The Effect of Climate Change on US Prisons

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The cruel effect of climate change on US prisoners.

Moorbey'z Blog

What does climate change mean for a country with 2 million prisoners?

In some ways, incarcerated people are on the front lines, exposed to ever-higher temperatures — the heat index has hit 150 degrees in one prison — without air-conditioning in their cells. In Texas, at least 20 prisoners have died from heat stroke, and some of their families are suing the state for failing to protect them. This had been reported widely in local media, but the same issues have been showing up across the country, and we sensed that the American public might want to hear the story, too.

We traveled to Texas with producer Abby Ellis of Divided Films, covering hundreds of miles around the state to film people and places that capture the effects of rising temperatures, the debate over whether to air-condition prisons, and the story of a family for whom it was too late.

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