Arizona’s Health Department Adds Chief Heat Officer

From EcoWatch

Quotes:

• Following the hottest year on record, complete with a megadrought in Arizona that led to construction restrictions to reserve groundwater around Phoenix, Arizona has added a new chief heat officer to its Department of Health Services.
  • Although Phoenix has its own heat officer, Arizona is the first state to bring on a statewide official dedicated specifically to preparing the public for the effects of extreme heat.
• For the long-term, the plan outlined several goals for heat preparedness, including growing the workforce specialized in weatherization and energy efficiency, improving heat mitigation design in affordable housing, creating statewide heat-informed community lifelines, building neighborhood Resilience Hubs that offer community support and double as cooling centers, and growing the clean energy economy, among other efforts.

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Read the full post at EcoWatch.