UT Austin

CFACT Collegians Fuel Federal Energy Debate

CFACT Collegians are once again stepping into the federal rulemaking process, urging agencies to choose practical, science-based regulations over red tape that punishes American energy production. Taylor Elliott of Lipscomb University in Tennessee, Thien Nguyen of the University of Texas at Austin, and Zach Lochard of Southern Illinois University Carbondale each weighed in on a different federal proposal. Taken together, their comments make a clear case for CFACT’s approach: protect the environment with human prosperity kept paramount, modernize and deregulate outdated or biased rules, and make America energy independent. Taylor Elliott called for balanced marine mammal protections and regulatory support for [...]

By Nate Myers |2026-05-20T22:48:11-04:00May 20th, 2026|Comments Off

Spin to Win: Southwest Students Learn Nuclear Facts

CFACT Collegians are proving once again that meaningful conversations about energy don’t have to happen in lecture halls—they can start with something as simple as a spin of the wheel and a piece of candy. At the University of Arizona, campus representative Ashlee Mendola (pictured above) brought nuclear energy education straight to the heart of campus life. Setting up on the busy mall near the student union, Ashlee invited passing students to test their knowledge with a colorful prize wheel featuring nuclear energy trivia. The concept was simple: answer a question, win some candy—but the impact ran much deeper. Ashlee reported [...]

By Emma Arns |2026-06-10T16:30:18-04:00April 15th, 2026|Comments Off

Beanbags & Biodiversity: CFACT Collegians Take Aim at Invasive Species

When it comes to conservation, CFACT Collegians aren’t content to sit in a classroom and theorize—they bring the message straight to their peers in ways that are engaging, memorable, and rooted in real-world impact. That spirit was on full display as students at two major universities put their own creative spin on the “Invasive Species Round-Up” event, turning a serious ecological issue into hands-on, interactive learning. At the University of Tennessee Knoxville, collegian Jude Abernathy introduced what he dubbed the “Invasive Species Cornhole Quiz.” Interacting with over 25 students throughout the day while donning an orange hunting safety vest, Jude transformed a [...]

By Emma Arns |2026-06-15T15:31:05-04:00March 26th, 2026|Comments Off

UT Austin Student Exposes Net Zero’s Human Cost

On a busy stretch of campus at the University of Texas at Austin, students traversing between classes were met with a message rarely discussed in environmental conversations: the global push for “Net Zero” energy relies on human exploitation. That message came from Thien Nguyen, a CFACT student intern who hosted a “Cobalt Kills Heart Wall”—an interactive awareness display designed to expose the human and environmental costs hidden behind so-called “green energy.” The event centered on a large backdrop posing a moral challenge about Net Zero policies, paired with heart-shaped cutouts inviting students to respond in their own words. Apart of CFACT’s [...]

By Emma Arns |2026-06-10T12:00:03-04:00January 21st, 2026|Comments Off

Survey Says: Texas Students Want Real Energy & Real Debate

For years, campus activists and administrators have tried to sell the public a fiction: college students are unanimously devoted to “green” energy mandates and climate alarmism, and anyone who questions the prevailing narrative is some kind of relic of the past. UT Austin student and CFACT Collegian intern Thien Nguyen decided to test that assumption the old-fashioned way—by asking students directly. Over the course of roughly a month, Thien conducted a seven-question survey alongside his three separate tabling events, handing out flyers with a QR code that took students straight to the online poll. Instead of relying on a single day’s [...]

By Emma Arns |2026-06-10T11:53:45-04:00January 2nd, 2026|Comments Off