Policy
The NDAA Should Support SMRs
The Department of Defense (DOD) needs a fast lane to the deployment of small modular reactors for powering stations, and the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) offers a road forward.
The archive
Tag: C3 Exclusives
Policy
Securing Energy Dominance Requires Returning the DOE to Its Innovation Mission
Through the newly passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), Congress has allocated $1 billion to the Department of Energy (DOE) for loans that focus on the president’s energy dominance agenda. This presents an opportunity for a necessary policy course correction, as the nation’s energy needs are growing, and even the energy we can produce won’t always be low-cost.
Culture
Can Circular Manufacturing Solve the Growing E-Waste Problem?
Electronics waste, or e-waste, is a pressing global problem that poses serious environmental and human health risks. Now, one startup is pioneering a circular manufacturing approach to address these risks and manage e-waste more sustainably.
Conservation
New USDA Rule Seeks to Streamline Environmental Reviews
Energy developers, foresters, and farmers alike are all too familiar with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). At the USDA, NEPA has stifled progress through lengthy environmental impact statements and redundant environmental assessments for projects ranging from farmland conservation to forest management and livestock grazing.
Policy
The Carrot Is Mightier Than the Stick
If we want to lead the world in reducing emissions while securing economic growth and energy security, we must replace the stick with the carrot. Overregulation, top-down mandates, and punitive taxes may win headlines, but they rarely produce scalable, lasting results.
Economics
Insurance Against Disaster: How Parametric Insurance Is Helping Communities
When Cyclone Freddy swept through southern Africa in 2023, the physical destruction and loss of life weren’t the only things communities endured. For many, the hardship persisted long after the storm had passed, while communities waited for help to arrive.
Energy
TVA Aims to Expand Pumped Hydropower Storage Capacity
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, pumped storage hydropower makes up more than 90 percent of the nation’s utility-scale energy storage. Now, the Tennessee Valley Authority is considering expanding pumped storage hydropower capacity.
Energy
Good Energy Policy is Crucial for AI
If you want evidence of artificial intelligence’s lifesaving potential, log out of ChatGPT and, instead, check out what’s happening in Virginia Tech’s Civil and Environmental Engineering program. Researchers there are building a model that uses deep learning to predict where flooding from hurricanes will occur.
Conservation
Taking Action to Reduce Wildfire Risk
Whatever you think the costs of wildfires are – to your community, your country, or the planet- it is very likely an underestimate.
Conservation
How Will an International Visitor Surcharge Benefit Our National Parks?
Approximately 14.6 million travelers from other countries visit America’s national parks annually. Now, the U.S. Department of the Interior is proposing a surcharge so that these visitors pay a little extra for park entrance fees.