Environmental advocacy groups from throughout the Valley gathered at South Mountain Community College Thursday night to share stories of heat injury and how climate change impacts vulnerable communities in the Phoenix area — many of them in manual labor jobs.
Political voices were there as well. Arizona Senate Minority Leader Priya Sundareshan and representatives from the offices of Rep. Yassamin Ansari and Sen. Mark Kelly.
The event began with Paloma Greenwald, a registered nurse and former caseworker representing Elder’s Climate Action. She said that she formerly represented an HVAC technician that passed out in an attic on the job. Currently he has not regained consciousness and is held in a long-term care facility. She also represented workers with kidney damage due to hydration, which she said was the most common heat-related injury while she was a practicing nurse, even in young people.
