Beating the Heat: A 2025 Heat Policy Agenda

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) and the Federation of American Scientists held a briefing about how federal policies can bolster resilience to extreme heat at the state and community level. Communities are experiencing hotter, more frequent, and more prolonged periods of record-breaking heat. Not only does extreme heat have immediate public health ramifications (heat-related deaths have more than doubled since 1999), it also exacerbates drought and wildfire risk, harms crops and livestock, and strains energy systems. Together, these impacts cost the United States an estimated $162 billion in 2024.  This briefing highlighted the Federation of American Scientists’ 2025 Heat Policy Agenda, which outlines policy considerations for Congress and the Administration to prevent infrastructure damage, economic impacts, and loss of life from heat. Speakers described opportunities to safeguard critical infrastructure such as our energy systems, improve productivity, and improve federal and subnational coordination on heat preparedness, management, and resilience.