Department of the Navy kicks off Energy, Installations, and Environment Week with Earth Day

Specifically, the EI&E portfolio focuses on renewable, reliable, resilient energy sources, sustainability and construction, maintenance and sustainment of infrastructure, protecting the safety and occupational health of military and civilian personnel; environmental protection in support of mission readiness, planning and restoration ashore and afloat; and conservation of natural and cultural resources.

Earth Day is a worldwide event celebrated annually on April 22. Earth Day was founded in 1970 by Senator Gaylord Nelson and others as a grassroots effort to raise environmental awareness and involve citizens and communities. The DON theme for Earth Day 2024 is “Communities, Critical Infrastructure, and Climate Action”.

“We are focused each day on the communities where we live, train, and operate in, ensuring resilient climate action supports our critical infrastructure and mission success,” said Meredith Berger, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Energy, Installations, and Environment. “We are taking this week to celebrate our accomplishments and reinforce the critical work in the portfolio that advances the priorities that serve our Sailors, Marines, and our defense communities.”

Communities represent the ecosystems that Sailors and Marines rely on for mission accomplishment, the commands they are a part of, and the work installations do with the local community to address shared challenges.

Critical infrastructure is about enhancing installation resilience, improving the efficiency of systems and facilities ashore, while ensuring energy, water, and control systems are strengthened against threats and hazards.

Climate action is how the Department of the Navy ensures mission readiness. In May of 2022, the Department of the Navy released Climate Action 2030 in which Secretary Del Toro recognized climate change as one of the most destabilizing forces of our time and charged the Department with building a climate-ready force. To achieve these goals, we are building off our tradition of stewardship, on our bases and in defense communities. We are funding projects to replant forests, regenerate arid rangelands, and restore wetlands and marshlands to sequester carbon and improve the environmental resiliency of our lands.

To implement Climate Action 2030, the Department Chief Sustainability Officer has also issued five memos on key priorities: infrastructure, water resilience, nature-based resilience, sustainable acquisition and procurement, and shore energy. Climate Action 2030 and these memos, as well Earth Day 2024 guidance are found on the Energy, Installations, and the Environment public site: https://www.secnav.navy.mil/climate/pages/resources.aspx

Since the 1990s, the Department of the Navy (DON) and other military services have celebrated Earth Day annually, organizing events that are open to the public and/or military personnel, conducting educational outreach activities, and highlighting Navy/Marine Corps environmental and energy programs.

The DON ensures the values of Earth Day are upheld every day through continued dedication to environmental stewardship. The U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps take a proactive role in maintaining and improving environmental quality on installations and ranges to ensure that we have a force that is trained and safe in an environment that is protected. This raises \quality of life for Sailors, Marines, their families, and the local community. Clean air, water, and land are essential to the safety and health of our military and civilian personnel, families, and our neighboring communities; and are central to the ability of our installations and ranges to continue to meet mission critical functions.

“EI&E Week” will be marked not just by Earth Day and Arbor Day ceremonies and events, but throughout the week by speaking engagements, panels, resilience workshops, and safety seminars across the National Capital Region and country that highlights departmental accomplishments in Communities, Critical Infrastructure, and Climate Action.

“EI&E Week” will conclude with Arbor Day on April 26, the annual holiday that celebrate nature conservancy and the planting of trees.