currently I have

DateTime.now().format('MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm a', 'EST');

but I would like to have 

DateTime.now().format('MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm a', 'ET');

The issue is that when I put ET as the timezone it defaults the timezone to GMT since ET is not a correct time zone.  How do I accomplish this?

I'm trying to render validation rule error messages on my visual force pages.  Does anyone know how this can easily be done? 

From what I'm reading, I need to recreate the validation rules in an extension? (is that true!!?) 

Hoping for an easier approach!

TIA