NPR 11/25/14 By Laura Sullivan For weeks, Ferguson police and local leaders met with community groups and activists to work out a plan for the aftermath of the grand jury’s decision whether to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown. But any results of that […]
OZY 11/22/14 By Laura Secorun “Buying partisan is a dangerous game that will divide America further,” says Michael Shank, associate director for legislative affairs at the Friends Committee on National Legislation in Washington D.C., who thinks gerrymandered districts and partisan cable news are doing enough harm. “We don’t need another […]
E&E 11/13/14 By Nick Juliano The ongoing domestic energy boom is fueling an alliance between representatives of U.S. companies that produce natural gas and foreign governments that want to purchase it, documents and interviews show. Intensified interest from foreign governments toward U.S. energy policy is one of the many outcomes […]
THE HILL 11/12/14 The Hill Staff Michael Shank, who served as the associate director of legislative affairs at the Friends Committee on National Legislation — a Quaker lobbying group — is joining Climate Nexus. Shank’s new title will be the director of media strategy for the group, which advocates for […]
NATIONAL JOURNAL 11/10/14 By Clare Foran, Ben Geman and Jason Plautz WILL OBAMA VETO THE KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE? What political considerations will the president need to weigh in making his decision? If he approves, or rejects, the pipeline, what consequences will he face? “Since our Congress remains hobbled by the […]
NATIONAL JOURNAL 10/20/14 By Clare Foran and Jason Plautz WHAT INSIDERS ARE SAYING WHAT’S THE VALUE OF DIVESTMENT? ExxonMobil this month criticized the divestment movement, which seeks to pressure investors to drop stock in oil and gas companies. Does divestment have symbolic and financial value? Are there costs, and who […]
RIA NOVOSTI 10/15/14 NEW YORK, October 15 (RIA Novosti) – The Pentagon should ditch plans to gift 13,000 armored Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected (MRAP) vehicles to US police and avoid further militarization of American communities, Friends Committee on National Legislation analyst Michael Shank told RIA Novosti Wednesday. “Given that the Pentagon has […]
NATIONAL JOURNAL 10/14/14 By Clare Foran, Ben Geman and Jason Plautz WHAT INSIDERS ARE SAYING WHAT’S THE IMPACT OF FALLING OIL PRICES? Which nations have the most to gain from the recent downward trend in prices, and which have the most to lose? “With ‘demand for petroleum products declining worldwide, […]
NATIONAL JOURNAL 10/06/14 By Clare Foran and Ben Geman WHAT INSIDERS ARE SAYING ARE ENERGY SANCTIONS WORKING? Despite U.S. sanctions aimed at Moscow’s energy sector, oil production is up in Russia. Should sanctions be stronger to achieve U.S. diplomatic aims? What’s the best metric to gauge success? “Without question, oil […]
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES 09/27/214 By Fiona Keating Although a minority of MPs expressed their opposition to British air strikes against Isis, there were concerns over whether RAF Tornado jets flying combat missions over Iraq were the answer to the rapid advance of Isis. Politicians with previous experience of armed conflict, […]