City, UVa events to focus on climate change

A string of events aimed at elevating government’s role in discussions about, and responsibility for, climate change begins Monday in Charlottesville.
The events are part of Local Climate Action Week, a nationwide effort to get the federal government to give money to localities to address climate change.

A panel discussion from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday kicks off the events. The free-luncheon panel, at City Space on the Downtown Mall, is open to the public and will focus on what can be done to address climate change at the local level.
Monday evening, City Space will host a workshop from 6 to 7:15 to focus on how homeowners can conserve energy and save money.

On Thursday, a two-day national conference on climate change begins at the University of Virginia.
Hosted by the Miller Center of Public Affairs, the conference will focus on what policies local, state and federal governments can implement to combat climate change.
A national poll gauging the public’s attitude on climate issues will be released during the conference. That poll is an expanded version of one released in October that surveyed Virginians’ attitudes.

The conference is the first of its kind and is expected to draw a national and international mixture of roughly 30 speakers from higher education and governmental agencies.
The conference is not open to the public, but will be broadcast live on the Miller Center’s Web site.
City Space will round out the week with a screening from noon to 1:30 p.m. Saturday of “Too Hot Not to Handle,” an HBO documentary about climate change.
The week of climate talks comes on the heels of last week’s news that the Virginia Commission on Climate Change finalized a plan that includes calling for the state to cut global warming pollution by 25 percent in the next 12 years.