A public forum on global warming is set for 6-7:30 p.m. Aug. 27 in downtown Belleville. It will be held at the Southwestern Illinois College PSOP Building, 201 N. Church St.

The town hall meeting will be part of the summer statewide Illinois Environmental Council-sponsored series that aims to convene local residents, elected officials and community groups to discuss how soaring gas prices, asthma rates and shifting gardening zones are related to climate change.

"We face a host of problems related to global warming, but most people haven't made the connection," said Jonathan Goldman, executive director of the environmental council. "These public forums will help everyone better understand the links and how we can begin to change things with good legislation and prudent, long-term solutions."

Aur J. Beck, an energy efficiency and renewable energy installer, will speak at the Belleville meeting, as well as one scheduled for Aug. 28 in Peoria. He operates Advanced Energy Solutions in Carbondale and helped create the Illinois Renewable Energy Association and the Southern Illinois Center for a Sustainable Future.

The next public forum is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Aug. 12 at the National Great Rivers Museum, 2 Lock and Dam Way in Alton. It is free and open to the public. The event is co-sponsored by the Piasa Palisades Sierra Club and the Alton cluster of the United Congregations of Metro East.

The town hall meeting in Alton will emphasize the legislative solutions to climate change featured in the Global Warming Response Act (SB2220/HB5254). The legislation contains initiatives that build on the recommendations of Illinois' Climate Change Advisory Group formed in 2006, such as requiring power and industrial facilities to pollute less through a cap-and-trade program and making cars more fuel efficient and buildings and furnaces more energy efficient.

The goal of the town hall series, which kicked off in June in Decatur, is to educate Illinois residents about the direct and indirect impacts of climate change on the environment, economy and human health in our communities.

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