The United States crosses sabers with Russia again, not in the name of nukes, but for control over the world’s environmental information.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, has recently made available the top-level domain name “.eco” which has sparked a cold war of words between two companies seeking to seize it’s revenue generating potential.

Californian-based start-up aptly named, Dot Eco, has the support of Former Vice President Al Gore and intends to benefit “green” organizations with funds generated through the sale of domains under the .eco classification.

On the side of the competition, Former President of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbechev, supports the Canadian-based company, Big Room. While they intend to fund “sustainability projects” with their profits, their strategy only allows  companies who pass special “green” requirements to obtain the domain names.

According to Vice President Gore, Big Room’s plan is “unworkable,” and Big Room’s co-founder Trevor Bowden fired back by saying it’s “unfortunate they’ve taken this approach.”

For the latest on the cold war over this hot domain, check out some of the following links.

Rival green groups bid to snatch .eco domain (Slashdot)

.Eco domain name war (Huff-Po)

Gore endorses Dot Eco domain name: But will the new domain be credible? (Triple Pundit)

Big Room’s vision for Dot Eco: Let the consumer decide who is green (Reuters)

Photo by zoomar.

New York, NY - All caught up in the Green grift, the Go Green Expo sprawled organically like a 250-headed pipe-and-draped green dragon, uncoiling it’s spiny tendrils all throughout the second floor of the 6th Avenue Hilton this past weekend.

On the surface what appeared a typical hot, flat, and crowded consumer expo quickly transformed into a seething den of snake oil shills, mad scientists, resourceful designers, greenwashers, environmental activists, TV personalities, and marketing gurus.

Appearing somewhat discheveled and a little crazed from the three days of eco-hucksterism, Cheif Organizer, Bradford Rand, took a moment amid the half eaten sandwiches and Marial Hemmingway cookies in the VIP lounge to speak with us.

A: I was inspired by Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth a couple of years back and we did a show in New York.  Then we went and did a show in Los Angeles which was really amazing, over 10,000 people, 300 booths. And then we did a show in Philadelphia, we’re back in New York, and now we’re gonna take the show on the road.  We’re looking at Miami, Minneapolis, we have Atlanta coming up in June, and Charlotte, North Carolina, perhaps Houston, Texas. Just any major city that we think might be a good fit for Go Green Expo and it’s exhibitors, we will take the show to.

Q: Do you have an event background?

A: Sure, I’ve been doing trade shows, job fairs, luxury events, and charity fundraisers for 15 years, I’ve done about 700 of them, and there was never a big eco-friendly trade show here in New York City until we decided to do one after we saw Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth.  And now there’s a lot of green shows all over the place, which is a good thing, it just kind of goes to show you that the public as well as business are now taking into account, the environment when they make purchases.

Q: Is it hard to sell green?

A: No.  It’s not hard to sell green at all.  Not these days.  Especially because prices have come down, that is, light bulbs, hybrid cars, eco fashion, eco baby products, even solar panels, by just simple economics, when you make more of something, the price goes down.  So now that we’re mass producing hybrid cars and solar panels and all the other products that I mentioned, the prices are starting to come down so they may be just a little bit more than the standard toxic or gas-guzzling car but they’re coming down.  That makes it available to everyone now to go green.

Q: Do you think people are sort of getting wise to greenwashing?

A: That’s a tough question because large corporations or even small corporations for that matter, you know, you could always kind of fool the public but it usually doesn’t last.

Q: I think there’s a different definition of sustainability on different people’s bottom line.

A: Just an example of greenwashing like “clean coal.”  That’s an oxymoron.  You’re still putting pollutants into the air, you’re still chopping the tops of mountains off.  You know, that is not, at least at this point with our technology, it’s not clean, it’s far from clean.  Solar is clean.  Water energy is clean.  Geothermal and wind power are clean sources of energy and if we dedicated as much as we spend on foreign oil, we could upgrade our grid, and we could be off of foreign oil within about 5 years, and also, at the same time, not only be self-sustaining but a cleaner environment.  So, the benefits are not just economic but they’re health.  I mean, the life expectancy of a coal miner is I’m sure much less than the operator of a wind turbine.

Q: Our guest has been Bradford Rand, Organizer of the Go Green Expo.  Visit GoGreenExpo.com.

A: Yes, you can see all the speakers and all the products if you can’t make it to the show.  Visit the website and see the products for yourself.  Of course, it’s always recommended to do your own research before you buy anything because there is always a more earth-friendly alternative than what you think is out there.

Q: What’s the next city and date?

A: At the end of June we’re gonna be in Atlanta, Georgia at the Cobb Galleria Center.

Check back all week for a steady stream of sound bytes from the exhibitors themselves as part of our special Earth Day Week Live Blogging Special!

Photo of Mr. Rand courtesy of Organic Works.