Introduce you to the former miami dade commissioner cady. Aty sorenson [applause] thank you, dan. It is a pleasure to be with all of you this morning and especially to introduce this distinguished panel. It has been almost three years to the day since the deq visited us in miami dade county, so we nancy hereo have today. Now a recovering county commissioner i recall speaking about how miami cities are in between the biscayne bay and everglades ecosystems, and the land can only be considered high in miami but it is really see level. A more accurate way to describe these arid it is dry because we have pushed down the water level through an elaborate system of canals so that we would have land to build upon. Even though it would be hard to convince our residents even though we get 60 inches of water every year during the summer months, and that water continues to be an issue in south florida. I also spoke about how pushing billions of gallons of fresh water to make this part of florida habitable has had serious environmental consequences. The early history of south florida was about waging war on the everglades. In winning that battle we have lost the greater. We have the prime the everglades of its needed water supply and jeopardized an ecosystem on which we are entirely dependent. Once we look at the fresh water to build our cities, the sea pushed in from underneath. Salt water intrusion into our are prefer has been a challenge for the area and regionss water managers. Recent Research Shows substantial shift of the salt front farther and land over the last decade and poses a significant threat to our Drinking Water supply. Sea level rise will make salt water intrusion worse and will challenge our ability to stay high and dry as well. The canal system that keeps the land dry now will be affected by Sea Level Rise, compromising our ability to adapt. A recent study was conducted by the south Florida Water management district that demonstrates that currently gravitydependent drainage systems will lose a significant percentage of its flood protection and drainage capacity with less than 6 inches of civil rights. We know now that 6 inches is optimistic. The necessary Capital Investment that will be required to overcome our vulnerability are just now being evaluated. We have eliminated the window of opportunity to develop and execute an Effective National and regional adaptation plan. The federal government is our longterm partner managing south floridas Water Resources and has a major role to play in the development of a plan to address Climate Change adaptation and to help us put the plan into action. Ceq and president obama, we need you. [applause] the other major threat we face from Sea Level Rise is salt water intrusion. One in for a solution is already underway. The comprehensive everglades restoration plan. Restore more fresh water to the everglades is not as much about protecting us from Sea Level Rise as it is about restoring the ecosystem. As i said then and will say again, we have to fight water with water. More fresh water for the everglades need more water flowing into our offer and pushing back on the encroaching see. Completing portions of the spreader project will be critical to restoring important wetlands flowing into the everglades and Biscayne National park. And that means we will have a significant tool to hold back salt water front precisely in the place where we are seeing the greatest environmental the greatest movement and land. Everglades restoration is also emblematic of the challenges and successes we can have working together. Local state and local government. It should serve as Lessons Learned as we plan our adaptation strategy together. I want to take a moment to thank president obama and his administration for embracing everglades restoration and pushing for projects that have long been stalled, but we have to keep our people busy restoring the everglades. That means were also addressing the issue of jobs and we are creating well paying jobs protecting the citys, ecosystems that support us. I have outlined a couple of issues that we will have to face as a community and nation when try to adapt to the climate induced impact. The conversation has progressed to this point largely because of the cooperation between local, state, and national interests, and were cast to continue in that spirit of operation. Thanks to the leadership of board mayor Kristin Jacobs, who we will hear from, palm beach, miami dade, and others created a compact to create solutions for our region and we now have the Climate Change action plan. Municipalities are also getting on board. It is great to see many of you here today. The state has been missing in this discussion, so we depend on him to bring us into it. [applause] lets give him that responsibility. List is daunting. Infrastructure, natural resources, and bring to a rapidly develop rapid c rise level water that can limit our system and can affectively contested of effectiveness of potential adaptation solutions. We need to create a clear admission strategy for the state and our region with commitments from all partners to develop goals, timetables, and find the funding to do this. These are hazards we need to prepare for, so it is a tough thing for policymakers to wrap their heads around, much less convey to our citizens. We are used to breaking for hurricanes. You can see that on the local news, when is expected to hit, and you can plan for the recovery and eventual return to normal. We know with Climate Change there is no real return to normal. In a way, the biggest threat is our complacency and clueless this, pardon the expression, of our elected officials and many citizens. One government does not do well, and in this case acts more like a business, is an area of marketing. The director of the project on Climate Change communication talks about the fact that for most people, Climate Change is not immediate and this girl. It is invisible and faceless. A1a in you live near brouwer county, or have been in miami dade during high tide, it is invisible. You have heard about the percentage is about those concerned in america. But we all know, the sides is robust. It is caused by humans. It is bad and will get worse. But the message has to be there is hope and there are solutions. Why hasnt this massive gone through . The volume is low and the Disinformation Campaign fueled by the fossil fuel companies have really let people it leaves people who are not very informed to thing that the science is unsettled and the experts do not agree. We know elected officials often do not act unless there is an organized movement, and other words, unless they are forced to. Term limits make it worse. My worry about something that will happen after your eight years are up . That is where Good Government comes and it and why i started a Good Government initiative at the university of miami after meat leaving the commission voluntarily. We want elected officials who are knowledgeable and ready to work with their constituents, and to lead. And to make the case for Public Investment and infrastructure and to enact a policy change is necessary to prepare us for a difficult future. With the climate, it takes a significant and sensitive leadership. This is not a partisan issue. We do know that Climate Change is a threat to everyone. We need some bottomof demand for change. We are all interconnected. We have responsibility to our fellow human beings. We cannot use of all the resources and leave non for our children and grandchildren. I am happy to report that there are glimmers of hope in local government. Calledrganization brazilian communities for america wealth champion hundreds of local officials to commit to creating more prepared communities that can bounce back from the extreme weather, and economic challenges. They believe a strong and prosperous america starts with local leadership. Not surprisingly, Kristin Jacobs has signed on, and knowing her, she will soon be leaving the organization. There are a lot of citizen efforts as well. The Miami Dade Chamber of commerce are starting to question their officials about their infrastructure plans and whether they adequately address Sea Level Rise. And lets face it, the commission are not hippies. They are practical Business People who are starting to see implications of Sea Level Rise and their communities and begin to vote mobilize. Among the institute is educating adults and children and becoming a communicator in miami dade county. An interesting project is coming to miami, created by new york city public intervention artists. It uses arts and visuals to show the public how Climate Change through Sea Level Rise and extreme weather will impact our communities. They will capture the attention by collaboration with communities to draw a bold, climbed across areas of the community susceptible to Climate Change and Sea Level Rise. It is a participatory art project and they will create a spectacle that sparks conversation, sharing, and learning about the impact and solutions to Climate Change. Be teaming up with the Environmental Coordinator to expand high water lines in 2013 and will work with communities in miami, the most climate vulnerable of u. S. Cities according to them, and london to use innovative tool to educate. A an open source guide to help people of realize how they can adapt. Of course, there will also be a social media on top of that. I think it will have some very interesting impact. So there you have it. From big picture to individual activity, we see increased action and attention to Climate Change on our particular challenge, Sea Level Rise. Thank you for doing the important work youre doing and let me urge you to please make it a priority to educate your elected officials. They are the ones that will make the policies that will really address these issues and a half to be in this room. How many elected officials are in this room this morning . You see what kind of worwe have to do. Thank you. [applause] i want to briefly hit on a couple of teams that katy hit. Climate change has been a challenge for people to get their hands around. You cannot really feel a couple degrees. It is not actionable. I grew up on miami beach. Sinceents were there 1972. As a kid, we did not have flooded streets. Even with brainstorms we did that have flooded streets. Yet, now, while people look at the devastation that sandy cost, what many people do not see is that while sandy was pummeling the northeast, miami beach had significant tracts of land that were under water and it had not rained that day or week here that is where you can start to touch and see it. That is what Sea Level Rise brings to this conversation in a different way that decades of conversation about Global Warming have, and yet, the two are tied. I also think the opportunity of conversation is critical and there are some great opportunities that we will highlight here already taking place. I recently commented that an event for the city of miami beach, the idea might be why not create a place where people would visit to come to learn about how to tackle the greatest challenge we are going to face as a species . Be come here, as we would the leaders for americans to learn from and for International Tourists to come and learn from. Of course, tourism as are driving industry here, so why would we not aspire to do that . There is great opportunity in this conversation. Adaptation of infrastructure is needed, so there is great opportunity. But theres also great risk. The two have to be addressed handinhand. Fortunately, we have great leadership joining us today to do that. For the past of the years i have had the privilege of working with the White House Council on Environmental Quality as ever to implement the president s executive order on sustainability to federal agencies. Nancy has been a partner and friend. It is my honor and privilege to introduce you to chair sutley. Mayor Kristin Jacobs has been a National Leader on this conversation with work in the southeast southeast Florida Regional climate compact. , and thatsve mark broken an outspoken advocate on this issue. That, i want to introduce you to our guest speaker this morning. Please join me to welcome them on stage. [applause] chair sutley, you have been doing exceptional work with the federal agencies over last few years. Can you give us some context of what youre doing with the white house . , first of all, thank you for having me and for those of you coming. It is an honor to join this group here and to hear katys opening remarks. The president has talked about our need to move our country to Clean Energy Economy since he ran for office in 2008. Recognizing the link between the whether we produce and use energy, impact on our economy, the impact on our environment. In his inaugural address earlier this year, he noted that Climate Change is one of the great challenges of our time, and even yesterday, he gave a speech at the Brandenburg Gate in berlin and i actually wrote down what he said. Climate change is the global threat of our time. As we have been talking, for the sake of future generations, a world that needs to come together to address this challenge. In the state of the union this year, he laid out a challenge to the congress to act on Climate Change and said that if congress did not act, then we would, and that he would direct his cabinet to do everything that we could to address Climate Change. This is something that we have been busy on for the last four years. Historic investments in clean energy, historic fuel economy standards that will double miles by 2025. N for cars investments in green energy have allowed us as a nation to double our generation of renewable energy. The president recognizes the importance of, while we do everything we can to reduce the impact of Climate Change, we also have to prepare for the. Mpact it is great to come to southeast florida where you all get this, and have been doing some terrific work. Four federal agencies, what we really have been trying to get agencies to do is to start thinking about their own operations, their own facilities, assets, how are they going to do with the impacts of Climate Change . If you think about the department of defenses installations across the country, including here in florida, the vulnerability to Sea Level Rise, to wildfire, drought, and a number of other issues, and then thinking about how the policies and programs at the federal government runs. Theexample, think about federal highway funding. Investing the federal government investing with state and local governments and communities and transportation infrastructure that is supposed to be around for 50 or 100 years. We have had agencies focused on that. The next that to think about the impact of Climate Change is how we make sure we are supporting the efforts of state and local governments and communities and businesses as they prepare for the impact of Climate Change through science, policy tools, and really thinking about how vulnerability translates for economic sectors. Think about Hurricane Sandy, for example. One of the things that did not get much attention, in new york, you could not find gasoline. My sister, who lives in queens, was running around the boroughs she was not affected by Hurricane Sandy at all try to find gas for her car. That shows vulnerability in our Energy Sector as well. These of the kinds of things that we need to focus on and we need to do it as a nation. That means all levels of government and communities have to Work Together to address this, as the president said, the global threat of our time. Well said. Mayor jacobs, you have played an instrumental role in this community in its response. Can you tell us about the work that you have been doing from here . One of the things i wanted to set up as a backdrop to todays conversation is the misconception around the country that Climate Change and Sea Level Rise only affect those on the coast. While it is true that between 50 and 60 of the world thought nations population live near the coast, there are other parts of the country experiencing Climate Change affects now, and these changes will continue. When we look at our cosine, there was a study that came out of france that looked at the top 20 cities on the planet boilable to Sea Level Rise. They found a miami dade mature area was no. 1