Less than one year after the Center for American Progress published a series of products addressing the crisis of climate change-driven extreme heat and hosted a virtual event discussing the ways in which communities were working to protect those most vulnerable, we face a drastically different landscape. With the Trump administration mounting concerted efforts to roll back climate progress, those same communities face soaring temperatures with even fewer supports for their health. For young children—who endure some of the worst consequences of extreme heat—the rollbacks to infrastructure upgrades for schools, the eradication of clean energy projects, and the elimination of heat watch services and community grants to improve air quality will have enduring negative impacts on their development and learning.
As was the case a year ago, it will take a whole-of-society response not only to help safeguard vulnerable infants and children from the worst of extreme heat but also to reverse attacks on climate progress that could set us back by generations. Join the Center for American Progress to discuss the challenges under this new administration, as well as the strategies families, communities, and local leaders can use to protect the country’s youngest learners.