Extreme Heat Costs State Budgets

What is happening? According to the  Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center the cost of extreme heat is $100 billion annually for the U.S. Highest losses are in Texas, Mississippi and Alabama.

Why is this important? Texas is expected to make up 1/3 of this cost as $30 billion is the estimated cost of outdoor work during extreme heat.

How will this be important? This hits construction workers and farm workers. Farmworkers are 35 times more likely to be killed by heat. Let’s not forget in Austin, TX a restaurant closed for the summer because the A/C couldn’t keep the kitchen cool enough for workers to work.

Route Fifty | The Rising Costs of Extreme Heat