Louisiana. Under a plan to be announced Monday, the Labor Department and other federal agencies are launching actions intended to reduce heat-related illness and protect public health. White House climate adviser Gina McCarthy calls heat stress a “silent killer” that disproportionately affects the poor, elderly and minority groups.