Ex-NASA astronaut and AZ senator urges lawmakers to act on climate crisis as 'dangerous' heat escalates

16 July 2023

A few days ago, Michelle Litwin, who serves as heat response program manager in Phoenix, Arizona, told The Guardian, "Phoenix has always been hot." However, she added, "This is Arizona's natural disaster. We might have flash floods but heat is our issue."

Additionally, CNN reports Carlo Buontempo, director of the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service said earlier this month, "The world is 'walking into an uncharted territory,'" emphasizing, "We have never seen anything like this in our life."

United States Senator Mark Kelly (D-Arizona), according to his website, served as a NASA astronaut before entering politics, and is using the knowledge he gained from spending "more than 50 days in space" to call for action amid Arizona's current heat wave, according to CNN.

During a Sunday interview on CNN's State of the Union with Jake Tapper, Kelly told the host, "When I went into space four times, I mean, I could see how thin the atmosphere is over this planet. It's as thin as a contact lens on an eyeball, and we have got to do a better job taking care of it."

The Democratic leader added, "My view hasn't really changed. We are suffering a heat wave here in Arizona. It is typically very hot in the summer. This is obviously dangerous to seniors and folks who are living on the streets."

CNN notes, "More than 100 temperature records could be set through Monday across the West and South."

Kelly went on to say, "I have not seen in my time in the Senate many folks that deny that the climate is changing. That was a thing of the past. Now is: What do we do about it? We passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which is a big down payment on reducing the amount of carbon we put up into the atmosphere. That will make a difference over time. We obviously have to do more."

CNN's full report is available at this link. The Guardian's report is here.

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