C3 Journal on
Essays, evidence, and original arguments from the writers shaping this conversation.
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Energy
Harvesting from the sea floor is the most environmentally sustainable way to obtain the minerals we need. These nodules can be harvested using specialized, deep-sea vessels. Seabed nodules sit exposed on the ocean floor, allowing collection without significant disruption.
Agriculture
When most Americans talk about agriculture, they don’t start with emissions targets or land-use debates. They start with the price of food. Often, the mainstream environmental movement overlooks this reality, prioritizing solutions that may reduce environmental impacts but risk undermining an affordable, abundant, and reliable food supply. C3 Solutions’ research shows this is a false tradeoff. Innovation is the path to lower food prices, stronger farm economies, and better environmental outcomes.
Energy
While domestic energy demand surges, our adversaries — led by China, the world’s dominant energy financier — are outpacing us in investments in innovative R&D and critical infrastructure. To win this competition, the federal government must enable the U.S. energy sector to compete in technology areas where the financial risk is too high for the private sector to bear alone. One of the U.S. government’s more powerful tools is loan guarantees.
Conservation
The ocean is the largest and most consequential ecosystem on Earth. It regulates the climate, absorbs 30 percent of annual carbon emissions, supports millions of species, and drives economic activity through fisheries, trade, shipping, and tourism. Modern life depends on a functioning, healthy ocean.
Environment
That’s where ION Clean Energy comes in. Using its proprietary solvent, ICE-31™, ION’s post-combustion capture system is designed to capture carbon dioxide from the flue gas of natural gas-fired power plants.
Environment
From biodegradable diapers to bio-based nylon for clothes, San Leandro, CA-based biotechnology company ZymoChem is harnessing the power of carbon-conserving microbes to create sustainable alternatives for everyday products.
Environment
Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion, and Peter Howitt won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economics for their work on innovation-driven economic growth. Innovation spurs technological advancements that improve human flourishing and quality of life. It is also essential for a cleaner environment. As we remind policymakers in the U.S. and abroad, free economies are clean economies.
Energy
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has announced they are betting on the future of advanced small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). TVA is partnering with ENTRA1 Energy to develop six gigawatts of nuclear power generated by SMRs. This partnership marks the largest planned deployment of SMRs in the United States to date.
Energy
Just look at the numbers. U.S. data centers used 176 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity in 2023, triple what they consumed less than a decade earlier. By 2030, we’re talking about 400–500 TWh every year, enough to power 20 to 30 million homes. That’s not a blip on the chart. That’s a new industrial revolution. So what fuels this surge? Natural gas.
Energy
Airloom Energy is debuting a new type of wind energy technology that differs significantly from current offerings on the market.
