Navy, MC nominees talk climate plan

The Navy is developing a plan to shield its installations from damage caused by climate change, the prospective Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Bill Moran, and prospective Marines Corps (MC) Commandant, Lt. Gen. David Berger, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on April 30. The hearing was on the same day that the Air Force was suspending recovery efforts for the remainder of FY 2019, from Hurricane Michael damage, at Tyndall AFB, Fla., which is located along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico. “We are largely a waterfront service, so climate change, when there’s rising waters, are going to be a problem for us if we don’t address them,” said Moran. “So, we are in a planning stage to look how to reinforce those areas.” Moran is the latest senior naval officer to warn about the threat of rising seas and extreme weather. In just the past decade, the Norfolk (Va.) Naval Shipyard has been battered by nine major floods. The Marine Corps is asking for $3.6B to repair three North Carolina installations hit by Hurricane Florence in 2018. (The AF is seeking $5B to hurricane damage at Tyndall and flooding at Offutt AFB, Neb.) Lawmakers did not press for details of those plans. The duo was before the SASC as part of their confirmation process. In January, the Defense Department released a congressionally-mandated report on the challenges of climate change that was to include an overview of the department’s policy responses to those challenges. But critics pointed out gaps in the report, including the fact it omitted Marine bases (like Lejeune, N.C.) from its list of “mission assurance priority” bases. House lawmakers told DoD to revise the report and submit it again. It was primarily smooth sailing for Trump’s two nominees, and perhaps a signal of bipartisan support by the SASC. There is no official timeline for a full Senate floor vote on either nominee, according to a committee spokesman. (Source: Defense One 04/30/19)