To the editor:

Many people have little involvement with jails, prisons, or detention facilities, so a three part video and report by Alleen Brown at the Intercept (firstlook.org) titled Climate and Punishment is educational. It shows how climate change is impacting the 6,500 facilities in the U.S.

Rising temperatures are impacting facilities in Texas and Florida, as well as other southern states. Wildfires are putting inmates at risk in California, as well as Florida and Texas. Flood waters are putting inmates at risk in Florida and other states.

Many facilities are over-crowded and most have inadequate evacuation plans. It will be necessary to reduce the prison population and close vulnerable facilities as well as upgrade those remaining to meet rising risks of extreme heat, etc. Failure to do so will result in unnecessary loss of life and increased wrongful death lawsuits.

Addressing climate change will also be necessary to keep Earth’s temperature from going above 2 degree Celsius compared to 300 years ago and making a bad situation worse.

John Kluge

New Ulm