Massachusetts Names First East Coast Heat Resilience Officer As States Expand Heat Response

According to Axios, Massachusetts in August became the first East Coast state and the second in the U.S. after Arizona to appoint a heat resilience officer, as states move to build systems for extreme heat that they were not historically designed to handle. The state has warmed by nearly 3.5°F over the past century, and Massachusetts Department of Public Health data showed nearly 1,500 heat-related emergency room visits last year. Heat resilience officer Katie Schlick said 1 in 5 Massachusetts public schools lacks air conditioning. Arizona's 2024 heat plan created a chief heat officer role to coordinate heat-response efforts across agencies, expanded heat-relief resources and deployed mobile solar-powered cooling centers made from shipping containers. Visits to two cooling centers at the Arizona Capitol rose 59% in summer 2025 from a year earlier, according to the state. California does not have an official with that title, but it has an office dedicated to extreme heat and a funding program for communities, while its 2022 Extreme Heat Action Plan established what officials called the state's first all-of-government framework for extreme heat. California's updated 2026 plan covers public health, emergency response, housing, infrastructure, energy and worker protections, and a separate law will require cities and counties to address extreme heat hazards when they next update certain general plan elements on or after Jan. 1, 2028.