About 80 Decatur residents showed up June 24 to hear a nationally known climate change expert and two local legislators discuss global warming and how to solve the problem at an IEC-sponsored town hall meeting at the Decatur Public Library. The two-hour public forum, “Climate Change: How Does It Affect Decatur?” featured a presentation by University of Illinois Atmospheric Science Professor Don Wuebbles and appearances by State Reps. Bob Flider and Bill Mitchell.

In addition, with gas at record prices and catastrophic flooding in the Midwest, the topical nature of the global warming forum attracted significant media interest. It received coverage in the Illinois Times; two features in the Decatur Herald & Review; three stories on WAND-TV and IEC staff interviews on WYDS-FM and WUIS-FM radio.

The public forum was the first in a series of such gatherings IEC is planning throughout the state as a way of garnering support for the Global Warming Response Act (SB2220/HB5254), a bill promoted by the Illinois Climate Action Network, a coalition of environmental, health and faith groups formed in 2007. The legislation contains initiatives that build on the recommendations of Illinois’ Climate Change Advisory Group formed in 2006 such as incentives for 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 Decatur town hall meeting was co-hosted by the Community Environmental Council (CEC), Agricultural Watershed Institute, Decatur Audubon Society and Environmental Affairs Council of Millikin University. CEC members Jeff Tish of the Macon County Conservation District, Steve John from the Agricultural Watershed Institute and Marge Evans spoke at the event.

Don Wuebbles opened the meeting with a 20-minute presentation about the state of climate change in the Midwest that emphasized the nearly universal agreement within the scientific community that global warming is real and caused by human activity. He is co-author of the 2004 “Confronting Climate Change in the Great Lakes” report by the Union of Concerned Scientists and Ecological Society of America. Wuebbles and a colleague, Katherine Hayhoe, recently completed a detailed impacts analysis for the City of Chicago’s Climate Change Task Force. He is also a member of the government working group doing the U.S. national climate assessment that will be completed in October.

The next town hall meeting is planned for the Metro East part of the state including Belleville and Alton. Other events are slated for Peoria and Elgin. Check this site frequently for the latest information on dates and locations or call 217-554-5954.