OUR MISSION
To create an informed and interactive approach to environmental issues.
· To point up the problems, discuss the solutions, mobilize action and praise the achievements of those who are successfully addressing the issues;
· To promote awareness of urban and global environmental issues, i.e. clean energy and climate change;
· To showcase products, services, technology, programs and research that can make our lives more environmentally friendly;
· To provide environmental groups with space and opportunity to gain members and volunteers, while presenting their message to the general public;
· To provide the public with opportunities to get actively involved by joining and volunteering with environmental groups and learning how to make their voices heard by politicians and the media;
· To have a dynamic event with multiple environmental education opportunities and practical solutions, especially for our children, who are the gatekeepers of the future.
· To integrate environmentally safe choices for effective use within a day-to-day lifestyle.
HISTORY
Launched as an environmental event where people could obtain information, get involved, find products, learn about services and be informed and entertained by people who care about the environment. ECOFEST started as a visionary educational program to make this a better world. Twenty two years later it is still going strong, supporting environmental causes and issues. ECOFEST is a cultural and educational environmental festival, free to the public, that is organized and produced by the West Side Cultural Center in New York. In its twenty two year track record, ECOFEST has developed an unequaled base of public and private sector support and is a mainstay on the New York City calendar of events. It has brought thousands of people to the Riverside Park, Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center Plaza, Central Park, Battery Park City the USS Intrepid and now for the 4th year at Times Square, cornerstone of the world.. ECOFEST and its participants benefit from publicity, promotions and extensive advertising, and has always been generously covered and supported by local, regional and national media of all formats since it began.
THE EVENT
A major focus of ECOFEST is conservation of our natural resources and innovative alternative-energy technologies. The SEOTO (Sources of Energy Other Than Oil) Alternative Fuels Display which demonstrates a wide variety of alternative-energy vehicles – ranging from prototypes of solar cars to electric, natural-gas, hybrid, fuel cell and ethanol vehicles already in use by private businesses and many New York City and New York State Agencies. The vehicles stay on display with exciting demonstrations and activities scheduled throughout the day. In addition to the SEOTO Alternative Energy Display, ECOFEST’s regular features include the ECO-FASHION SHOW on the World Solar Stage presenting collections made of 100% organic and recycled material and exhibits focusing in eco products and services, handicrafts, agencies and healthy food. Many children’s eco-activities, health and fitness and NYCACC pet adoptions throughout the day.
ART COMPETITION AND EXHIBIT (in association with UFT/NYCATA)

ECOFEST starts in the beginning of the year with the successful citywide Environmental Arts Program that provides the artwork that is the cover of the program and centerpiece of the annual official ECOFEST poster. The competition is open to all NYC Public Schools and the selection of the winning artwork is made by prestigious artists such as LeRoy Neiman and Peter Max. All honorable mentions and finalists’ artwork is displayed for 3 weeks in a public space in New York. In the past years the exhibit was hosted by the Time Warner Building, the Bloomingdale Library, the Park Central Hotel and most recently the stunning Landmarked Building of the Apple Bank for Savings at West 73rd Street.and Broadway. Since 2011, Peter Max has been the judge with performers and elected officials at the opening.

The post Nanci Callahan, 28th Annual Ecofest… appeared first on Good News!.

A Dot Earth reader, Jay Rappoport, followed up on Peter Barnes’s proposal for a “cap and dividend” system with another take on the idea that’s worth highlighting here, if only because the central metaphor is so easy to absorb — having a “bottle bill” for climate.

Of course, one problem with most bottle bills around the United States is the fee hasn’t risen to adjust for inflation, so many bottles still go into the trash because the five-cent surcharge is a yawn. And many drink containers (like all those water bottles!) are left out in most cases. (This recent Green Counsel post about troubles with an updated bottle-bill law in New York State is worth a look.)

In the case of climate, the fee would have to steadily rise to propel a steady shift away from energy choices that come with a lot of carbon dioxide releases, and it’d have to encompass all sources (and perhaps credit “sinks,” like new forests, that sop up the gases). Is that sellable?

Here’s Mr. Rappoport’s thesis:

I have been nursing a similar concept for perhaps 25 years, which I had first conceived in a sophomore economics class back in College in the early 80’s, when the ideas of externalities and market failure came together for me.

I believe this principal is as important and fundamental to understanding the general progress of human civilization, as the concept of erosion is to geology.

Without further delay, here it is:

UEMF; Recognizing and Addressing The Universality of Environmental Market Failure. By Jay

Rappoport – 11/17/07.

Introduction

The question to be addressed here is that of managing human generated global warming specifically, and more generally the larger question of sustainable growth, as all follow from the same underlying causes, and are amenable of the same solution. What follows is a brief discussion of the issues, and an effort to reframe, refine and build upon the emerging consensus view concerning the ‘cap and trade’ approach, and to suggest the minimum regulatory structure necessary to this end. The structure suggested here may be public, private, or collaborative.

Economic vs. Natural property

The fundamental underlying issue in this discussion is property rights. Everything that follows, turns on understanding the role of property rights in the market.

So to begin, consider everything in the world as a ‘good’, and falling into one of two types; as either part of ‘The Economy’ and therefore an ‘economic good’, or alternatively, ‘The Natural Environment’ and as such, an ‘environmental good’. The only difference being, that ‘goods’ in the economy have a defined property right, and that ‘goods’ in the environment do not. (Often referred to as “externalities” in economics, examples of environmental goods might be the polar ice caps, unpolluted water, the earth’s atmosphere, and so on).

An economic good can be bought and sold, only because it is owned by someone who had the property right to sell it. An environmental good cannot be sold, because no one owns it to sell it. As an example, imagine a stranger offering to “sell you The Brooklyn Bridge”.

 In order to sell an environmental good, ownership must first be established, at which point it becomes an economic good, and can then be sold. So, until ownership has been established, an environmental good cannot be sold, nor hold a price in the market.

Markets, Pricing & Incentives

Because environmental goods lack a property right and are therefore unable to hold a price in the marketplace, so far as the market is concerned, their ‘pricing’ is effectively pegged at zero value. This perception of the pricing of environmental goods as being at or nearly zero has profound consequences in the economic arena.

To the extent that there is model validity in saying relative profitability can be expressed as a comparison of profit/cost, then as environmental costs are pegged at or near zero, the relative profitability of environmental goods is perceived in the market as ‘very high’, if not infinite. (Consider for example the proliferation of spam email, with a marginal cost of zero per email. How much spam would be eliminated if there were a cost of 0.001 cent per email?)

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Monday February 3, 2014
6:00 – 9:00 pm
United Nations Centre, 777 United Nations Plaza, 7th Floor
Corner of 44th Street and First Avenue in Manhattan

Register online at: https://elementsforpeace.eventbrite.com

Admission is $10 (online); $12 at the door. Seating is limited. Prior registration is encouraged.

Featured Speakers Include

Dr. Ricardo de Sena, Moderator
Ricardo de Sena is the Director of UN Latin Affairs Office, UPF International

Rev. Brian Ellis-Gibbs
Rev. Brian Ellis-Gibbs is the Pastor of Queens Baptist Church, New York; associate faculty with the University of Phoenix in New Jersey; and adjunct professor in the New York Theological Seminary. Rev. Ellis-Gibbs serves on the Board of Directors for Faith in New York, an interfaith organization that works for social justice, freedom and equality. 

Dr. Ahmad Chaudhry
Dr. Ahmad Chaudhry was born in Pakistan and raised in Pennsylvania where he attended college and afterwards went for graduate studies at Harvard. He then attended Stony Brook Medical School and currently is in private practice as an oral and maxillofacial surgeon. He has served the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community on several levels including being a member of the National Board of the Youth branch and the General Secretary for the New York Chapter.

Mr. Kris Ram

Dr. Frank Kaufman
Dr. Frank Kaufmann is founder and President of Filial Projects, Director of the Inter-Religious Federation for World Peace (IRFWP), editor-in-chief of Dialogue and Alliance (1999 – 2009), and editor-in-chief of The New World Encyclopedia. He has worked in over 70 countries, including in conflict-ridden and violent environments, and engaged 500 international scholars for the development of New World Encyclopedia. Frank was nominated for the Guru Nanak Interfaith Award, along with the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu. Dr. Kaufmann is an expert on interfaith dialogue and cooperation.

Rick Ulfik
Rick Ulfik is Founder of We, The World and the WE Campaign at WE.net, Co-Founder and Principal Organizer of 11 Days of Global Unity – 11 Ways To Change The World, UN Representative for the Communications Coordination Committee for the United Nations,, Nonviolent Communication Workshop Facilitator, Co-Producer of the Visual Voices TV Series, and he is a award-winning composer and keyboard player.

On the occasion of World Interfaith Harmony Week, you are cordially invited to attend this International Leadership Seminar on “Necessity of Interfaith Harmony and Global Cooperation in Addressing Social Issues”. The seminar will provide the opportunity for representatives of various religious communities, faith-based organizations, followers of wisdom traditions and indigenous peoples, to share their insights on necessary elements for world peace, and insights and sharing of expertise in addressing global issues.

This interactive seminar will provide the opportunity for representatives of various religious communities, faith-based organizations, followers of wisdom traditions and indigenous peoples, to share their insights and expertise on the necessary elements for world peace, as well as addressing other global issues. There will be time for meeting, greeting and making new friends and partnerships for peace.

Engaging Religions

in the Prevention of Atrocity Crimes

In observance of World Interfaith Harmony Week

 Wednesday, 5 February 2014
1:15 – 2:45 p.m. United Nations, Conference Room 2

Please RSVP here: http://bit.ly/1dXokIg
Admission is Free

Mr. Adama Dieng
Special Adviser of the United Nations Secretary-General
on the Prevention of Genocide

H.E. Mr. Kairat Abdrakhmanov 
Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kazakhstan
to the United Nations

Ms. Consolee Nishimwe
Genocide survivor and author of “Tested to the Limit:
A Genocide Survivor’s Story of Pain, Resilience and Hope”

Dr. Carol Rittner, RSM
Distinguished Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies,
The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey; and
author of “Genocide in Rwanda: Complicity of the Churches?”

Rabbi Roger Ross
Chair of the Board and CFO of the International Seminary for Interfaith Studies,
United Religions Initiative UN Representative

Moderated by Dr. Hanifa Mezoui
Senior Advisor, Office of the UN High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations

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