Agenda
Thursday, August 25
08/25
All times are subject to change
11:00am
Thursday August 25
Opening Remarks
Travis Wolfe kicks off the inaugural GovExec Climate Summit and previews the day's programming.
Travis Wolfe
Associate Director, Content
GovExec
Climate Leader Keynote
USDA Climate Hubs Coordinator Julian Reyes provides the opening keynote.
Julian Reyes
National Coordinator, USDA Climate Hubs program
USDA
Taking Action at the Local Level
As the federal government continues to determine how it can create and implement climate change policy, state and local governments have moved to take action in their own time. From carbon footprint reductions to easing access to renewable energy, how are local governments working to take effective action against climate change? And how might the Inflation Reduction Act impact those plans?
Bridget Herring
Sustainability Director
City of Asheville, NC
Kyle Spencer
Chief Resilience Officer
City of Norfolk, VA
Alisha Powell Gillis
Senior Editor
Route Fifty
Covering Climate Change
In this special interview, Government Executive sits down with filmmaker John D. Sutter to discuss his work documenting climate change and explore evolving views on the issue.
John D. Sutter
Filmmaker
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Tanya Ballard Brown
Executive Editor
Government Executive
Turning the Page: A New Age of Climate Policy
With recent decisions about climate regulation and policy, government leaders will have to adapt their approach to climate change. In this session we sit down with climate policy experts to discuss the next steps in creating legislation that will effectively attack climate change.
Vickie Patton
General Counsel
Environmental Defense Fund
Michael Gerrard
Andrew Sabin Professor of Professional Practice and Director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
Columbia Law School
Ross Gianfortune
Engagement Editor
Government Executive
Agency Spotlight: NOAA
In this agency spotlight, leaders from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration join us to discuss how NOAA reports, research and tools can inform investments in resilience — and how NOAA works with other federal agencies and state, local and tribal partners to build out its suite of climate products and services.
Deke Arndt
Chief, Climatic Science & Services Division
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
Ellen Mecray
Regional Climate Services Director, Eastern Region
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
Alisha Powell Gillis
Senior Editor
Route Fifty
Climate Change as a Threat to National Security (D1)
Climate change poses a major threat to the United States’ national security, and while the Department of Defense has been working for years to adapt and prepare, there is still much work to do. In this session, Defense One sits down with top defense leaders to discuss the threats climate change poses to the military, and the Department’s response to those threats.
Richard Kidd
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Environment & Energy Resilience
Department of Defense
Patrick Tucker
Technology Editor
Defense One
PREPAREing for Change: The Whole-of-Government Approach to Adapting the World to new Climates
Join USAID and their partners at the Department of State for a presentation on the agency's PREPARE initiative for fighting climate change and facilitating US involvement global climate adaptation work.
Christina Chan
Senior Adaptation Advisor for the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate Change John Kerry
US Department of State
Ann Vaughan
Senior Advisor for Climate Change
USAID
Climate for Change: Exploring Environmental Technology Innovations in Government (NG)
Join Nextgov editors as they close out the inaugural Climate Summit with a look to the future, hearing from leaders on how they’re developing the next generation of climate tools and technologies.
Kevin Powell
Director, Green Proving Ground & Pilot to Portfolio
U.S. General Services Administration
Aaron Boyd
Senior Editor, Technology & Events
Nextgov
Closing Keynote
Senior Counsel for the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, Samantha Medlock, provides the closing keynote to discuss the federal government's recent actions on climate change, as well as what still needs to be done.
Samantha Medlock
Senior Counsel
House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis
Ross Gianfortune
Engagement Editor
Government Executive
3:30pm
Thursday August 25
Closing Remarks
Travis Wolfe wraps up the inaugural GovExec Climate Summit.
Travis Wolfe
Associate Director, Content
GovExec
