| Date | August 23, 2017 |
| Time | 7:00pm – 8:30pm |
| Location | NC Museum of Natural Science, 11 West Jones Street, WRAL 3D Theater, Raleigh, NC |
The US military recognizes the effects of climate disruption are an “accelerant of instability,” which exacerbates security threats around the world. More frequent extreme weather events, food scarcity, water insecurity, and sea level rise will destabilize societies especially in countries where governments are not prepared to deal with the threats. How countries respond to increased instability will determine whether climate change will lead to war.
North Carolina is home to a number of combat units who are often the first to deploy in crisis and conflict. As a result, our military families and communities will be some of the first to feel the effects of climate change as US troops are deployed in response to disasters and conflicts exacerbated by climate change.
Join Dr. David W Titley Rear Admiral USN (ret), and Brigadier General Stephen Cheney USMC (ret) for a discussion moderated by WRAL’s Greg Fishel on how the U.S. military is preparing to deal with climate disruption and what that means for both our national and global security.
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Link to the LiveStream
Speaker Biographies:
Dr. David W Titley Rear Admiral USN (ret)
Dr. Titley is a nationally known expert in the field of climate, the Arctic, and National Security. He served as a naval officer for 32 years and rose to the rank of Rear Admiral. Dr. Titley’s career included duties as Commander, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, Oceanographer and Navigator of the Navy, and Deputy Assistant Chief of Naval Operations for Information Dominance. While serving in the Pentagon, Dr. Titley initiated and led the US Navy’s Task Force on Climate Change. After retiring from the Navy, Dr. Titley served as the Deputy Undersecretary of Commerce for Operations, the Chief Operating Officer position at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Dr. Titley has spoken across the country and throughout the world on the importance of climate change as it relates to National Security. The Department of Defense requested he present on their behalf at both Congressional Hearings and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) meetings from 2009 to 2011.
Dr. Titley is a member of the Hoover Institution’s Arctic Security Initiative, and serves on the Advisory Boards of the Center for Climate and Security, the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions, and the Association of Climate Change Officers. He is a member of the National Academies of Science committee on Geoengineering and the Center for Naval Analysis’ Military Advisory Board.
In 2009 Dr. Titley was elected a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society and in 2011 was awarded an honorary Doctorate from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.
Brigadier General Stephen A. Cheney USMC (Ret)
BGen Stephen Cheney USMC(Ret) is the Chief Executive Officer of the American Security Project (ASP) and a member of the Department of State’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board.
He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and has over 30 years experience as a Marine. His career included a wide variety of command and staff positions with the operating forces and the supporting establishment. Gen. Cheney’s primary specialty was artillery, but he focused extensively on entry-level training, commanding at every echelon at both Marine Corps Recruit Depots, to include being the Commanding General at Parris Island. He served several years in Japan and has traveled extensively throughout the Middle East and Asia.
Other selected highlights of Gen. Cheney’s military career include tours as Deputy Executive Secretary to Defense Secretaries Cheney and Aspin; ground plans officer for Drug Enforcement Policy in the Pentagon; liaison to the Congressional Commission on Roles and Missions of the Armed Forces; and Inspector General of the Marine Corps.
Following retirement from the Marines, Gen. Cheney became the Chief Operating Officer for Business Executives for National Security (BENS), in Washington, D.C., and most recently was President/CEO of the Marine Military Academy in Harlingen, Texas.
Gen. Cheney is a graduate of the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, the National War College, and the University of Southern California. He was a military fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City, where he is a member. Additionally, he is also a member of the Secretary of State’s International Security Advisory Board.
Gen. Cheney has been on the Board of Directors for ASP since 2006.
Greg Fishel is the Chief Meteorologist at WRAL TV in Raleigh, NC. He launched his own quest to highlight what the science says about climate change. He won the 1985 American Meteorological Society award for broadcast excellence for reporting a March 1984 tornado; American Meteorological Society Seal of Approval for television and radio; member of broadcast board of the American Meteorological Society; chairperson of AMS Broadcast Board Committee to develop 100-question exam for new Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Program; member of Advisory Commissions for North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and the state Climate Office of North Carolina; first certified broadcast meteorologist in the United States; recipient of Emmy from Midsouth Region of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for hurricane special in 2000; one of six recipients of Special Award from American Meteorological Society in 2006.
