Events

Urban parks are becoming our newest endangered species. The 20-year effort to secure a park in an 85-acre strip along 1.5 miles of Brooklyn’s East River waterfront is a prime example of how the seemingly good intention of creating “parks that pay for themselves” is leading to the actual demise of public parks,

The prospect of increasing commercialization of NYC parks, as well as efforts to mobilize public support for a genuine Brooklyn Bridge Park, will be discussed by Judi Francis, president of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Defense Fund, and Roy Sloane, who has led public outreach efforts as a board member of the BB Park Local Development Corp.
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Apart from $150 million committed by the city and state for construction, the Brooklyn Bridge Park will have to generate enough income to pay for ongoing operation and upkeep. The main source, under the approved plan, will be payments from owners of apartments in high-rise housing with 1,200 luxury units that private developers will be allowed to build within the park – a significant intrusion into its narrow swath of green space.

Come learn about the state of farming and the invasion of CAFOs (confined/concentrated animal feeding operations) aka factory farms in New York state. Learn how our food is grown and what's changing for the better, and not, and how to support local farmers. Speakers will include advocates, researchers and farmers. Tastings of locally produced food and wine. Co-sponsored by the Sierra Club National Sustainable Consumption Committee, the Food and Farm Committee of the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter and local CSAs and community groups.

Brighter Green's Executive Director, Mia MacDonald, will speak at Portland VegFest 2008 on the theme "Your Burger or Your Car? Global Warming and Your Diet." We're looking forward to painting this (bright green) city even greener. To learn more about VegFest and to get a full list of all the great speakers and chefs who'll be there on May 9 and 10, click here.

Like many rural areas of the global South (or “developing world”), the effects of climate change are being felt in Maasai communities in Kenya. Droughts that used to be rare are becoming increasingly common. Rainfall patterns, once predictable, are now erratic. The changing climate is putting at risk the long-term viability of the herding livelihoods of the Maasai and other pastoralist societies. Green energy means lower greenhouse gas emissions and more trees left standing to combat desertification, reduce soil erosion, and offset CO2 in the atmosphere.

Solar and wind could provide heat for cooking and refrigeration to store vegetables and fruits in homes, and in health centers to store essential medicines and vaccines. Cell phones and laptops could be powered to facilitate the marketing of crafts and other locally produced goods, along with cross-cultural exchanges via the Web. This could lead to a new model of rural development, where young people don’t feel forced by lack of opportunity to leave for urban slums.

Francis ole Sakuda is the director and one of the founders of the Simba Maasai Outreach Organization (SIMOO) in Kenya. Daniel Salau Rogei is the program/financial officer for SIMOO. Both are local and international leaders in the areas of indigenous rights, livelihoods, community development, and environmental and cultural conservation. They are in NYC as part of a global delegation to the United Nations’ Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.