VTDIGGER 07/23/21 TIMES ARGUS 07/17/21 RUTLAND HERALD 07/17/21 By Michael Shank and US Congresswoman Yvette Clarke This column is by U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke of New York and Dr. Michael Shank of Brandon. Clarke is vice chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and co-chair of the Smart Cities Caucus. Shank […]
International Analysis
Is It Time for the United States and China to Welcome Climate Migrants?
REUTERS 07/22/21 By Michael Shank Accepting those displaced by worsening climate change disasters could shore up workforces and pension plans as national birthrates fall Michael Shank is the communications director for the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance and adjunct faculty at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs. When environmental solutions to the […]
It’s Time for the U.S. to Pay Climate Reparations
NEWSWEEK 07/06/21 By Michael Shank and US Congresswoman Yvette Clarke The G7 meeting last month shows how much work is still needed to help less developed countries respond to increasing climate disasters. With rich countries merely reaffirming their over ten-year-old outdated commitment to provide $100 billion annually in aid for […]
2050 Is Too Late – We Need Carbon Neutrality by 2030
REUTERS 06/09/21 By Michael Shank After years of delays in acting, it’s now time for a radical ramp-up in emissions reductions goals There’s been a lot of postponing on the climate front of late. Some postponing has been understandable: The annual United Nations-facilitated climate talks, for example – known as […]
It’s Time to Reshape the Food Pyramid to Save the Climate
FAST COMPANY 03/09/21 By Michael Shank Now that Tom Vilsack is back at the helm at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for his second stint as secretary, receiving Senate confirmation last month, he’s been promoting conservation and a new bank to convince farmers to support climate action by paying […]
A Prescriptive Path Forward for Saving Struggling Countries’ Economies
THE HILL 05/20/20 By Michael Shank and US Congressman Gregory Meeks When the heads of all the agencies at the United Nations come together and find consensus on something, their advice is worth heeding. Recently, they did just that, issuing an emergency fund appeal and urging a rapid and coordinated […]
Winning Hearts and Minds for the Clean Energy Transition
EUSEW SECRETARIAT 05/18/20 Dr. Michael Shank Contributing to the blog this week is Dr. Michael Shank, Communications Director for the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance and Adjunct Faculty at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs, EUSEW 2020 Digital Ambassador. The world is waking up to a new reality. Covid-19 makes […]
Link Between Factory-Farmed Animals, COVID-19 and Preventing the Next Pandemic
THE HILL 04/21/20 By Michael Shank and Carter Dillard While there’s much to celebrate this week as we recognize the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, the world made a baseline mistake in developing environmental policy decades ago. It chose to treat nature as an unlimited resource for humans. This baseline […]
Virus Highlights Nature’s Right To Be Left Alone
LAW360 04/01/20 By Michael Shank Rights-based advocacy does well in the United States. The right to vote. The right to bear arms. The right to marriage. The right to choose. The right to own property. The fights and freedoms won in the last century were pitched, packaged and positioned as […]
Clean Energy is Not Just Good for the Environment. It Also Prevents War
NEWSWEEK 02/12/20 By Michael Shank and US Congressman Hank Johnson Take oil out of the foreign policy picture, and American presidents would have lacked motive to preemptively attack Iraq, Libya and now Iran. There were equally authoritarian leaders of other countries at the time, operating with even greater propensity toward […]