Articles by: Michael Shank

NATIONAL INTEREST 09/11/19 By Daniel L. Davis “If we want to once again be worthy of emulation by people around the globe while still guaranteeing the security of the American people, we must demonstrate fortitude and courage by admitting that some of our policies and actions have in the past […]

NEWSWEEK 09/03/19 By Michael Shank The planet has finally arrived on America’s political main stage. On Wednesday, 10 Democratic presidential candidates will speak to voters for an expected seven hours about their policies to combat the climate crisis. This is unprecedented. Climate change has never received this kind of attention […]

Key Dates for Student Competition Competition announced on September 3, 2019 Submissions accepted until March 1, 2020 Winners announced online on May 1, 2020 Purpose of competition To encourage environmental awareness in the Brandon area To foster Brandon area skills-building in storytelling and environmental filmmaking To support young aspiring filmmakers […]

NEWSWEEK 08/21/19 By Michael Shank and US Congressman Lloyd Doggett While reports forecasting a climate change apocalypse and doomsday climate scenarios may get our momentary attention, they are not producing action. Even as we see the impact of climate change in devastating, intensified weather and the spread of disease, we […]

MEDIUM 08/09/19 By Michael Shank In order to quickly move cities and towns towards carbon neutrality, one social science game changer that needs to be scaled up is behavior change communications. Few of the more technical game changers in our climate-leading communities— enumerated in Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance’s Game Changers […]

RUTLAND HERALD 07/31/19 By Keith Whitcomb Jr. BRANDON — The town must hear from the public before it can adopt an “Enhanced Energy Plan,” that will give it more clout with the state over renewable energy projects. According to the town’s website, public hearings on the proposed “Brandon Enhanced Energy […]

REUTERS 07/22/19 By Michael Shank and US Congresswoman Yvette Clarke As the costs and threats from climate change rise, the key is not to wait until it’s too late to take action U.S. Rep. Yvette D. Clarke represents New York’s 9th district and serves on the House Energy and Commerce […]

VTDIGGER 06/19/19 By Michael Shank and US Congressman Gregory Meeks Editor’s note: This commentary is by Dr. Michael Shank and Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y. Shank, of Brandon, is the communications director for the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance and adjunct faculty at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs. Meeks is a senior […]

RUTLAND HERALD 06/15/19 TIMES-ARGUS 06/15/19 This spring, a settlement was reached between the state of Vermont’s Agency of Natural Resources, Vermont’s Toxics Action Center office, and the Brandon-Leicester-Salisbury-Goshen-Pittsford Insect Control District, where I live. While it technically ends a legal dispute over pesticide spraying in Vermont, which originated due to […]

REUTERS 06/07/19 By Michael Shank and US Congressman Gregory Meeks With climate threats growing fast, the U.N. Security council has the power to cap greenhouse gas emissions on every country and sanction those who fail to comply Congressman Meeks (D-NY) is a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee […]