Oregon’s governor worries heat wave a ‘harbinger of things to come’

Brown, a Democrat, said that the weather emergency was similar to the Covid-19 pandemic, in that its most devastating effects fell most severely on minority groups and vulnerable populations. “We have to center the voices of Black and brown and indigenous people at the forefront of our work as we do emergency preparedness,” she said.

Brown also warned that events like the Pacific Northwest heat wave could be a “harbinger of things to come” if politicians do not urgently confront the issue of climate change.

Progressive Democrats in Congress and their outside allies have threatened to withhold support from President Joe Biden’s infrastructure proposals over concerns that climate policy is getting shortchanged, complicating the political calculus given the party’s threadbare majority in both the House and Senate.

The issue remains a thorny one within Republican politics, even as some corners have warmed to the idea that conservatives need to present alternative solutions to the problem rather than ignoring it.

“We’re working very hard to help people understand the impacts of climate change,” Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said Sunday on “Face the Nation.” “There is more work being done, but that’s a long term [effort].

Utah is experiencing stark drought conditions throughout the state, and Cox says there needs to be a renewed focus paid to water conservation and other strategies to better sustain life and economic opportunity in the region.

Brown also urged federal lawmakers to allow undocumented immigrants to be eligible for certain types of disaster relief aid.

“It is absolutely unacceptable,” she said. “These families are so much a part of our communities. They’re the heart and soul of our culture and they are the backbone of our economy. They deserve the assistance and they need it.”