Opportunity Starts at Home Campaign Publishes Brief on the Intersections of Housing, Climate, Energy and Food Security 

By Ella Izenour, NLIHC Opportunity Starts at Home Intern  

The Opportunity Starts at Home (OSAH) Campaign published a new brief, “Housing Policy as Climate Policy: Confronting Thermal Inequity, Energy and Food Insecurity,” written by OSAH intern Ella Izenour. The piece examines the intersections of housing, thermal safety, energy affordability, and food security. It expands the traditional “heat or eat” dilemma, a tradeoff in which households must choose between paying energy bills or buying food, showing how climate change is transforming it into a year-round challenge as hotter summers increase cooling demands.  

The brief highlights a shifting geography of energy poverty in the United States, with higher energy burdens increasingly concentrated in hotter regions. These pressures create a continuous cycle of tradeoffs, forcing households to choose between staying cool, maintaining stable housing, and affording food. Research shows that as energy costs rise; food budgets are often the first to be reduced. Families may skip meals, cut grocery spending, or rely on cheaper, less nutritious options to cover rent and utility costs. Others may limit air conditioning use during extreme heat, increasing the risk of heat-related illness and mortality. The brief also explores how the historical legacy of redlining has contributed to present-day disparities in housing and climate. Longstanding disinvestment in predominantly Black neighborhoods has produced environmental conditions that intensify the Urban Heat Island effect, where dense infrastructure, heat-retaining materials, and limited vegetation drive higher temperatures. Research shows that formerly redlined neighborhoods are, on average, 4.5°F warmer than areas that were not redlined.  

The brief concludes by calling for policy solutions, including a permanent Emergency Assistance Fund to provide short-term support to households at risk of eviction and utility shutoffs. It also recommends updates to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that better reflect rising housing costs, along with increased funding for federal and state energy and weatherization assistance programs.  

Read the brief here.   

To learn more about the intersections of housing, racial inequality, hunger, and the environment, read the OSAH fact sheets here.