Global Tipping Points: Climate Change and National Security

The World Affairs Council of NH and the

League of Conservation Voters present...

Global Tipping Points: Climate Wars

Climate Change and National Security

Join the World Affairs Council of New Hampshire and the League of Conservation Voters for the first installment in our virtual, star-studded Global Tipping Points speaker series this Fall! Our kickoff event will be headlined by former United States Navy Admiral James Stavridis, who will share his insights on the convergence of national security and climate change, based on his extensive experiences. After his remarks, Stavridis will be joined by former Deputy Under Secretaries of Defense Sherri Goodman and John Conger for a panel discussion examining what many National Security experts view as our country's most pressing threat: Climate Change.

Following the opening remarks, a moderated Question and Answer session will be held. All questions can be emailed to council@wacnh.org, posted in either of the YouTube or Facebook Live chats, or the messenger app on our website, so tune in here or at wacnh.org and we hope to see you there!

When: Wednesday, September 23rd at 5:30PM - 7:00 pm

Where: wacnh.org

This event was made possible by the generous support of:

About James Stavridis

Admiral James Stavridis is an Operating Executive of The Carlyle Group, following five years as the 12th Dean of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.  A retired 4-star officer in the U.S. Navy, he led the NATO Alliance in global operations from 2009 to 2013 as Supreme Allied Commander with responsibility for Afghanistan, Libya, the Balkans, Syria, counter piracy, and cyber security.  He also served as Commander of U.S. Southern Command, with responsibility for all military operations in Latin America from 2006-2009.  He earned more than 50 medals, including 28 from foreign nations in his 37-year military career. 

Earlier in his military career he commanded the top ship in the Atlantic Fleet, winning the Battenberg Cup, as well as a squadron of destroyers and a carrier strike group – all in combat.  In 2016, he was vetted for Vice President by Hillary Clinton and subsequently invited to Trump Tower to discuss a cabinet position in the Trump Administration. 

Admiral Stavridis earned a PhD in international relations and has published nine books and hundreds of articles in leading journals around the world.  His 2012 TED talk on global security has close to one million views.  Admiral Stavridis is a monthly columnist for TIME Magazine and Chief International Security Analyst for NBC News, and has tens of thousands of connections on the social networks.

About Sherri Goodman

Sherri Goodman is an experienced leader and senior executive, lawyer and director in the fields of national security, energy, science, oceans and environment.  She is a Senior Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center and CNA, and the Senior Strategist at the Center for Climate and Security.  Previously, she served as the President and CEO of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership.

Goodman served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of CNA (Center for Naval Analyses)  where she was also the founder and Executive Director of the CNA Military Advisory Board, whose landmark reports include National Security and the Threat of Climate Change (2007), and National Security and the Accelerating Risks of Climate Change (2014),  Advanced Energy and US National Security (2017), and The Role of Water Stress in Instability and Conflict (2017) among others.  The film The Age of Consequences  in which Goodman is featured, is based on the work of the CNA Military Advisory Board.

Goodman served as the first Deputy Undersecretary of Defense (Environmental Security) from 1993-2001.   As the chief environmental, safety, and occupational health officer for the Department of Defense (DoD), she oversaw an annual budget of over $5 billion.  She established the first environmental, safety and health performance metrics for the Department and, as the nation’s largest energy user, led its energy, environmental and natural resource conservation programs. Overseeing the President’s plan for revitalizing base closure communities, she ensured that 80% of base closure property became available for transfer and reuse. Ms. Goodman has twice received the DoD medal for Distinguished Public Service, the Gold Medal from the National Defense Industrial Association, and the EPA’s Climate Change Award.

Goodman has served on the staff of the Senate Armed Services Committee for Committee Chairman Senator Sam Nunn.  She has practiced law at Goodwin Procter, as both a litigator and environmental attorney, and has worked at RAND and SAIC.

Goodman serves on the boards of the Atlantic Council and its Resilience Center, the Council on Strategic Risk, the Joint Ocean Commission Leadership Council, the Marshall Legacy Institute, Marstel-Day LLC,  the National Executive Committee of the US Water Partnership, the Advisory Committee of the US Global Change Research Program and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).  She is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, served on its Arctic Task Force in 2016 and on the Board of its Center for Preventive Action.

Previously, she served on the Boards of Blue Star Families, the Committee on Conscience of the U.S. Holocaust Museum, the National Academy of Sciences’ Boards on Energy and Environmental Systems (BEES) and Environmental Systems and Toxicology (BEST), and the Secretary of State’s International Security Advisory Board.

She has also served on the Responsibility to Protect Working Group co-chaired by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.  In 2010, Goodman served on the Quadrennial Defense Review Independent Panel co-chaired by former National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley and former Secretary of Defense Bill Perry.

Goodman has testified before numerous committees of the U.S. Congress, and conducted interviews with print, television, radio and online media.  She has published widely in various print and on line media and in legal and scholarly journals. She has been an Adjunct Lecturer in International Affairs and Security at the Kennedy School of Government and an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Kennedy School’s Center for Science and International Affairs.

The daughter of Holocaust refugees who arrived in New York in the late 1930s, she was born in Queens.

A summa cum laude graduate of Amherst College, she earned a law degree from Harvard Law School and a masters in public policy degree from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.  She received an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Amherst College in 2018.

About John Conger

John Conger is Director of the Center for Climate and Security, where he oversees all of the Center’s programs, and Chair of the Climate and Security Advisory Group (CSAG). He is also a Senior US Advisor to the International Military Council on Climate and Security (IMCCS).

Mr. Conger previously served as Senior Policy Advisor with the Center, and as the Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) at the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).  As principal deputy comptroller, he assisted the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) in the performance of his or her duties, provided advice to the Secretary of Defense on all budgetary and financial matters, including the development and execution of the DoD’s annual budget of over $500 billion, and oversaw the DoD’s efforts to achieve audit readiness.

Prior to his service as Deputy Comptroller, Mr. Conger oversaw energy, installations and environmental policy throughout DoD in three different positions: as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations and Environment, as Acting Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Installations & Environment, and as Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Installations & Environment from 2009 to 2015.  In this role, Mr. Conger oversaw a vast portfolio that included base closure, energy security, climate change, and management of $850 billion in real property.

Before his appointment at DoD, Mr. Conger served for 12 years on legislative staffs in the U.S. Congress, including as Professional Staff for the House International Relations Committee.  Previously, Mr. Conger was employed in the private sector as an aerospace engineer and defense analyst supporting the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Mr. Conger holds a B.S. and an M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.A. in Science, Technology and Public Policy from the George Washington University. He is also President of Conger Strategies and Solutions, LLC, and a non-resident senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.