HUFFINGTON POST 07/17/15 By Michael Shank When most people think about Kentucky, clean tech and climate change aren’t the first words that come to mind. Most of the chatter about this coal state is that it’s recalcitrant when it comes to acting on climate change. And while some of that […]
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 12/09/14 By Michael Shank and Johann Saathoff With the German government’s reaffirmation this month of carbon emissions reduction goals of 40 percent by 2020, and its courageous commitment to phase out coal, the country is now leading the world with an aggressive and unparalleled climate […]
HUFFINGTON POST 06/17/14 By Michael Shank The news last week that Americans are willing to pay more for cleaner and greener energy, by almost a 2-to-1 margin, and are more willing to support a candidate that addresses the issue of climate change is a very good sign, especially as America […]
ROLL CALL 06/10/14 By Michael Shank and Rep. Lloyd Doggett When it comes to choosing the right energy to power America’s communities and economies, it’s safe to say that most Americans, if given the option, would choose an energy source much like they might choose a neighborhood in which to […]
NATIONAL JOURNAL 08/12/13 By Michael Shank Having just returned from Somalia last week, and after meeting with the Minister of Natural Resources, the imperative to switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy is increasingly becoming a moral one, not merely an environmental or financial one. In Somalia — where the […]
NATIONAL JOURNAL 07/22/13 By Michael Shank If Washington wants to avoid another Canadian case study and minimize the disasters associated with transporting fossil fuels it should, simply, stop transporting them. Here’s why and here’s how: The fossil fuel spill legacy is long. Most memorable is the Deepwater Horizon spill in […]
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 07/22/13 By Michael Shank Last week, the so-called “war on coal,” which Senate Joe Manchin, D-W.V., recently claimed is real, gained new momentum after the World Bank formally committed to stop funding most coal projects. Manchin, who knows something about existential wars given his laudable […]
HUFFINGTON POST 07/13/13 By Michael Shank Rarely does one turn to Congress for innovation. That is certainly the case with energy efficiency. Congress may be a go-to on oversight and accountability but not innovation. The Pentagon, in contrast, while not a leader in oversight and accountability (with no audit planned […]
NATIONAL JOURNAL 07/08/13 By Michael Shank The so-called “war on coal” that Senate Joe Manchin (D-WV) claimed recently is real, in direct response to President Barack Obama’s climate change speech in Georgetown, gained new momentum last month in a World Bank memo that pledged fewer Bank-funded coal projects. Manchin, who […]
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 […]