Two Belleville-area groups will co-host a global warming town hall meeting Wednesday, Aug. 27, in Belleville sponsored by the Illinois Environmental Council (IEC), a legislative watchdog for the state’s environmental community, and Environment Illinois, a statewide, citizen-based environmental advocacy group.

The American Bottom Conservancy and the Kaskaskia Group of the Sierra Club will co-sponsor the public forum, which runs from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Southwestern Illinois College PSOP building, 201 N. Church, in downtown Belleville.

Aur J. Beck, an alternative energy and global warming expert who runs Advanced Energy Solutions in Carbondale, headlines the event. He is a founder and board member of the Illinois Renewable Energy Association and the Southern Illinois Center for a Sustainable Future and a speaker trained by The Climate Project, the nonprofit, nonpartisan project founded by former Vice President Al Gore.

Local speakers include Kathy Andria, president of American Bottom Conservancy and conservation chair of the Kaskaskia Group of the Sierra Club, who will discuss what these groups are doing about global warming, and Amy Funk, also of the Kaskaskia Group, who will talk about the Sierra Club’s Cool Cities program. Jonathan Goldman, IEC executive director, will discuss legislative solutions and Brian Granahan, staff attorney with Environment Illinois, will talk about energy efficiency as it relates to global warming.

"Belleville and the Metro East are already being affected by global warming," said Andria. "There are more frequent intense storm events and we lose power. The river rises, threatening our levees and floodplain residents. And, we have thousands of young children with asthma, which is made worse with warmer temperatures and higher ozone levels. We must act now to protect the future of our communities and our children."

The Belleville public forum on climate change is part of a statewide series that kicked off in Decatur June 24 and also visited Alton on Aug. 12 and will come to Peoria Sept. 9.

The participation of local groups in the Belleville meeting underscores the fact that area residents recognize the reality of climate change and the need for everyone to help find a solution, said Goldman.

“It’s great to see so many people interested and involved in this issue in Belleville. It gives me hope that we will be able to muster the political will in this state to pass legislation that will curb Illinois’ contribution to global warming,” said Goldman.

IEC will discuss legislative options such as the Global Warming Response Act (SB2220/HB5254) and Illinois Clean Cars Act (HB 3424/SB 2238), which were introduced in Springfield this past spring, at the Belleville event. Environment Illinois will explore energy efficiency as a solution to global warming.

The generation of electricity continues to be the greatest contributor to global warming, with the amount of this pollution produced by electricity up 80% in Illinois since 1990, according to Granahan.

“Energy efficiency is the cleanest and most cost-effective means for addressing growing energy demand and its environmental impact,” said Granahan. “Demand for energy in Illinois has risen approximately 2% per year since 1990. Swift action is imperative, and increased energy efficiency is the solution we can get online and operating most quickly.”

A recent report by Architecture 2030, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group based in Santa Fe, found that increasing building efficiency in order to gain one quad of energy -- roughly 1% of our nation’s total consumption -- would cost $42.1 billion. At the same time, the report indicated that achieving this increase through new coal plants would cost three times as much ($122 billion) and at least five times ($222 billion) as much through new nuclear plants.

The Belleville public forum is part of a series of summer town hall events on energy efficiency sponsored by Environment Illinois, a non-profit environmental advocacy group with over 20,000 members statewide. This series began with an event in Bloomington on July 29 and includes a public meeting in Carbondale on August 26 and the joint meetings with IEC in Belleville on Aug. 27 and Peoria Sept. 9.

For more information about IEC’s global warming town hall series, call 217-544-5954 or visit www.ilenviro.org. For more information about Environment Illinois’ series, call 312-291-0696 or visit www.environmentillinois.org