Recognizing that solving the problem of climate change will require expertise from all facets of the ideological spectrum, the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture will host a free public forum, Climate Change: Values, National Security and Free Enterprise, at 7 p.m. EDT April 4 in the UK Student Center ballroom.

“We have to broaden our viewpoint on how to solve the problem,” said Paul Vincelli, extension professor in the UK Department of Plant Pathology and forum organizer. “Our speakers will be taking the climate change discussion further by talking about values, by talking about the relationship to our national security and by talking about solutions that are grounded in free enterprise.”

Speakers at the forum will include Katherine Hayhoe, author of “A Climate for Change: Global Warming Facts for Faith-Based Decisions,” retired Brig. Gen. Steve M. Anderson and Bob Inglis, former U.S. representative from South Carolina and president of the Energy and Enterprise Initiative at George Mason University.

Hayhoe, who is an associate professor at Texas Tech University, is an internationally known climate scientist with a faith-based perspective. Her talk is titled “Would You Sell Your Car to Save a Polar Bear? I Wouldn’t. Why I Care About Climate Change and You Should, Too.”

Anderson, whose talk is titled “Climate Change and National Security,” is a self-described conservative and strongly believes the military must develop renewable energy sources.

“He has a lot of good reasons why; one being that as a commanding officer, he came face-to-face with the reality that soldiers die delivering fuel,” Vincelli said. “I think he’s going to be a powerful speaker on that subject.”

Inglis is well known in the field of climate science as an advocate for free enterprise solutions. He will share his ideas in his talk, “Free-Enterprise Approaches to Energy Security and Climate Change.”

The forum will take place in front of a live audience, but it will also be streamed live online.

Vincelli hopes the forum will draw many people holding a range of viewpoints on the subject.

“I’m hoping the general public tunes in. I’m hoping leaders in business and manufacturing and energy production join us,” he said. “What I hope is that all listeners understand that this issue really does touch and relate to our values as Americans.”

Climate Change: Values, National Security and Free Enterprise is sponsored by the UK College of Agriculture, UK Environmental and Natural Resources Initiative, Tracy Farmer Institute for Sustainability and the Environment, UK Sustainability Student Council and the UK Invasive Species Working Group. The forum is part of the Environmental Issues Conference April 2-4, hosted by the Environmental and Natural Resources Initiative.

Reservations are not needed to attend the live session. In addition, the forum will be streamed live at http://ustream.tv/kyclimateforum. Questions for the speakers will be pulled from both the live and Internet audiences. At the conclusion of the forum, presentations will be posted online at http://www.youtube.com/ukagriculture.

For additional information, contact Vincelli at 859-218-0722 or paul.vincelli@uky.edu.