This Isn’t a Race Phoenix Wanted to Win

Last Friday, June 5, Phoenix was the fifth-hottest city on the planet.

After Kuwait City, Riyadh, Baghdad, and Doha, Phoenix clocked in at 94 degrees Fahrenheit.

It was the hottest temperature in all of the Americas.

Research shows that this would be virtually impossible without climate change. We’ve known for decades that climate pollution is heating up our planet and harming human health, but now we’re in the middle of it.

Over the next two weeks, high temperatures in Phoenix are forecast to remain above 100 degrees, reaching 117 degrees on June 23.

These temperatures aren’t just uncomfortable. They can also be deadly. Extreme heat causes hundreds of deaths worldwide, and over 600 in a single Arizona summer. I think about outdoor workers like my brothers, who keep our communities running: construction workers, landscapers, delivery drivers, farmworkers. They can’t hide from the heat. Every day of extreme temperatures increases the risk of heat-related illness and even death. 

High heat endangers everyone, but Latino communities face outsized risks. Latinos are disproportionately represented in the outdoor workforce, and about 80% of the farmworkers in the United States identify as either Hispanic or Latino. Hispanic people are also 21% more likely to live in urban heat islands, which can be up to 22 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than surrounding areas. Children living in these conditions are especially vulnerable to heat-related illness as their bodies are still developing.

The heat hurts our wallets, too. When the mercury rises, families on tight budgets are forced to make hard choices between air conditioning and other essentials, like food and medicine.

Arizona has always been hot, but not like this. Are we going to keep ignoring this and hope the problem disappears? Or are we going to take action? 

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to roll back the  “Endangerment Finding” sends the message that our federal government is opting to keep its head in the sand. The Endangerment Finding is a foundational part of EPA’s ability to protect us from the health effects of climate change. It provides the legal foundation for protections from some of the largest sources of climate pollution, including power plants, cars, and oil and gas operations. Rolling it back threatens EPA’s ability to curb the pollution that is intensifying extreme heat, fueling stronger wildfires, and driving other climate disasters.

This is an absolute corruption of the EPA’s mission to protect human health and the environment. We are not expendable.  

Failing to address climate change doesn’t just drive temperatures. Air pollution is worse in extreme heat, which exacerbates asthma and other respiratory diseases.

Climate change is also making wildfire seasons longer and more intense. The fires devastate communities, and all that smoke is extremely dangerous for our health, especially for babies, children, and older adults.

All of this means more emergency room visits, more medications, and more medical bills that families can’t afford at a time when housing, insurance, and grocery costs are already straining household budgets.

The EPA was created to protect public health and the environment. But under this administration and the leadership of Lee Zeldin, the agency is doing everything but its mission. Rolling back safeguards puts our communities at risk and prioritizes polluters’ interests over the health of Arizona families. Zeldin must be held accountable for betraying the EPA’s core directive. 

I want my nieces and nephews to be able to play outside without having to check if the air is safe to breathe. I want my brothers to come home healthy at the end of the day. That isn’t asking for too much. It’s the bare minimum we deserve.

Being one of the hottest cities on the planet, and one of the fastest-warming locations in the country, isn’t a race Phoenix wanted to win. We are being let down by our leaders, and they need to step up before it’s too late.

Based in Phoenix, Pita Juarez is the Arizona Field Organizer for Moms Clean Air Force. She is a strategic communications leader and award-winning storyteller with over a decade of experience in film, digital media, and advocacy. She has worked at the intersection of climate and justice, uplifting underrepresented communities and ensuring their voices shape the national narrative. 

The Latino Newsletter is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and we just turned 2 years old! Help us with our birthday campaign by giving here.

Spam. Promotions. Phishing links. A messy inbox is more than annoying. It’s risky.

Proton Mail shields your inbox from invasive tracking and junk clutter by default. No creepy ad sorting. No surveillance. Just clean, simple organization designed to protect your focus.

You shouldn’t have to fight your email to find what matters. Proton Mail keeps your inbox safe, private, and easy to manage — so you can stay productive, not distracted.

Take control of your inbox

“Our Copa” in Pressing Issues: I got to write about the “Our Copa” podcast I am co-hosting in the latest edition of Pressing Issues, which I co-edit for Free Press. (JRV)

Here is one part of the piece: “The World Cup will always try to sell a worldview synonymous with those in charge, but there is no reason to stop those who believe the game is bigger than politics from chronicling those abuses in the interest of producing a better vision of what this world can be.”

Julio Ricardo Varela edited and published this edition of The Latino Newsletter.

The Latino Newsletter welcomes opinion pieces in English and/or Spanish from community voices. Submission guidelines are here. The views expressed by outside opinion contributors do not necessarily reflect the editorial views of this outlet or its employees.