When you can't afford to stay cool, the risks are life-and-death | Opinion The affordability crisis is driving some workers to make choices with deadly consequences. Workers may die in increased numbers because they can't afford to stay cool. Without that nighttime cooling, heat stress compounds. We need to face the fact that the affordability crisis is driving some workers to make choices with deadly consequences. We can change this, but it requires the political will to treat the affordability crisis as the life-and-death issue it is for far too many workers.