New Orleans area military preparing for climate change, despite Shitler's official posture

http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2018/02/how_new_orleans_area_military_1.html#incart_river_home

By Sara Sneath, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

Climate change is adding to the expense of military installations across the U.S., and bases along the Louisiana coast are no exception. Though the Trump administration dropped climate change from its national security strategy, the Department of Defense has acknowledged that "climate change is a clear national security concern," according to its fiscal year 2016 Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan.

Last month, President Trump's nominee for assistant secretary of the Navy for installations, Phyllis Bayer, testified before a senate committee that climate change and sea level rise would be among her top priorities if confirmed for the job. But military installations around New Orleans have already been affected by the challenges of intense storms, heavy rainfall and rising seas.

The Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans is currently undergoing $8.2 million in drainage improvements and the Coast Guard has a $1.6 billion shore infrastructure backlog nationwide, officials indicated.

Increased rainfall, heat waves, droughts and thawing permafrost are among the climate induced threats affecting military readiness, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office report. Sea level rise and melting permafrost have resulted in damages to roads, utility infrastructure, seawalls and runways at several Air Force radar installations in Alaska, according to the report.