National Analysis

Defense Resources and Climate Impact

TIMES ARGUS 12/24/21 RUTLAND HERALD 12/24/21 By Michael Shank and US Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke This past month, rich countries made it very clear that least-developed and under-resourced nations — the ones most vulnerable to extreme climate impacts but the least responsible for the global warming that generated them — […]

Climate Culpability

RUTLAND HERALD 09/28/21 TIMES ARGUS 09/28/21 By Michael Shank and US Congressman Raul Grijalva No matter your politics, you’re seeing the harmful impacts of climate change and continued reliance on fossil fuels all around you. Just this summer, we’ve seen the surface of the ocean on fire in the Gulf […]

‘Best State’ Rankings Ignore Armed White Supremacy

VTDIGGER 09/08/21 By Michael Shank This commentary is by Michael Shank of Brandon, an adjunct faculty member at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs. Last month, in an online report of “America’s Best Places to Live in 2021,” which ranked ten U.S. states as “America’s most welcoming,” Vermont ranked […]

Climate Change Threatens Americans’ Rights to Life, Liberty and Property

REUTERS 08/24/21 By Michael Shank and US Congressman Raul Grijalva Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) is chair of the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee. Michael Shank is communications director for the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance and adjunct faculty at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs. No matter your politics, you’re seeing the harmful impacts […]

Climate Refugees

RUTLAND HERALD 07/31/21 TIMES ARGUS 07/31/21 By Michael Shank When environmental solutions to the climate crisis come with socio-economic benefits, it’s a win-win. While these co-benefits are inherent to most climate solutions, they’re not always effectively communicated or efficiently coordinated. Take this problem in need of a solution. Large carbon-emitting […]

Rich Countries Need to Do the Right Thing

TIMES ARGUS 07/17/21 RUTLAND HERALD 07/17/21 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 With rich countries merely reaffirming their more than 10-year-old outdated commitment to provide $100 billion […]

With Time Running Out, Radical Action Needed on Climate

VTDIGGER 06/13/21 By Michael Shank This commentary is by Michael Shank of Brandon, communications director for the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance and an adjunct faculty member at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs. There’s been a lot of postponing on the climate front of late. Some postponing has been […]

Equity-Based Planning

RUTLAND HERALD 04/13/21 TIMES ARGUS 04/13/21 By Michael Shank and US Congresswoman Yvette Clarke President Joe Biden’s long-awaited American Jobs Plan has finally arrived, weighing in at $2.3 trillion in spending over 8 years. In today’s dollars, this is almost five times the new funding provided in President Obama’s 2009 […]