THE HILL 01/01/21 By Michael Shank This month witnessed the launch of the first-ever “Gas Index”, which ranks American metropolitan areas on the leakiness of the gas supply chains that service their cities. This new index — which Burlington, Vt., ranks in the middle of — takes into account methane […]
THE HILL 07/31/20 By Michael Shank The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives and now needs bipartisan Senate support, is the bellwether for what’s possible in tackling systemic racism in America. The bill, which targets racial discrimination and excessive use of […]
THE HILL 06/17/20 By Michael Shank It’s time for a global divestment campaign against the factory farming industry. It has now proved itself to be as harmful to human health as the fossil fuel industry. While air pollution is prematurely killing 7 million humans annually — for which fossil fuels, […]
THE HILL 06/03/20 By Michael Shank and Former US Congressman Michael Honda While governments act aggressively to save lives, stop any further spread of COVID-19, and reopen their economies, let’s not wait to prevent the next virus. More will come. Pandemics are picking up their pace. Thankfully, prevention is entirely […]
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 […]
THE HILL 05/08/20 By Michael Shank Thanks to a new study by Harvard University – that there’s a clear link between long-term exposure to air pollution and higher COVID-19 death rates, there’s yet another reason to electrify our transportation. (As if 50,000 Americans dying prematurely every year from transportation emissions […]
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 […]
THE HILL 10/07/18 By Michael Shank and US Congressman Hank Johnson As President Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency drops “climate change”, and its impact on children, from its latest rule on hydrofluorocarbons, it is time to talk honestly about science. Americans are busy working, taking care of their kids and loved […]
THE HILL 09/13/18 By Michael Shank and Former US Congressman Michael Honda The latest frightening climate study, predicting a devastating rise in sea levels in the lifetimes of babies born today, isn’t generating the sense of urgency that it should. Many more people need to be alarmed and engaged and […]
THE HILL 08/15/18 By Michael Shank and Maxine Bedat The controversy surrounding Beyoncé’s fashion label, Ivy Park, is back in the news, trending globally in social media. After the story flared in 2016 that Sri Lankan women, responsible for cutting and sewing Beyoncé’s Ivy Park garments, were poorly paid and […]