Sierra Club Virginia Chapter and Partners host Seatack Coastal Community Conversation

(VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia – May 14, 2019) – About 30 Hampton Roads community members gathered to learn about the impacts of climate change and discuss the ways residents can take action. The event hosted by the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter, Mothers Outfront, and Seatack Civic League
created an opportunity to engage in a dialogue about about identifying climate solutions and calling on public officials to take actions to implement those solutions.

“It is crucial for communities in Hampton Roads to involve themselves with local resilience and mitigation efforts addressing sea level rise. If residents wish to maintain their quality of life, being an active participant in sea level rise adaptation is the path to doing so. Climate change will only worsen the effects of sea level rise and flooding so we must be a part of the decision making process in order to ensure our resiliency on the coast,” said Kiquanda Baker, Organizer with Chesapeake Climate Action Network.

Dr. Karen Holmes, professor at Norfolk State University spoke about the intersectionality of sociological effects and climate change. “Often times impacted communities such as people of color and lower income feel voiceless in these conversations and empirical evidence shows that suffering from environmental impacts causes trauma in these communities,” Dr. Holmes stated about the need for equitable representation when finding solutions to climate change.

Virginia Wasserberg, activist with STOP the Flooding NOW, spoke about local efforts in Virginia Beach to combat recurrent flooding. She stated that combating flooding is a multifaceted issue for coastal communities and “we have to bring the pieces of the puzzle together to come to effective solutions in Hampton Roads.”

Additionally, Dr. Michelle Covi, assistant professor of practice in the Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Old Dominion University, spoke about the environmental impacts of flooding and sea level rise on water quality.

After presentations from the panelists, the audience engaged in conversation by asking questions of the featured speakers, which also included the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter’s I’esha Wynn, Conservation Program Manager and Kim Miller, Senior Organizer from Mothers Outfront.

For more information, contact I’esha Wynn at iesha.wynn@sierraclub.org or 757-770-0057.