Posted July 30, 2026
The air conditioner has been running since breakfast.
You remind your kids to stay inside because it’s too hot to play outside. You refill water bottles before anyone leaves the house and check the air quality before practice. Then the electric bill arrives, and it’s higher than last summer.
For millions of families, this has become just another part of summer.
As a mom, I know these choices don’t feel political when you’re making them at the kitchen table; they feel personal. How do we keep our kids safe when the air outside is unhealthy, the house is too hot, and the cost of staying cool keeps going up?
For Latina mothers, including those who are pregnant, these questions carry even more weight. Extreme heat is changing what summer feels like for families, but it is also becoming a maternal health issue. Rising temperatures can worsen air pollution, drive up energy costs, and create health risks that fall hardest on communities with fewer resources to adapt.
When Hotter Days Mean Dirtier Air
Extreme heat is deadly on its own. But it also leads to spikes in harmful air pollution.
According to the American Lung Association’s 2026 State of the Air report, 44% of people in the United States live in areas with unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution.
These pollutants can cause shortness of breath, asthma attacks, lung irritation, and chest pain. Children, older adults, pregnant women, outdoor workers, and people living with asthma or other chronic illnesses are among those most vulnerable.
For Latino families, these risks compound across home, work, and health.
Some live near highways used by trucks, airports, industrial facilities, or other areas where pollution levels are often higher. Others work in construction, agriculture, landscaping, transportation, and other outdoor jobs where dangerous heat is part of the workday.
For a child with asthma, a poor air quality day may mean missing soccer practice or staying indoors instead of playing outside. For a pregnant woman working outdoors or living near industrial roads, it can mean worrying that heat and polluted air are putting her pregnancy at risk.
The Rising Cost of Staying Safe
As summers become hotter, air conditioning has shifted from a comfort to a health necessity, especially for pregnant women, children with respiratory conditions, older adults with heart disease, and people who rely on electricity-powered medical equipment.
But staying safe comes with a price.
Families across the country are seeing higher utility bills during the hottest months of the year, and that pressure forces impossible choices: run the AC or cut back on groceries? Pay the electric bill or delay another expense? For some families, those choices end with the lights going out. No family should be pushed into debt or risk having their power shut off because of decisions made by a utility company.
What starts as a weather event becomes a household budget crisis.
The Decisions Behind Your Electric Bill
Many families know their electric bill went up. Far fewer know who approved that increase — or whether they had a chance to speak up before it happened.
When a utility company wants to raise rates, that request has to be reviewed and approved. In many states, those decisions are made by a public utility commission–a government agency most people have never heard of. It oversees electric utilities, reviews rate proposals, and decides what kinds of energy projects utilities can build.
These decisions affect families directly. They can determine whether utilities invest in cleaner energy or continue building expensive fossil fuel projects that drive up costs and worsen air quality.
Utility companies show up to these hearings. Their lawyers and consultants show up. Too often, the families paying the bills do not, which means regulators hear mostly from one side.
Residents can attend hearings, submit public comments, ask questions, and push back on rate hikes. For immigrant families and mixed-status households, these spaces can still offer ways to be heard. Families do not have to do it alone; trusted community organizations can help people understand the process and participate safely.
What Families Can Do Right Now
Longer-term solutions require policy change and public investment, but families can take steps to reduce immediate health risks during extreme heat.
Check air quality before heading outdoors. On days when pollution levels are high, limit strenuous outdoor activity and keep windows closed. Pregnant women, children, older adults, and anyone with asthma or heart conditions should follow their healthcare provider’s guidance closely during heat waves. Outdoor workers should have access to water, shade, and rest breaks.
These steps will not solve the larger problem, but they can protect families while we push for the systemic change that will.
The effects of climate change are often discussed through national policies or international agreements. But for Latina mothers, they arrive much closer to home.
It’s the child who can’t play outside because the air quality is unhealthy.
It’s the pregnant woman living near a freight corridor, wondering whether the air she breathes is putting her baby at risk.
It’s the outdoor worker spending another day in dangerous heat.
It’s the electric bill that stretches the family budget a little further each month.
These are public health emergencies and economic hardships playing out in millions of households every summer.
Clean air, reliable electricity, and safe neighborhoods shouldn’t depend on your zip code or how much you can afford to pay to stay cool. They should be a basic guarantee for every family, in every community.
Liz Hurtado, Senior Manager, Field Engagement and Partnerships, EcoMadres.
