Elected officials in states baking under sweltering temperatures – including Florida, Texas and Louisiana – are prioritizing their donors from planet-warming industries instead of protecting their constituents, advocates say.
Florida has already seen unprecedented heat this year, with several cities breaking daily heat records this month.
The state’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, accepted over $1m from energy companies in the 2022 election cycle and nearly $2m from agribusiness, another top contributor to the climate crisis.
Last month, DeSantis embarked on a campaign to scrub most references to climate change from state law. The very day DeSantis signed the bill into law, Key West registered a heat index of 115 – tying with the highest reading on record for any time of year.