Bipartisan EcoVision Conference to Tackle Biggest Challenges
A collaboration of writers, photographers, professors, futurists, corporate executives, strategists, government appointees, leading edge scientists, and congressional leaders will meet April 17-19 for the First Annual EcoVision Conference at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center in Washington, D.C . Their mandate is to build solutions for tomorrow's environment today through a global information infrastructure.
EcoVision2007 is designed to address such diverse topics as advancements in energy efficiency and improved air quality, water conservation and sustainability, waste reduction, the supply chain, green finance, patents and emerging technologies.
The three-day, bipartisan event will feature former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and Rep. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) as keynote speakers during the reception and gala dinner. Both policymakers have long trumpeted their credentials for shaping future policy structures and have openly embraced and promoted informed environmental decision-making.
Gingrich, a possible 2008 Republican candidate for president, was named Legislative Conservationist of the Year and was the founder of the bipartisan Environmental Task Force in the U.S. House of Representatives. He also is the co-author of a soon-to-be-released book, "The Contract with the Earth."
Rep. Mark Udall is chairman of the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee of the House Committee on Science and Technology, and co-chairman of the House Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus. Udall also serves on the Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment, which supervises R&D programs at the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
"I believe it will take a movement of dedicated citizens seeing the world in a new way, working together to bring about revolutionary changes and solutions for a healthier environment," commented Speaker Gingrich. He added, "EcoVision2007 aims to inspire a new commitment to protect the functional integrity of the natural world, and usher a promising age of environmental problem-solving."
Conference panels also will address the establishment of a national commission to oversee the development of a Global Information Infrastructure. This Infrastructure will be built on the same framework of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). The proposed infrastructure will collect and disseminate data, information, and models to stakeholders and decision makers for the benefit of all nations individually and the world community collectively.
EcoVision2007 is sponsored by Northrop Grumman, NOAA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Discovery Channel Planet Earth, National Geographic Books, General Motors, the Ford Motor Company, the Wildlife Society, the Soap and Detergent Association, Association of Zoos and Aquariums, International Paper, Verizon, International Association of Conservation Photographers, EarthEcho International, Office of Newt Gingrich in the American Enterprise Institute, and the Office of Rep. Mark Udall.
Conference registration information can be obtained from http://www.eco-vision.us/ or by calling 202-833-2014.
This article originally appeared in the 03/01/2007 issue of Environmental Protection.