When
Where
A Talk with Joel Clement
While the causes and solutions for the climate crisis remain a political flashpoint, adapting to and building resilience in the face of evident impacts are generally viewed as a politically safe means to address the slowly unfolding disaster. Until now. In shutting down scienti c conversations about climate change, the Trump Administration is endangering Americans. For example, Alaska Native villages on the Arctic coast are in an extremely vulnerable position due to the degradation of the permafrost and lack of protective sea ice during storm season – several communities are one storm away from being washed o the map. But the Administration has focused on reversing all recent federal e orts to improve the resilience of these communities, and in doing so is adding to their level of risk. This is important beyond the Arctic as well; coastal communities elsewhere in the US are faced with sea level rise that puts them at similar levels of risk in the coming decades. It is essential to acknowledge the risk for Arctic communities and to identify and implement solutions, including relocation, for all Americans in peril.
Joel Clement is a science and policy expert with a background in resilience and climate adaptation, landscape-scale conservation and management, and Arctic social-ecological systems. As Director of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Policy Office he led a talented team of policy analysts and economists, provided advice and analysis for White House leadership and two Interior Secretaries, developed innovative policies to address landscape conservation needs, and was appointed as the Department of the Interior’s principal to the US Global Change Research Program. On behalf of the US Government he co-chaired the Arctic Council’s groundbreaking Arctic Resilience Report.
The talk is open to the public and is sponsored by the Center for Climate Adaptation Science and Solutions. Please send to others you think may be interested in attending.