RUTLAND HERALD 08/28/2021 TIMES ARGUS 08/28/2021 By Michael Shank Last month, in an online report of “America’s Best Places to Live in 2021,” which ranked 10 U.S. states as “America’s most welcoming,” Vermont ranked first. The state’s impressive COVID-19 response and strong public health spending boosted its spot. But what’s […]
RUTLAND HERALD 08/11/2021 TIMES ARGUS 08/11/2021 By Michael Shank There’s a movement metastasizing across America. It’s well armed, it’s extreme, and it’s led largely by white men. They’re enraged, they’re feeling entitled, and they’re taking ground wherever it’s given. And while the movement clearly got new wind in its sails […]
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 […]
VTDIGGER 07/23/21 TIMES ARGUS 07/17/21 RUTLAND HERALD 07/17/21 By Michael Shank and US Congresswoman Yvette Clarke This column is by U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke of New York and Dr. Michael Shank of Brandon. Clarke is vice chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and co-chair of the Smart Cities Caucus. Shank […]
RUTLAND HERALD 07/03/21 TIMES ARGUS 07/03/21 By Michael Shank To all the older white men potentially queuing for the 2022 election for U.S. Senate to represent Vermont, please step aside. Speaking as a white man to the handful of you who might run, I urge you to make space. As […]
RUTLAND HERALD 06/12/21 TIMES ARGUS 06/12/21 By Michael Shank There’s been a lot of postponing on the climate front of late. Some postponing has been understandable: The annual United Nations-facilitated climate talks, for example — known as the Conference of Parties, or COPs — were postponed because of COVID travel […]
RUTLAND HERALD 04/21/21 TIMES ARGUS 04/21/21 By Michael Shank I want to critique an oft-repeated proposition in Brandon — and throughout Vermont — that you can deal with a grievance by simply “talking with your neighbor.” To be clear, I support sitting down with anyone and, in diplomacy work, believe […]
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 […]
RUTLAND HERALD 09/27/21 TIMES ARGUS 09/27/21 By Michael Shank A local zoning administrator once told me — when I served as chairman of the Brandon Planning Commission — that Vermont was the “Wild West” when it came to rules and regs. He’s not wrong. I’ve witnessed this in the lax […]
RUTLAND HERALD 02/27/21 TIMES ARGUS 02/27/21 By Michael Shank Since receiving President Joe Biden’s nomination for secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack has indicated he’s newly committed to a USDA that prioritizes sustainable, regenerative and climate-resilient agriculture. It’s a welcomed shift from previous stints as USDA secretary under […]