“It’s no accident that communities experiencing the worst of these causes are the same ones that have been on the frontlines of historic injustices.”

“Environmental justice and health equity go hand in hand.”

Video (YouTube)

WASHINGTON – In a House Committee on Oversight and Accountability hearing, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) underscored the impact of urban heat islands – neighborhoods with higher temperatures compared to their surrounding areas – on the health of predominately low-income neighborhoods with higher populations of people of color.

Rep. Pressley specifically cited the impact of urban heat islands on communities like Chelsea and Boston in the Massachusetts 7th and praised the Environmental Protection Agency’s work to promote environmental justice under the Biden-Harris Administration. 

A transcript of Rep. Pressley’s line of questioning is available below and the full video is available here.

Transcript: In Hearing, Pressley Underscores Impact of Urban Heat Islands on Lower-Income Communities

House Committee on Oversight and Accountability

July 10, 2024

REP. PRESSLEY: Thank you, Administrator Regan.

You know the kids say, “it’s 7pm on Friday, 95 degrees,” and that’s because the climate crisis is real and it is here.

Climate change isn’t an abstract problem for people of a faraway future to solve.

No one knows that better than our youth.

And I know you agree because under your leadership, EPA created the first-of-its-kind National Environmental Youth Advisory Council. And I am proud that Osasenaga Idahor, one of my constituents from Hyde Park, is a member.

Voices like his are essential to addressing this crisis. So when my colleagues across the aisle use platforms like this hearing to pretend that climate change is some hoax, I can’t help but think about the stories I hear from our youth when I’m back home.

Administrator Regan, are you familiar with urban heat islands?

ADMINISTRATOR REGAN: Yes, I am.

REP. PRESSLEY: EPA reviewed several studies and found that some communities in the United States, particularly those that are low-income and with higher populations of people of color, have neighborhoods with higher temperatures compared to their surrounding areas.

Take for example the district I represent, the Massachusetts 7th, where my constituents have been under constant heat advisories and feeling the consequences of urban heat islands on a daily basis this summer.

The City of Chelsea, a predominantly Hispanic community in my district, can be 10 to 15 degrees hotter than neighboring communities in the Boston area on a given day.

Administrator Regan, what are some of the primary causes of urban heat islands?

ADMINISTRATOR REGAN: Well, as we see a change in climate and intensity and heat, obviously, when you lack natural spaces, natural resources, trees, grass and the like, that heat just concentrates in the concrete and in the buildings.

You also typically have these urban areas that may or may not be blocked by down winds because of a mountain.

And so, in these isolated areas, all you have is a concentration of heat, disproportionately impacting people who are already suffering, and you’re exacerbating respiratory illnesses, asthma and other illnesses.

And so, we’ve been working hard, especially thanks to your leadership and the President’s leadership when you look in the Inflation Reduction Act, that provides grant resources for cooling centers for safe havens for our elderly or for our children to go to if they’re living in some of these urban areas.

It’s 10 to 15 degrees more in your state is 10 to 15 degrees more in Atlanta. We’ve got these situations going on all across the country, and unfortunately, those who can afford it the most are getting hit the hardest.

REP. PRESSLEY: Yeah, and I’ll just add that’s exactly why we knew anecdotally what communities would be hardest hit during the pandemic. It was a perfect overlay of heat maps with those communities that had the highest rate of COVID infections, hospitalizations, and fatalities.

It’s no accident that communities experiencing the worst of these causes are the same ones that have been on the frontlines of historic inequities.

Racist policies like redlining, where lenders would literally draw a red line around neighborhoods to deny services like mortgages and loans to Black and brown folks wanting to move in, have made it more likely for communities of color to be situated in formerly industrial areas that have more heat-trapping concrete and less tree cover.

At the same time, folks living in these neighborhoods are also more likely to struggle with asthma, cardiovascular diseases, and other complex medical conditions that turn more deadly in the heat.

In 2023 alone, we saw a record 2,300 people died due to excess heat, a figure that is considered an undercount by experts.

So yes, environmental justice and health equity go hand in hand.

The Biden-Harris Administration has recognized this by delivering $2 billion in funding to climate justice community change grants.

Administrator Regan, how will these new grants help communities like those that I represent in the Massachusetts 7th address the health risks associated with heat islands?

ADMINSTRATOR REGAN: There are significant opportunities, and the good part about it is that these solutions don’t have to come top-down. They’re coming from the bottom up.

These communities have had these solutions. And if they have more access to solar energy, they won’t be afraid to run their air conditionings. Their bills will be lower and there’ll be a healthier inside.

Like I said earlier, if they can invest in cooling centers and have safe havens and safe places for their constituents to go, that’s a game change.

They’ve also – many cities have thought about creative things like painting the tops of buildings with reflective light that push that heat back or thinking about what type of material they use for their sidewalks.

There are a lot of innovative ideas by young people, by people who have been thinking about this for a long period of time. They’re competing for our grants. We’ve given them the resources and they are creating solutions for their communities.

REP. PRESSLEY: Thank you.

I look forward to working with you, Administrator Regan, and the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights to protect these investments and ensure communities have the resources they need to address these threats.

Thank you. I yield back.

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