Local Analysis

RUTLAND HERALD 05/09/20 TIMES ARGUS 05/09/20 By Michael Shank In Vermont’s all-hands-on-deck response to the COVID-19 crisis, no stone is left unturned. And it’s incredibly inspiring. Everyone is chipping in, helping neighbors with grocery deliveries, donating goods to local food shelves and banks, making homemade masks for health workers, and […]

VTDIGGER 4/28/20 By Michael Shank n Vermont’s all-hands-on-deck response to the Covid-19 crisis, no stone is left unturned. And it’s incredibly inspiring. Everyone is chipping in, helping neighbors with grocery deliveries, donating goods to local food shelves and banks, making homemade masks for health workers, and even donating government stimulus […]

RUTLAND HERALD 4/28/20 By Michael Shank and Carter Dillard While we recognize the 50th anniversary of Earth Day in Vermont, social distancing in nature, 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 allowed […]

VTDIGGER 02/25/20 By Michael Shank When it comes to green energy innovation, there are few American states that innovate like Vermont. Recently, Vermont’s biggest power utility – Green Mountain Power – launched a peer-to-peer energy sales platform that will allow businesses to buy locally generated renewable power from other Vermonters. […]

RUTLAND HERALD 02/08/20 TIMES ARGUS 02/08/20 By Michael Shank When it comes to green energy innovation, there are few American states that innovate like Vermont. Recently, Vermont’s biggest power utility — Green Mountain Power (GMP) — launched a peer-to-peer energy sales platform that will allow businesses to buy locally generated […]

VTDIGGER 1/23/20 By Michael Shank Editor’s note: This commentary is by Michael Shank, of Brandon, who is the communications director for the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance and adjunct faculty at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs. He is co-organizing the EV Festival on July 11 from noon-10 p.m. at […]

RUTLAND HERALD 01/18/20 TIMES-ARGUS 01/18/20 By Michael Shank When it comes to green technology, Vermont has been and continues to be a national leader. Whether it’s the cutting-edge partnership between Tesla and Green Mountain Power to roll out Powerwall batteries across the state — ensuring resilient homes for Vermonters while […]

RUTLAND HERALD 12/21/19 TIMES ARGUS 12/21/19 By Michael Shank Given the climate inaction among national governments — from America and Australia to Brazil and Britain — there’s been a big focus on actions individuals can take — in Vermont and beyond. This pivot is helpful because it does, in fact, […]

RUTLAND HERALD 10/05/19 TIMES ARGUS 10/05/19 By Michael Shank The way our society responds to problems — be they social, economic or environmental — rarely prevents that problem from occurring again. We’ll quickly treat a cough, by temporarily suppressing it with cough medicine, for example, but not change the conditions […]

ADDISON COUNTY INDEPENDENT 09/30/19 By Michael Shank The way our society responds to problems — be they social, economic, or environmental — rarely prevents that problem from occurring again. We’ll quickly treat a cough, by temporarily suppressing it with cough medicine, for example, but not change the conditions that created […]