Forecast: Storm Warnings
The impact of global warming on hurricane severity and frequency
Over the last several days Hurricane Dean whipped through the Caribbean before slamming into the
And now the actions of humans since the dawn of the industrial age will only propel future hurricanes’ power. There is an overwhelming scientific consensus that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere released by burning coal, oil and other fossil fuels has begun to warm the planet, including our oceans, and scientists have determined that warmer sea surface temperature can boost hurricanes’ ferocity, and may even increase their frequency. It is imperative that we do everything we can to prepare for the potential disasters.
In conjunction with the release of the report, Forecast: Storm Warnings, the Center for American Progress will conduct a forum that will discuss the impact of global warming on hurricane severity and frequency. In addition, there will be a discussion of necessary federal, state, and local policies that would increase the resilience of hurricane prone communities. The forum will feature, Mayor Richard Crotty (R) of
Featured Panelists:
Mayor Richard T. Crotty (R),
Dr. Peter Webster, Professor in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
John B. Copenhaver, President and Chief Executive Officer, DRI International
Jane Bullock, Former Chief of Staff, Federal Emergency Management Agency Director James Lee Witt
Moderated by:
Daniel J. Weiss, Senior Fellow and the Director of Climate Strategy, Center for American Progress
Monday, August 27, 2007
Program: 1:00pm to 2:00pm
Admission is free.
Center for American Progress
Map & Directions
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For more information, please call 202.741.6246.
Biographies
Mayor Richard Crotty grew up in
Upon his return to
At age 30, Mr. Crotty was elected to the Florida House of Representatives. During his fourteen years of legislative service as a member of both the House and Senate, Mr. Crotty was known as a reformer and consensus builder who succeeded by working closely “with both sides of the aisle.” Rep. Crotty was the prime sponsor of a bill creating the first and most successful Prepaid College Tuition program in
Mr. Crotty’s numerous awards include the Distinguished Alumnus and Distinguished Service Award from UCF and the Leroy Collins Distinguished Alumnus award from the entire
As a member of the Florida Senate, Senator Crotty served as his party’s Floor Leader. Just before retiring from the Legislature, Senator Crotty passed his last bill creating the “Junny Rios- Martinez Act” which ensured that sexual predators of children would not qualify for early release from prison.
On January 23, 2001, Florida Governor Jeb Bush appointed Mr. Crotty as Orange County Chairman shortly after President George W. Bush appointed then Chairman Mel Martinez to serve as Secretary of Housing & Urban Development (HUD). Chairman Crotty was elected to a full term in September of 2002 with 73% of the vote. In 2004,
Mayor Crotty has taken tough stands to improve transportation and school capacity, while working with regional partners to protect our valuable water supply and diversify our local economy with an appropriate balance of high tech, high fun jobs. Mayor Crotty has drawn up a “Blueprint for
Shortly after the terrorist attacks on our nation on September 11, 2001, Mayor Crotty gained international recognition for promoting our region’s visitor economy on BBC World Television. He also appeared on the CBS Evening News, the Today Show, Good Morning America, the Weather Channel, CNN, Fox News and a number of other cable networks regarding
Mayor Crotty and his wife Pam live in Belle Isle with their daughter Christina and son Tyler.
John B. Copenhaver is the President and Chief Executive Officer of DRI International, overseeing an organization that administers the industry’s premier educational and certification programs for those engaged in the practice of business continuity planning and management.
John is the former chairman of the Contingency Management Group. He provided on-site assistance to the governments of
John was the Region IV Director of FEMA, appointed by President Clinton in 1997. In this capacity, he directed the federal government’s response to 58 Presidentially-declared disasters. He was chairman of the Atlanta Federal Executive Board 2000-2001. He is a former adviser to the IBM International Crisis Response Team and was Director of Business Continuity Services for Bell South.
He is currently serving a term on the University of Georgia School of Law Board of Visitors. He earned his BS degree from
Dr. Peter Webster is a Professor in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and environmental Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology. Webster received his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in meteorology in 1972.
He has held faculty positions at
Webster is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, the American Meteorological Society, the Royal Meteorological Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has received a number of wards including the Jule Charney Award and the Carl Gustav Rossby Research Medal from the American Meteorological Society, the Adrian Gill Award from the Royal Society and a Senior Humboldt Fellowship.
Jane A. Bullock is a partner in Bullock & Haddow, LLC, disaster management consulting firm and is an Adjunct Professor at the Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management at The George Washington University, Washington, DC.
Ms. Bullock has over 25 years of private and public sector experience culminating in responsibility, as Chief of Staff, for the daily management and operations of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Federal Agency, responsible for disaster prevention, response and recovery. In the course of her career, she directed the restructuring and streamlining of the Agency, set policy and programmatic direction for the Nation’s emergency management systems, served as the Agency’s spokesperson and worked with the U.S. Congress and the Nation’s Governors to enhance disaster management throughout the
Since leaving FEMA, Ms. Bullock has worked with a variety of organizations to design and implement disaster management and homeland security programs including the Corporation for National and Community Service; the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the New York Academy of Medicine, National Academy of Science Transportation Research Board, DRII International, and County and municipal governments throughout the United States. In the post Katrina environment, she has worked with Save the Children to design and implement their domestic disaster response and recovery program. Internationally, she has worked with countries in Central and South America, Eastern Europe and
Daniel J. Weiss is a Senior Fellow and the Director of Climate Strategy at the Center for American Progress, where he leads the Center’s clean energy and climate advocacy campaign. Before coming to CAP, he spent 25 years working with environmental advocacy organizations and political campaigns. Weiss is an expert in energy and environmental policy; legislative strategy and tactics; and advocacy communications. Most recently, he was a senior vice president with M+R Strategic Services, where he oversaw collaborative campaign efforts by 15 major national environmental organizations working to oppose anti-environmental legislation. This included field organizers, grassroots mobilization, earned and paid media, and opinion research.
Prior to M+R Strategic Services, Weiss served for 16 years at the Sierra Club, first as a
A graduate of the