Protecting Workers in a Warming Climate

Jul 12, 2024

As envelopes large swaths of the western United States this summer鈥攊n line with that climate scientists have been making for years鈥� are facing deadly risks. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently published the of a proposed rule that, if it were to become official, would be the first-ever federal regulation protecting millions of workers from heat-related stress.

Alex Press, a staff writer at Jacobin covering labor issues, spoke with 大象传媒 Senior Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on 大象传媒 Presents: Rising Up With Sonali about the . She also discussed the legacy of the late labor strategist and organizer , who recently passed away from cancer, and was a friend and mentor to Press.

Sonali Kolhatkar joined 大象传媒 in summer 2021, building on a long and decorated career in broadcast and print journalism. She is an award-winning multimedia journalist, and host and creator of聽大象传媒 Presents: Rising Up with Sonali, a nationally syndicated television and radio program airing on Free Speech TV and dozens of independent and community radio stations. She is also Senior Correspondent with the Independent Media Institute鈥檚 Economy for All project where she writes a weekly column. She is the author of聽Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice聽(2023) and聽Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence聽(2005). Her forthcoming book is called聽Talking About Abolition聽(Seven Stories Press, 2025). Sonali is co-director of the nonprofit group, Afghan Women鈥檚 Mission which she helped to co-found in 2000. She has a Master鈥檚 in Astronomy from the University of Hawai鈥檌, and two undergraduate degrees in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin. Sonali reflects on 鈥淢y Journey From Astrophysicist to Radio Host鈥� in her 2014聽聽of the same name.