By MC2 Victoria Ochoa

U.S. Air Force retired Lt. Gen. Ken Eickmann addresses the national security implications of climate change during the latest Defense Energy Seminar, July 8. Eickmann discussed the military's need for conservation and energy innovation in the U.S., and addressed how climate change continues to challenge key elements of domestic and global security.

"I think that with my more than 30 years in the military, and my concentration on energy security and environmental issues, I firmly believe that the biggest concerns of our time are centered around population and climate change," said Eickmann.

"If the sea goes up three feet to one meter, New Orleans and the entire base of the Mississippi Delta will be underwater," said Eickmann. "These are big issues that we need to address because they are no longer future threats; these threats are here and now today."

Eickmann also discussed improvements the military establishment is implementing on bases worldwide, alternative energy adoption, lower energy consumption goals and the installation of electrical micro-grids that are independent from the surrounding area.

"Failure to address known vulnerabilities, and unwillingness to improve the grid aggressively holds the nation's security at risk," said Eickmann. "The nation currently has a $10 billion deficit maintaining the current energy grid, and this is only to maintain it, not to make it better … With a susceptible power grid exposed to the environment, and daily military operations depending on electricity, we must come up with a solution to improve upon it."

Eickmann is a 31-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force and a member of the CNA Military Advisory Board, a group of retired three- and four-star flag and general officers from the DOD that studies pressing issues of the day to assess their impact on America's national security.