NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The safety of Tennesseans could be threatened by a rollback in climate change protections, according to numerous current and retired members of the military.
Retired Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Stephen Cheney, CEO of the American Security Project, points out climate change already is destabilizing volatile regions such as the Middle East, and threatening U.S. military bases as sea levels rise.
Cheney says the president's statement that the EPA's Clean Power Plan would do irreparable harm to the nation is simply not true.
"Let's not be rash and say things just because the Obama administration did something, now we're going to do just the opposite,” he states. “Let's look at all the parameters that are around these decisions and recognize what truly is best for our country."
The administration maintains that climate regulations cost jobs and hinder growth. But Cheney notes that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is among those who believe climate change is man-made and a threat to stability, and Mattis is likely to include it in his national security plans.
Jonathan Gensler is an Iraq war veteran who now works as an energy consultant in Nashville. He says while the federal government talks of dialing back climate protections, cities such as Nashville are blazing their own trail.
"Here in Tennessee, it's the action of the cities not the state,” he points out. “Specifically the City of Nashville has some tremendous sustainability initiatives going on and has become a resilient city."
Nashville Mayor Megan Barry initiated a Livable Nashville Committee to enhance the city's livability and environmental quality. Knoxville also has an Energy and Sustainability Initiative.
Cheney sees the administration's efforts to roll back protections in direct conflict with the very people charged to protect the country.
"Now we have a commander in chief who is in direct disagreement with the generals who he claims to support and trust,” Cheney observes. “I think you would be hard pressed to find senior leadership at the Pentagon that doesn't take the threat of climate change seriously, all the way up to and including his own Secretary of Defense."
While the Defense Department has been planning for climate change for more than a decade, in 2014 and 2016 Republicans in the House of Representatives added language to Defense Department spending bills prohibiting funds from being spent to plan or prepare for climate change.
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State officials in Maine are preparing the next generation for climate change-related activism and careers.
A new state-run website helps young Mainers find ways to use their own talents and interests to counter any climate anxiety and work to build the state's climate resilience.
Abigail Hayne is Maine's youth climate engagement coordinator.
"Whether it's taking action just in your community or in your life, or exploring different climate jobs that are specific to Maine," said Hayne, "the youths can just kind of poke around and find something that makes sense to them."
Hayne said the website offers practical, localized ways young people can get active with their town or school as well as Maine's Climate Council, which currently includes a dozen youth representatives.
Maine faces simultaneous challenges. The state is warming faster than the global average and coping with an increase in extreme weather events.
It also has one of the oldest populations in the nation.
Hayne said towns statewide are developing plans to strengthen infrastructure, and the state has a responsibility to make sure young people are well-informed about these climate-related jobs.
"Soon enough, we're going to start seeing younger generations really on the front lines of climate change and community resilience," said Hayne, "and we need to make sure that they are fully prepared when they enter those roles."
More than 170 communities are utilizing state grants to identify the roads, buildings and energy infrastructure that is susceptible to climate change and begin needed upgrades.
Construction, engineering and electrical workers will be in high demand.
Hayne said the website can connect young Mainers with these new work opportunities as well as each other.
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School buses are getting cleaner in Washington state after this year's legislative session.
Lawmakers in Olympia passed House Bill 1368, which will fund the purchase of zero emission school buses.
Rep. Tana Senn, D-Mercer Island, said the program is getting off the ground quickly.
"As we work towards that long-term goal of all new school buses being zero emission, we're kick-starting this year with $40 million in grants to school districts in overburdened communities," Senn explained.
Going forward, Senn noted school districts will have to purchase zero-emission vehicles once the total cost of ownership is equal to or lower than the cost of diesel vehicles. The state is leveraging the state's Climate Commitment Act resources to fund the transition of its 10,000 school buses.
Devin Denney, director of transportation for Highline Public Schools in King County, which already has electric school buses in its fleet, said he has driven the electric buses and talked about some of their benefits from a driver's perspective.
"You're not competing against that engine noise, the kids aren't competing against the engine noise," Denney observed. "It's a much quieter bus all the way around. The major advantage, of course, is that there's no tailpipe emissions with an electric bus, so our kids' health is better protected."
Senn emphasized health studies have shown there are negative health effects from diesel vehicles for kids, and it is easy to understand why.
"If you think about kids waiting to get on their bus in front of an elementary school and you have this line of buses idling, letting out diesel fumes right at the height of a little child, it becomes obvious that this is probably not the most healthy thing for our children," Senn added.
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Today, in honor of Earth Day, climate advocates are asking California lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom to rally around a plan to put a $15 billion bond measure on the November ballot.
If passed, the bond measure would fund a range of climate resiliency measures.
Sam Hodder, president and CEO of the Save the Redwoods League, said March was the tenth month in a row to break monthly heat records.
"I think Earth Day is a terrific opportunity for the broader public to recognize how nature is critical for resilience, for our quality of life, for our mental and physical health, and for our communities more broadly," Hodder outlined.
Two similar bills to put a bond measure on the ballot are under consideration in Sacramento, Assembly Bill 1567 and Senate Bill 867, but they have been stalled since last summer. The bond would finance many programs, including some to restore wetlands that guard against sea-level rise, and to remove dead wood in forests to guard against mega-fires, which Hodder noted have killed 20% of the giant sequoias in recent years.
Opponents pointed out the state already faces a budget deficit and cannot afford to take on more debt. But only 5% of California's old-growth coastal redwoods remain, mostly due to aggressive logging many decades ago.
Hodder argued the giant trees can be critical ingredients in the fight against climate change because they trap so much carbon.
"Redwood forests sequester more carbon per acre than any other forest system in the world," Hodder emphasized. "We have the opportunity to transition the redwood forest from something that is vulnerable to climate change to something that is helping to solve and address the climate crisis."
Experts blame climate change for California's wild weather over the past few years, which has been marked by extreme drought, devastating fires and flooding rain.
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