College Football Must Take Action to Protect its Games from Heat
WASHINGTON — With another heat wave taking hold in the southern United States, week two of NCAA Football is set to be played in triple digits temperatures in open air stadiums across the country. Last week, the scorching heat on the field in some cases exceeded 160 degrees. In Iowa, Derek Phillips, a member of the University of Iowa marching band, died this week after he collapsed during the band’s performance on Saturday. The heat index at gametime was well above 100 degrees. In response, Aaron Regunberg, director of Public Citizen’s Climate Accountability Project, issued the following statement:
“College football needs to take action to protect the employees, players, fans, and students that are being endangered by these increasingly lethal heat waves. While the opening of every college football season is marked by hot games, climate change has made the threat of lethal heat far more dangerous, and this must trigger deeper actions by universities and the NCAA to protect all who enjoy the games.
“For the NCAA and leadership at colleges across the country, there is immense profit motive and pressure from TV executives to play games in the heat. No student should be forced to practice, perform, or compete on field temperatures that skyrocket past 100 degrees.
“Every college football fan experiencing this miserable heat should also understand that it isn’t a natural disaster. Decades ago, companies like Exxon were discussing the research connecting their climate pollution with ‘suffering and death due to thermal extremes.’ Despite knowing that their conduct would cause such disasters, they orchestrated campaigns of denial to lock us into this lethal heat. They should be held accountable.”
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