Aur J. Beck, an energy efficiency and renewable energy installer who runs Advanced Energy Solutions in Carbondale, will headline “Climate Change: How Does It Affect Alton?,” a town hall meeting sponsored by the Illinois Environmental Council that takes place Tues., Aug. 12.

Beck is a founder and board member of the Illinois Renewable Energy Association and the Southern Illinois Center for a Sustainable Future. He is also a speaker trained by The Climate Project, the nonprofit, nonpartisan project founded by former Vice President Al Gore, who will discuss climate change’s impact on Illinois and alternative energy solutions that will help solve the problem.

The free forum, which is part of a statewide series sponsored by the Illinois Environmental Council, takes place at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 12 at the National Great Rivers Museum, 2 Lock and Dam Way, Alton. The event is co-sponsored by the Piasa Palisades Sierra Club and the Alton cluster of the United Congregations of Metro East and is open to the public.

Other speakers at the Alton event include: Dr. Linda J. Smith, a registered nurse, professor emeritus with Lewis and Clark Community College and volunteer with the American Lung Association who will discuss global warming’s health effects such as asthma; Wayne Politsch, a board member of the Piasa Palisades Group of the Sierra Club, and Jonathan Goldman, executive director of the Illinois Environmental Council.

The Alton town hall meeting is second in a statewide series of global warming public forums that debuted in Decatur June 24 and continues in Belleville on Aug. 27 and Peoria Aug. 28. Note: A Carbondale event originally set for Aug. 26 has been postponed until September.

The public forums convene local residents, elected officials and community groups to discuss how soaring gas prices and asthma rates as well as shifting gardening zones are related to climate change and how to address these problems. Legislative solutions including the Global Warming Response Act (SB2220/HB5254) will be presented, and State Senator Bill Haine and State Reps. Daniel Beiser and Jay Hoffman have been invited to participate.

For more information about the global warming town hall series, call the IEC at 217-544-5954. Or visit www.ilenviro.org. More information on Aur J. Beck can be found at www.advancedenergysolution.com.