Former intern and current volunteer Aidan Goldberg (pictured) read an excerpt from his essay “Extreme Heat Is a Predator” at an Extreme Weather Survivors National Virtual Advocacy Summit late last month. As reported in Los Angeles Downtown News, Aidan shared how his brother, Simon, ended up in the hospital for three and a half months after going for a run in Tucson, Arizona, heat. Doctors explained that the heat exposure was literally “cooking [his brother] from the inside and out,” and Aidan and his family were prepared to say goodbye.
Miraculously, his brother recovered, but the burn scars are lingering reminders. Aidan says that invisible scars remain too—his family avoids the heat like prey avoids a predator. But he’s learning to transform that fear into fuel to power his advocacy for a safe, stable climate.
Tell Congress: Support Mental Wellness Resources for Communities Facing Weather Disasters
In other news
- National Manager for Health Justice Almeta Cooper writes in Afro News about the intersection of pollution and environmental justice and how she is fighting for clean air on behalf of her grandson.
- 5 WOKV interviews Moms Director and Co-Founder Dominique Browning about the consequences of EPA’s decision to rollback the Endangerment Finding, the scientific and legal foundation of federal climate protections.
- Dominique also spoke about the importance of pressuring companies to sustainably reimagine themselves on Electric Ladies Podcast.
- In an interview with Inside Climate News, Federal Policy Director Melody Reis calls out EPA for attempting to stretch the definition of “clean” school buses to include not just zero-emissions electric vehicles but also polluting fossil-fuel-powered ones.
- The Southern Maryland Chronicle reports on Moms’ calling out EPA for dismantling safeguards for the potent neurotoxin mercury and endangering fetal brain development.
- Iowa Field Organizer Karin Stein explains the scam of so-called “advanced recycling”—which is plastic incineration, plain and simple—in Iowa Starting Line.
Tell Congress: Support Mental Wellness Resources for Communities Facing Weather Disasters