Restaurant workers are feeling the heat now more than ever as they battle hotter working conditions due to climate change, and they are calling for safer regulations in the workplace.

A recent study conducted by Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, titled "Beat the Heat: Restaurant Workers Fight for a Safe and Dignified Work Environment," highlighted the urgent need for improved working conditions in the face of rising temperatures. The report revealed elevated temperatures not only increase the likelihood of workplace injuries, illnesses and fatalities but also lead to chronic dehydration and long-term kidney damage.

Cullen Page, a pizzeria worker, detailed his own experience in a work environment with excessive heat and poor ventilation.

"At a certain point, I feel that my body and brain start to give up," Page recounted. "I feel confused and sluggish. I have experienced stomach cramps while working, and I have developed a heat rash on my back from standing in front of a 550-degree oven all day."

He noted in addition to the bad conditions, workers' concerns are chalked up to the industry and are often not fixed.

While there are no regulations for the temperatures in the workplaces, OSHA recommends keeping work environments between 68 and 78 degrees Fahrenheit, and between 20% and 60% humidity. It is a suggestion Page argued is not strong enough to make a difference in his and many other restaurant workers' daily jobs.

Teófilo Reyes, chief program officer for Restaurant Opportunities Centers United and co-author of the report, said in a news conference they are calling on OSHA to move swiftly to issue a standard, which at the bare minimum meets California's Heat Illness Prevention standard, requiring all employees be trained on heat illness prevention, all workers receive access to shade and regular breaks and requires employers to develop and implement heat-prevention plans.

He pointed out the report offers even more safeguards to further cement a safer environment for workers.

"Our report includes additional recommendations, including an emergency response procedure for employees suffering from heat illness," Reyes explained. "It is way past time to take action, if we see that states are going to begin to block cities from enacting legislation to protect workers from the effect of climate change. A strong national standard that protects workers is more than necessary. It's already past due."

According to the report, restaurant workers, a majority of whom are women and disproportionately workers of color, also continue to bear disproportionate risk in the pandemic.

Another recent study found cooks to be one of the professions with the highest coronavirus mortality rates in the United States. Officials with ROC United said the facts reinforce why standards to protect active workers are more critical than ever to rebuild the restaurant industry after the pandemic.

State officials in Maine are preparing the next generation for climate change-related activism and careers.

A new state-run website helps young Mainers find ways to use their own talents and interests to counter any climate anxiety and work to build the state's climate resilience.

Abigail Hayne is Maine's youth climate engagement coordinator.

"Whether it's taking action just in your community or in your life, or exploring different climate jobs that are specific to Maine," said Hayne, "the youths can just kind of poke around and find something that makes sense to them."

Hayne said the website offers practical, localized ways young people can get active with their town or school as well as Maine's Climate Council, which currently includes a dozen youth representatives.

Maine faces simultaneous challenges. The state is warming faster than the global average and coping with an increase in extreme weather events.

It also has one of the oldest populations in the nation.

Hayne said towns statewide are developing plans to strengthen infrastructure, and the state has a responsibility to make sure young people are well-informed about these climate-related jobs.

"Soon enough, we're going to start seeing younger generations really on the front lines of climate change and community resilience," said Hayne, "and we need to make sure that they are fully prepared when they enter those roles."

More than 170 communities are utilizing state grants to identify the roads, buildings and energy infrastructure that is susceptible to climate change and begin needed upgrades.

Construction, engineering and electrical workers will be in high demand.

Hayne said the website can connect young Mainers with these new work opportunities as well as each other.






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School buses are getting cleaner in Washington state after this year's legislative session.

Lawmakers in Olympia passed House Bill 1368, which will fund the purchase of zero emission school buses.

Rep. Tana Senn, D-Mercer Island, said the program is getting off the ground quickly.

"As we work towards that long-term goal of all new school buses being zero emission, we're kick-starting this year with $40 million in grants to school districts in overburdened communities," Senn explained.

Going forward, Senn noted school districts will have to purchase zero-emission vehicles once the total cost of ownership is equal to or lower than the cost of diesel vehicles. The state is leveraging the state's Climate Commitment Act resources to fund the transition of its 10,000 school buses.

Devin Denney, director of transportation for Highline Public Schools in King County, which already has electric school buses in its fleet, said he has driven the electric buses and talked about some of their benefits from a driver's perspective.

"You're not competing against that engine noise, the kids aren't competing against the engine noise," Denney observed. "It's a much quieter bus all the way around. The major advantage, of course, is that there's no tailpipe emissions with an electric bus, so our kids' health is better protected."

Senn emphasized health studies have shown there are negative health effects from diesel vehicles for kids, and it is easy to understand why.

"If you think about kids waiting to get on their bus in front of an elementary school and you have this line of buses idling, letting out diesel fumes right at the height of a little child, it becomes obvious that this is probably not the most healthy thing for our children," Senn added.


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Today, in honor of Earth Day, climate advocates are asking California lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom to rally around a plan to put a $15 billion bond measure on the November ballot.

If passed, the bond measure would fund a range of climate resiliency measures.

Sam Hodder, president and CEO of the Save the Redwoods League, said March was the tenth month in a row to break monthly heat records.

"I think Earth Day is a terrific opportunity for the broader public to recognize how nature is critical for resilience, for our quality of life, for our mental and physical health, and for our communities more broadly," Hodder outlined.

Two similar bills to put a bond measure on the ballot are under consideration in Sacramento, Assembly Bill 1567 and Senate Bill 867, but they have been stalled since last summer. The bond would finance many programs, including some to restore wetlands that guard against sea-level rise, and to remove dead wood in forests to guard against mega-fires, which Hodder noted have killed 20% of the giant sequoias in recent years.

Opponents pointed out the state already faces a budget deficit and cannot afford to take on more debt. But only 5% of California's old-growth coastal redwoods remain, mostly due to aggressive logging many decades ago.

Hodder argued the giant trees can be critical ingredients in the fight against climate change because they trap so much carbon.

"Redwood forests sequester more carbon per acre than any other forest system in the world," Hodder emphasized. "We have the opportunity to transition the redwood forest from something that is vulnerable to climate change to something that is helping to solve and address the climate crisis."

Experts blame climate change for California's wild weather over the past few years, which has been marked by extreme drought, devastating fires and flooding rain.