SEEC Institute Releases Thriving Economy Project Report
First-of-its-kind menu of more than 800 policy recommendations for Congress to consider that responsibly grows the economy and protects our environment
WASHINGTON, DC – September 15, 2026 – The Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) Institute released the Thriving Economy Project report, a first-of-its-kind menu of more than 800 policy recommendations for Congress to immediately consider for long-term economic and job growth and affordable, reliable, and cleaner energy for all American families and businesses.
The report is the product of a coalition of members of Congress and a diverse set of energy, environmental and economic policy subject-matter experts, including private-sector leaders and advocates, and former senior officials and advisors spanning several past presidential administrations and Congressional offices and committees.
“The Thriving Economy Project report includes a mix of ambitious ideas and practical, immediate options that will meet the moment with the urgency these problems demand,” said Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL), chair of the Thriving Economy Project, ranking member on the House Energy and Commerce Energy Subcommittee, and former chair of the U.S. House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. “These recommendations are intended to be actionable in the short term, beginning in 2027, not to collect dust until after the next presidential election.”
The Thriving Economy Project is an effort of SEEC Institute, a nonprofit launched in 2024 to advance climate and clean energy solutions. The report was shaped by nearly two years of public input, including convenings around the country, a Request for Information (RFI) resulting in more than 1,300 policy recommendations, and other responses received from communities and businesses leaders, experts, advocates, and policymakers across the country and economic sectors.
“The Thriving Economy Project starts from a simple premise: America does not have to choose between economic prosperity and environmental stewardship,” said Max Frankel, Executive Director of SEEC Institute. “This project offers a menu of practical ideas to lower costs, strengthen American competitiveness, and build a more resilient and prosperous economy. We hope policymakers will pick it apart, build on it, and put these ideas to work.”
“We heard real-world success stories and lessons from communities across red and blue states to ensure the recommendations are actionable and ready for implementation,” said Eric Fins, Vice President at Grove Climate Group and former Deputy Staff Director of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, who led the Thriving Economy Project team. “This is good policy first and politics second, intended to help the largest number of people in the shortest possible amount of time.”
The ideas focus on the challenges affecting American families and businesses today, and cover themes like rising costs for families, farmers, and businesses, reliable and affordable energy, economic competitiveness for urban and rural communities, access to good jobs, ways to make our supply chains more efficient and effective, environmental and public lands protection, and government efficiency.
Among the policy recommendations are:
Make data centers cover their own costs instead of passing those costs on to households
Direct FERC and states to require very large loads to cover the full incremental cost of the generation, transmission, and distribution they drive, and establish a federal floor for ratepayer protection from the costs of serving new large loads.
Have data centers help lower energy costs for low-income households.
Require data centers to pay into a new fund that would support the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), and the Home Energy Rebates.
Give all Americans hours of free electricity per day.
Establish national time of use rates that give households hours of free electricity a day, similar to the Australian model.
Reward energy-saving vehicles
Provide a rebate towards the purchase of a new vehicle based on the vehicle’s “energy performance,” measured in terms of miles-per-gallon-equivalent.
Make sure federal energy assistance helps families keep their homes cool as summers get hotter.
Ensure LIHEAP adequately addresses home cooling needs.
Stop utilities from passing excessive executive perks, including corporate jets, on to customers.
Create a national floor for disallowances of excessive executive compensation and perks, such as the use of corporate jets and club dues, as non-recoverable in interstate transmission rates.
Make sure American energy is secure with mandatory cybersecurity standards for the natural gas pipelines the electric grid increasingly depends on.
Establish mandatory federal reliability and cybersecurity standards for interstate natural gas pipelines to improve gas-electric system coordination.
Create an energy reserve that states could draw on to keep energy prices low.
Create a Strategic Energy Affordability Reserve drawing from windfall oil and gas profits to give states resources to secure energy price stability for their residents.
Create a permanent White House office responsible for protecting U.S. energy security from global disruptions.
Establish a permanent Office of Global Energy Security (OGES) with adequate funding and staff as a component of the White House Executive Office of the President (EOP), structured similarly to the Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD).
Create Assistant National Cyber Director for Energy
Create an Assistant National Cyber Director (ANCD) for Energy within the White House Office of the National Cyber Director, whose sole purpose is to coordinate between the U.S. government’s cybersecurity and energy agencies, departments, and offices.
Create independent FEMA, with Senate-confirmed administrator and IG
Reestablish FEMA as an independent, cabinet-level agency reporting directly to the President, with a Senate-confirmed Administrator and Deputy Administrator and a dedicated Inspector General.
Allow severe wildfire smoke events to qualify for federal disaster assistance, even when the fire itself is far away.
Wildfire smoke should count as a disaster. Amend the Stafford Act so severe, prolonged smoke episodes, including smoke drifting in from outside U.S. jurisdiction, can trigger federal emergency assistance for clean-air shelters, filtration distribution, and mass care.
Create a 30% tax credit for major new transmission lines and upgrades that increase the capacity of existing lines.
Establish a 30% Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for new high voltage interregional and interstate lines, and for upgrades to existing lines using advanced transmission technologies and reconductoring that increases line capacity.
Make USDA Rural Development an independent agency
Statutorily authorize USDA Rural Development as an independent agency and make the head of it a Senate-confirmed administrator.
Create permanent White House coordination for rural and Tribal communities that does not disappear every time administrations change.
Create a career civil service role of White House Rural and Tribal Liaison that remains beyond political terms.
Ensure easy access to public lands and waters for all Americans
Fund collaborative regional trail, transit, and visitor service initiatives that expand access to public lands and waters and spread economic benefits beyond gateway communities.
Download a copy of the report from the SEEC Institute website at https://www.seecinstitute.org/thriving-economy-project.
Media Contact:
Pearson Croney-Clark
Director of External Affairs
SEEC Institute
pearson@seecinstitute.org