US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 06/25/13 By Michael Shank Global climate change got little reprieve this week from President Barack Obama’s climate action plan, which was announced on Tuesday. Beyond the expected nods to renewable and clean energy, cuts to fossil fuel subsidies, vague references to international leadership, delegated direction […]
NATIONAL JOURNAL 06/24/13 By Michael Shank President Barack Obama must go big on climate change this Tuesday primarily because there will hardly be a better political moment available to him. If President Obama uses his speech to go soft — with meager caps on carbon emissions, weak investments in renewable […]
NATIONAL JOURNAL 06/17/13 By Michael Shank With carbon dioxide atmospheric concentration at 400 parts per million, Science Magazine reporting that the earth is warming much faster than previously thought, and a Government Accountability Office report citing the “high risks” that global warming poses to federal infrastructure and financing, it feels […]
ROLL CALL 04/19/13 BY Michael Shank and Jose Aguto The Environmental Protection Agency’s decision last week to delay greenhouse gas emissions regulations for new power plants — one of President Barack Obama’s main levers to limit global warming — is a serious setback to our country’s commitment to environmental and […]
THE HILL 03/01/12 By Michael Shank With Robert Zoellick stepping down from the World Bank helm, there is no better time for a development economist with solid on-the-ground and substantial international experience – like Dr. Jeffrey Sachs – to take his place. There are three clear reasons for this. The […]
ROLL CALL 01/25/12 By Michael Shank and Melissa Powell With last month’s climate talks in South Africa postponing specific carbon cuts until 2020, it is clear that something more than mere nation-state commitments will be needed to counter climate change and reduce global warming. With nations reluctant to recommit to […]
THE HILL 09/10/08 By Michael Shank and U.S. Representative Roscoe G. Bartlett (R-MD) Governors and state legislators are doing it. Mayors are doing it. Universities are doing it. Businesses and individuals are doing it. The greening of America is occurring for a host of environmental, economic, religious, security and humanitarian […]
RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH 08/30/08 By Michael Shank and U.S. Representative Jim Moran (D-VA) To drill or not to drill, that is the question. But is it? Offshore oil reserves, once online — a feat that would come long after the new president’s first term — will garner less than three years […]
THE HILL 07/10/08 By Michael Shank That Congress is pressuring oil companies to “use it or lose it” on public lands is understandable enough given constituent discontent with rocketing petrol prices (article, “Energy bill out of gas,” July 8). But this narrow and nebulous agenda is near-sighted for two reasons. […]
THE HILL 04/22/08 By Michael Shank and Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) Earth Day, for some, is comparable to a sacred holiday, reminding us to tread carefully on nature’s hallowed ground. For others, Earth Day serves as a starter on the basics of recycling and light-bulb changing. Regardless of the myriad […]