Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

MURIEL BOWSER

    MAYOR

May 22, 2024

The Honorable Phil Mendelson

Chairman

Council of the District of Columbia

John A. Wilson Building

1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 504

Washington, DC 20004

Dear Chairman Mendelson:

In accordance with section 2 of the Confirmation Act of 1978, effective March 3, 1979 (D.C. Law 2-

142; D.C. Official Code § 1-523.01), and pursuant to section 203 of the Green Finance Authority

Establishment Act of 2018, effective August 22, 2018 (D.C. Law 22-155; D.C. Official Code § 8-

173.23), I am pleased to nominate the following individual:

                                       Ms. Deborah Loomis

                                         34th Street, SE

                                      Washington, DC 20032

                                            (Ward 7)

for reappointment as a voting member with financial, project management or legal expertise in clean

energy, clean infrastructure, clean transportation, stormwater management, or green infrastructure of

the Green Finance Authority Board, for a term to end July 9, 2027.

Enclosed, you will find biographical information detailing the experience of the above-mentioned

nominee, together with a proposed resolution to assist the Council during the confirmation process.

I would appreciate the Council’s earliest consideration of this nomination for confirmation. Please

do not hesitate to contact me, or Steven Walker, Director, Mayor’s Office of Talent and

Appointments, should the Council require additional information.

Sincerely,

Muriel Bowser

Mayor

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 2                                                                       Chairman Phil Mendelson

 3                                                                       at the request of the Mayor

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 6                                    A PROPOSED RESOLUTION

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10                      IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

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15   To confirm the reappointment of Deborah Loomis to the Green Finance Authority Board.

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17          RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, that this

18   resolution may be cited as the "Green Finance Authority Board Deborah Loomis Confirmation

19   Resolution of 2024".

20          Sec. 2. The Council of the District of Columbia confirms the reappointment of:

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22                                        Ms. Deborah Loomis

23                                           34th Street, SE

24                                        Washington, DC 20032

25                                              (Ward 7)

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27   as a voting member with financial, project management or legal expertise in clean energy, clean

28   infrastructure, clean transportation, stormwater management, or green infrastructure of the Green

29   Finance Authority Board, established by section 201 of the Green Finance Authority

30   Establishment Act of 2018, effective August 22, 2018 (D.C. Law 22-155; D.C. Official Code§

31   8-173.21), for a term to end July 9, 2027.

32          Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia shall transmit a copy of this resolution,

33   upon its adoption, to the nominee and to the Office of the Mayor.

34          Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately.

                                          Deborah Loomis

                               FEDERAL CLIMATE POLICY LEADER ∙

                   FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL ATTORNEY ∙ RETIRED NAVAL OFFICER

Passionate, action-oriented climate leader with extensive experience leading multi-disciplinary and multi-

stakeholder teams across large organizations. Published thought leader of influential climate policy publications.

Proven track record of advising senior clients on complex and high-visibility issues, and obtaining results by

working collaboratively with regulators, partner agencies, and across the Department of Defense.

                                              SPECIFIC EXPERTISE

 Climate Policy & Security                   Natural Climate Solutions                      Clean Energy Transition

 Water Resilience                            Endangered Species & Wildlife Law              Marine Sanctuaries & Monuments

 Clean Water Act                             Tribal & Cultural Resources                    Coastal Zone Management Act

                                          PROFESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY

Senior Advisor for Climate Change to the Secretary of the Navy (August 2021-Present) 80 hrs/wk;

GS-0301-15

• As part of the Biden Administration, selected as the first Senior Advisor for Climate Change to serve in the

    Department of the Navy (DON).

• Published the Department’s first climate strategy aligned to the Secretary’s strategic guidance, and developed

    an associated campaign plan to execute specific initiative to achieve the goals set in the strategy.

• Lead a Department-wide working group that includes 100+ technical and subject matter experts from across

    the Navy and Marine Corps, to include researchers, logisticians, public health professionals, natural resource

    specialists, energy managers, master planners, manpower experts, educators, and more.

• Serve as Executive Director of the DON’s Climate Executive Steering Committee, which includes all

    Departmental Assistant Secretaries and Senior Officers from the Navy and Marine Corps Staffs.

• Departmental lead for all climate-related resourcing, and lead DON representative on DoD climate-related

    working groups on topics ranging from climate literacy to wargaming. Regular speaker on climate policy and

    initiatives to internal and external audiences.

• Developed Department-wide partnership with USACE Engineering with Nature program to increase natural

    infrastructure, improve water resilience, and achieve carbon drawdown across the Navy and Marine Corps.

• Manage a team of one active duty servicemember, one civilian counsel, and five contractors.

UNITED STATES NAVY

Assistant Counsel (Environment), Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC (March 2020-August

2021) 80 hrs/wk; NH-0905-IV

• Lead environmental planning counsel for an organization of 80,000+ people and $25bn annual budget,

    responsible for Navy shipyards and testing of new sea systems, with dozens of offices around the world.

THE PROVENANCE CO.

Co-Founder (2019-2021)

• The Provenance Co. takes land out of conventional chemical-laden agriculture, and restores the native prairie

   using holistically managed animals. In so doing, Provenance makes landscapes more resilient, sequestering

   carbon, restoring the water cycle, and bringing hope to rural communities devasted by industrial agriculture.

UNITED STATES NAVY – ACTIVE DUTY

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Senior Counsel, Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Energy, Installations & Environment) Washington, DC

(2018-2019)

• Lead DoN counsel for all major Navy at-sea training and testing environmental planning documents and

    litigation worldwide, providing guidance to lower echelons on all relevant environmental statutes and

    consultations with regulators around the United States on CZMA, ESA, NHPA, MMPA, and NMSA.

• Lead DoN counsel for Guam and Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas environmental planning,

    compliance and litigation; working with other federal agencies from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to the

    Department of Homeland Security, and across the Department of the Navy and Department of Defense.

    After more than 4 years of failed negotiations, was part of a small Navy team that brokered an agreement

    between the Marine Corps, USFWS and the U.S. Geological Survey for shared and compatible use of a

    national wildlife refuge in Guam.

• During a contentious NHPA consultation involving the basing of new electronic attack aircraft at NAS

    Whidbey Island, coordinated negotiations and responded to numerous inquiries from the state Governor,

    congressional, NGO, and other stakeholders.

Deputy Counsel, OPNAV N45 (Fleet Readiness and Logistics), Washington, DC (2016-2018)

• Lead OPNAV counsel for environmental planning and permitting for all Navy training and testing activities at

   sea, worldwide. Worked extensively with natural resource statute regulators on MMPA, ESA, Clean Water

   Act (stormwater and other compliance) marine sanctuaries, , essential fish habitat, and coastal zone

   management consultations.

• After a strong pro-plaintiff 9th Circuit opinion in a case involving critical Navy sonar operations overseas,

   coordinated Navy strategy and negotiating position, effectively advancing Navy’s interests within DoD up to

   the National Security Council. Negotiated a settlement which protected all Navy operations, contrary to

   operational concessions Navy had made in earlier rounds of litigation. Then later obtained the Deputy

   Secretary of Defense’s approval to invoke a national defense exemption to protect Navy operations.

Deputy Environmental Counsel, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, Norfolk, VA (2013-2016)

• Navy liaison to an inter-governmental pilot project that took a “whole of government” approach to

   combatting sea level rise and climate change in the Hampton Roads region. Worked collaboratively with

   representatives from the state, several municipalities, other federal agencies, academia, and NGOs.

• Lead environmental planning counsel for all Navy at-sea training and testing activities in the Atlantic

• Lead counsel on cross-functional team of environmental professionals that developed first of its kind

   environmental compliance for an expeditionary Navy ice camp supporting submarine training and testing and

   scientific research on an ice floe in the Arctic. Worked extensively with EPA, National Marine Fisheries

   Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) as

   well as native Alaskan tribal groups. When the ice floe supporting the camp broke apart, jeopardizing lives and

   equipment, served as Navy’s primary conduit to EPA in managing the emergency evacuation.

• Recognized best environmental planning team by the Chief of Naval Operations and Secretary of the Navy

Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC (2012-2013)

• Student pursuing masters of law with a focus in environmental and energy law

Deputy Special Counsel to the Chief of Naval Operations, Washington, DC (2010-2012)

• Personal counsel to the most senior officer in the Navy and one of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Deputy Executive Assistant to the Judge Advocate General (JAG), Washington DC (2009-2010)

• Personal advisor to the Navy JAG (the senior military attorney in the Department of the Navy)

Criminal Defense Attorney; Officer-in-Charge, Jacksonville FL (2006-2009)

• Represented dozens of clients litigating contested trials, guilty pleas, and administrative hearings on a wide

   range of criminal charges. Supervised 6 attorneys and 6 paralegals.

• Managed 5 tax preparation centers in 4 states, served hundreds of legal assistance clients on estate planning,

   family law, consumer, credit, and landlord tenant issues.

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Georgetown University Law Center, Washington DC (2003-2006)

• Student pursuing juris doctor focusing on international law

Navy Liaison to U.S. Senate, Washington, DC (2002-2003)

• Liaison between U.S. Senators and professional staff members and Navy leaders around the world

Surface Warfare Officer, Norfolk, VA and San Diego, CA (1998-2003)

• Supervised department 25 personnel composed of various divisions which included the ship’s navigation team,

    administrative staff, medical staff, and the ship’s maintenance program for 340-person crew

• Safely charted and navigated over 40,000 miles in Pacific and Indian Oceans and Persian Gulf

• Coordinated ship’s action during apprehension and detention of UN sanctions violators in Persian Gulf

• As ship’s public affairs officer coordinated embarked international press corps covering Tomahawk missile

    launches as part of NATO actions in Kosovo

                                                 EDUCATION

LLM, Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC (2013)

• Focused on energy and environmental law; graduated with distinction (3.78/4.0)

• Thomas Chetwood Bradbury prize for achieving highest GPA in the individualized program

• Recognized by professors for submitting the best exam in International Environmental Law and International

  Commercial Arbitration courses

JD, Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC (2006)

• Graduated with honors (3.6/4.0); Global Law Scholar

• 1st Place team finish at European Law Moot Court regional competition in Gothenburg, Sweden; 2nd Place

    team finish at European Law Moot Court final round competition in Luxembourg

• Represented Georgetown Law at the WTO Moot Court competition in Geneva, Switzerland

• President, Georgetown Military Law Society

Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

(1994-1998)

• Graduated cum laude (3.6/4.0)

• BS in Economics from the Wharton School – Concentration in Finance

• BA in International Studies from the College of Arts & Sciences

• Certificate of Practical Business French from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Paris)

                                        PERSONAL & PUBLICATIONS

•   Appointed by Mayor Muriel Bowser and confirmed by the DC Council to serve as a member of the Board of

    Directors of the DC Green Bank. Review, advise, and approve projects ranging from solar generation, energy

    efficiency retrofits, stormwater infrastructure, and transportation electrification across all 8 wards of DC.

    (August 2021-Present)

•   Public Voices Fellow with the OpEd Project & Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (2021)

•   The Climate 21 Project – Co-author of Climate 21 Project memo on actions the Department of Defense

    should take on climate change under the Biden Administration (February 2021)

•   Co-author, The World Climate Security Report, which was unveiled by the Center for Climate and Security at

    the Munich Security Conference (February 2020)

•   Truman National Security Project, Defense Council, and Energy & Climate Expert Group (2018-present)

•   DC Department of Energy & Environment Sustainability Ambassador (2017-2019)

•   Selected as a fellow to the University of Pennsylvania’s Global Social Impact House (2015)

•   Fluent in Italian and French

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           Executive Office of the Mayor - Office of Talent and Appointments

  John A. Wilson Building | 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, Suite 600 | Washington, DC 20004

                                        Deborah Loomis

                         Ms. Deborah Loomis currently serves in the Biden Administration as the

                         Department of the Navy’s first Senior Advisor for Climate Change. In

                         that capacity she is the senior advisor on climate change for both the

                         United States Navy and United States Marine Corps, providing policy

                         advice on climate action ranging from energy to public health, education,

                         and nature-based solutions.

                         Ms. Loomis began her career as a surface warfare officer, as one of the

                         early group of women onboard surface combatants. She deployed to the

                         Persian Gulf and in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans onboard two

destroyers before earning a Navy scholarship to attend law school. After receiving her law degree

from Georgetown University Law Center, Ms. Loomis joined the Navy JAG Corps where she

advised several four-star admirals, including the Chief of Naval Operations, and has served as a

Navy legislative liaison to the United States Senate. Ms. Loomis returned to Georgetown

University to earn a master of laws degree with a focus on energy and environmental law and

became one of the Navy JAG Corps’ most experienced environmental attorneys, working within

the Department of Defense. Her last tour in uniform was as senior counsel to the Assistant

Secretary of the Navy for Energy, Installations, and Environment.

Ms. Loomis has been working on climate change for many years. She understands that climate is

a critical security issue and is committed to changing the culture and priorities within the

Department of Defense to reflect this reality. While stationed in Norfolk, she was one of the

founding members of a pilot project that brought together representatives from the federal, state,

and local governments to address sea level rise using a whole of government approach. In DC, she

has been engaged with the Center for Climate and Security, and was a co-author of the World

Climate Security Report 2020 which was unveiled at the prestigious Munich Security Conference.

Ms. Loomis also co-wrote the Climate 21 Project’s report on what action the Department of

Defense should take on climate change. She is a member of the Truman National Security Project,

where she is part of the energy and climate expert group.

A committed Washingtonian, Ms. Loomis was appointed a D.C. Sustainability Ambassador in

2017, and has worked with local non-profits committed to eliminating food waste and increasing

access to healthy food. In 2019 she co-founded The Provenance Co., a company that is

implementing regenerative practices to restore native grasslands on the U.S. Great Plains.

A Ward 7 resident, Ms. Loomis, received a commission in the Navy upon graduating from the

University of Pennsylvania with dual degrees from the Wharton School and the College of Arts

and Sciences, her Juris Doctor and Master of Laws degrees from Georgetown University Law

Center.

                              GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

                                 Executive Office of Mayor Muriel Bowser

Office of the General Counsel to the Mayor

To:                 Tomas Talamante, Steve Walker

From:               Betsy Cavendish

Date:               May 15, 2024

Subject:            Legal sufficiency review of Resolutions nominating Deborah Loomis, Todd

                    Monash, and Ricardo Nogueira as members of the Green Finance Authority

                    Board

This is to Certify that this office has reviewed the above-referenced resolutions and

found them to be legally unobjectionable. If you have any questions in this regard, please do not

hesitate to call Erika Satterlee, Deputy General Counsel, Executive Office of the Mayor, at 202-

724-1303, or me at 202-724-7681.

______________________________

Elizabeth A. (Betsy) Cavendish

______________________________________________________________________________

The John A. Wilson Building   • 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW   •   Suite 300 •   Washington, D.C. 20004   • Office (202) 724-7681