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.

The forum will include climate change experts with viewpoints that will resonate with many Kentuckians, 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,” he said.

Forum speakers 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 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.

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 and will also be streamed live online.

“What I hope is that all listeners understand that this issue really does touch and relate to our values as Americans,” Vincelli said.

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. Those unable to attend the session in person can view the streamed presentations online at http://ustream.tv/kyclimateforum. At the conclusion of the forum, presentations will also be posted online at http://www.youtube.com/ukagriculture.

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