Wetlands Watch Briefs Congressional Staff on Climate Change Impacts on National Security in Virginia

Courtesy EESI

Wetlands Watch traveled to Washington, D.C. on April 2, 2024, to provide a crucial briefing to Congressional staff on the national security impacts of climate change in Virginia. The briefing, titled “The National Security: Climate Adaptation Nexus,” was hosted by the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) and took place in the Rayburn House Office Building. Mary-Carson Stiff, Executive Director of Wetlands Watch, joined a distinguished panel of national experts in climate adaptation and emergency preparedness.

Mary-Carson Stiff's presentation highlighted the pivotal role that the Department of Defense (DOD) plays in Virginia’s state and local government planning for climate change. With Virginia ranking #1 in DOD spending at $62.7 billion in 2022, and the Hampton Roads region alone receiving $27.1 billion in 2023 for its 16 military installations, the urgency of addressing climate impacts is evident. Despite the region experiencing the fastest rate of sea level rise on the east coast, military spending has continued to increase, comprising 40% of the region's spending. 

Mary-Carson discussed the various challenges faced by military residents, including frequent flood days disrupting school and work, inadequate flood risk disclosure for housing, and nuisance flooding obstructing access to military bases. She emphasized that military readiness and national security are primary concerns in the region, necessitating joint planning exercises to address these issues. Her presentation concluded with a call to support local governments, which are on the front lines of climate adaptation but lack sufficient resources and capacity to meet the growing crisis.

The panel featured representatives from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Institute for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Management, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and Jacobs. Panelists provided diverse perspectives on the national security issue, ranging from the importance of local government coordination with military bases to the fundamental need for basic infrastructure like indoor plumbing to ensure national security.

In addition to the briefing, Wetlands Watch Policy Program Director Ian Blair and Mary-Carson Stiff met with Senator Tim Kaine’s legislative staff to discuss critical climate adaptation issues facing Virginians. Key talking points included:

• Protecting Virginia's wetlands from weakened protections: advocating against the Sackett rule in VA.

• Rejoining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) for statewide pre-disaster flood mitigation funding.

• Enhancing US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Coastal Storm Risk Management projects by broadening the scope of flood risk considerations, allowing local governments to set climate change standards, and expanding benefit-cost analyses to include historical and societal values for marginalized communities. A proposed USACE rule could help address these three improvements, which will directly benefit the upcoming projects on the Peninsula, Virginia Beach, and many other communities.

Wetlands Watch’s visits to Washington, D.C. are becoming more frequent as climate change stressors intensify and Congressional representatives seek more information on their constituents' daily impacts. Wetlands Watch is proud to represent the concerns of Virginians in these critical discussions.