SLATE 05/01/15 By Michael Shank The Vatican and United Nations present the beatitudes of a new movement. This week, while at Vatican City in Rome to manage press for the first-ever meeting on climate change between Pope Francis and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, my faith in a force more […]
Energy
Global Warming Threatens R.I.
PROVIDENCE JOURNAL 05/01/15 By Michael Shank and US Congressman David Cicilline Global warming is happening, here and now. Its impact is already being felt in coastal states like Rhode Island, and greenhouse gas emissions are undeniably responsible. The evidence is all around us. Alarmingly, 2014 was the hottest year ever […]
The Business Argument for Addressing Climate Change
ROLL CALL 04/15/15 By Michael Shank and US Congressman Mike Honda Most Americans know, in general, about climate change. Even those who dispute it have read or heard about rising tides, melting ice caps and superstorms. However, the American people remain largely unaware of how climate change will potentially affect […]
United States Faces Uncertain Water Future as Drought Expands
ABC NEWS 03/30/15 By Nikolai Beilharz Drought in California in the United States is now in its fourth year, and some environmental groups say there is not enough political momentum and interest to address the problem. The water shortage has organisations like Climate Nexus, a not-for-profit group focusing on climate […]
Cyclone Pam is Just the Start
NEWSWEEK 03/19/15 By Michael Shank and US Congresswoman Yvette Clarke In the wake of island nation Vanuatu’s devastation by Cyclone Pam, in which 320 mile-per-hour winds killed dozens of people and destroyed 90 percent of the buildings in the capital city of Port Vila, public health experts fear that the […]
Water Shortages are Coming. It’s Time for Us to Act
THE GUARDIAN 03/12/15 By Michael Shank and US Congressman Matt Cartwright Most Americans take water for granted. It’s a resource that people assume will always be accessible, available, and consumable. For most people in this country, whether they’re at a public drinking fountain, a restaurant or at home, water is […]
A Clear and Present Danger to Planet Earth: Climate Change
NATIONAL INTEREST 01/26/15 By Michael Shank and Des Browne We are facing a new security threat, and, if left unaddressed, it has the potential to kill thousands of people in a single summer. We are talking, of course, about climate change. A new study authored by the British Met Office […]
Obama Won’t Be Able to Repeat His China Climate Change Deal in India. Here’s the Next Best Thing.
THE WEEK 01/26/15 By Michael Shank and Sabina Dewan Urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to commit to action on climate change ranks high on President Barack Obama’s list of priorities during his visit to India. The recent U.S.-China agreement sparked optimism on climate change cooperation between industrialized and developing countries. […]
The End of the Partisan Divide Over Climate Change
FORBES 01/18/15 By Tom Zeller Among the GOP’s liberal and moderate wings, roughly two-thirds were convinced that global warming is real — a fact that has even Republican pollsters arguing that the GOP risks its future by continuing to deny basic climate science on Capitol Hill. Indeed, as Michael Shank […]
More Record Warmth Means More Flooding
USA TODAY 01/16/15 By Michael Shank and Rep Alan Lowenthal In the coming years, thanks to a rapidly warming climate, sea level rise and flooding will become a frequent occurrence on every coast of the North American continent. While Southern California will suffer from some of the most significant sea […]