Record heat waves illuminate plight of poorest Americans who suffer without air conditioning

DENVER -- As Denver neared triple-digit temperatures, Ben Gallegos sat shirtless on his porch swatting flies off his legs and spritzing himself with a misting fan to try to get through the heat. Gallegos, like many in the nation's poorest neighborhoods, doesn't have air conditioning.

"To explain it fairly simply: Heat kills," said Kristie Ebi, a University of Washington professor who researches heat and health."Once the heat wave starts, mortality starts in about 24 hours." So the 45-year-old wets her hair, cooks outside on a propane grill and keeps the lights off indoors. She's taken the bus to the library to cool off. At night she flips the box unit on, hauling her bed into the room where it's located to sleep.

A shirtless man guides his wheelchair down the bicycle lane along 45th Avenue as temperatures rise toward triple digits in the Globeville neighborhood Wednesday, July 26, 2023, in north Denver. - Associated Press While the program is critical, said Michelle Graff, who studies the subsidy at Cleveland State University, only about 16% of the nation's eligible population is actually reached. Nearly half of states don't offer the federal dollars for summer cooling.

This disparity plays out nationwide. Researchers at the University of San Diego analyzed 1,056 counties and in over 70%, the poorest areas and those with higher Black, Hispanic and Asian populations were significantly hotter. Riverside Cemetery is seen in front of an oil refinery in Commerce City, Colo., on Tuesday, July 25, 2023. Residents in the area say fumes from the refinery and the lack of trees make their neighborhood hotter. - Associated Press Shannon Lewis, 38, lived in her Detroit home for nearly 20 years without air conditioning.

The law also offers rebates, the kind of state and federal point-of-sale discounts that Amanda Morian has looked into for her 640-square-foot home.

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