Tournament: Binghamton | Round:  | Opponent:  | Judge: 

Inherency

Native tribes want to develop renewable energy but lack financial resources

Kronk, Law Prof Texas Tech, 12

Elizabeth Ann, Assistant Professor, Texas Tech University School of Law, “Tribal Energy Resource Agreements: The Unintended "Great Mischief for Indian Energy Development" and the Resulting Need for Reform,” 29 Pace Envtl. L. Rev. 811, Spring [JSN]

Mirroring this desire, many tribes … this leasing process cumbersome.

Tribes cant access financial incentives for renewables because they're tax exempt – blocks tribes from investing

Miskwish, president Laguna Resource Services Inc, 10
 Michael Connolly, Laguna Resource Services Inc is an environmental consulting firm and a principal with High Pass Energy, Inc. He served 17 years as a councilman for the Campo Band of Kumeyaay including as tribal treasurer, May 2010, “CAPTURING THE FULL BENEFIT OF ON-RESERVATION RENEWABLE ENERGY,”, 7 American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, NATIVE AM. RESOURCES COMM. NEWSLETTER 3, [DLP ACG PRE]

This resistance to passive … may be politically unfeasible.

Advantage 1 – Tribal Sovereignty

Financial incentives disproportionately reward non-tribal businesses

UConn Law Review, April 2012

Jessica R. A. Hamilton, Executive Editor on the Editorial Board of the Connecticut Law Review, April 2012, Connecticut Law Review Volume 44 Number 4, “FINDING NEW POWER IN THE WIND, THE EARTH, AND THE SUN: A SURVEY OF THE REGULATION OF ALTERNATIVE ENERGY GENERATED ON AMERICAN INDIAN RESERVATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES AND FIRST NATION RESERVES IN CANADA,” [DLP PRE]

What is most critical to … generation facilities, like biopower.137

Tribes cant access electricity now and only get it by paying exorbitant prices to exploitative developers from outside the community

National Wildlife Federation 10

March 23, 2010, “The New Energy Future in Indian Country: Confronting Climate Change, Creating Jobs, and Conserving Nations,” Confronting Global Warming Report, released in collaboration with National Tribal Environmental Council, Native American Rights Fund, and the Intertribal Council on Utility Policy, [DLP PRE]

On average, Tribal households … resources for future generations.

Current structure of financial incentives blocks tribes from gaining any benefits of the renewable energy and allows corporate developers to continue the colonial exploitation of indigenous peoples

Miskwish, president Laguna Resource Services Inc, 10
 Michael Connolly, Laguna Resource Services Inc is an environmental consulting firm and a principal with High Pass Energy, Inc. He served 17 years as a councilman for the Campo Band of Kumeyaay including as tribal treasurer, May 2010, “CAPTURING THE FULL BENEFIT OF ON-RESERVATION RENEWABLE ENERGY,”, 7 American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, NATIVE AM. RESOURCES COMM. NEWSLETTER 3, [DLP ACG PRE]

A 200 megawatt wind … to reinvest in the long-term tribal economy.

Tribes get marginal earnings and shoulder heavy costs

Miskwish, president Laguna Resource Services Inc, 10
 Michael Connolly, Laguna Resource Services Inc is an environmental consulting firm and a principal with High Pass Energy, Inc. He served 17 years as a councilman for the Campo Band of Kumeyaay including as tribal treasurer, May 2010, “CAPTURING THE FULL BENEFIT OF ON-RESERVATION RENEWABLE ENERGY,”, 7 American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, NATIVE AM. RESOURCES COMM. NEWSLETTER 3, [DLP ACG PRE]

A passive royalty return to … single out Native communities for plunder.

Protecting native sovereignty is a moral imperative. It comes before all other impacts.

Dean B. Suagee, Director, First Nations Environmental Law Program, Vermont Law School, ‘92

enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, “Self-Determination For Indigenous Peoples At The Dawn Of The Solar Age”, Spring and Summer 1992, 25 U. Mich. J.L. Reform 671, Lexis [JSN]

All over the world, … law as a matter of principle.

Absent a positive U.S. model, indigenous peoples around the world face systematic extermination.

Morris Prof @ Colorado, 99

Glenn, Professor of the Fourth World Center for the Study of Indigenous Law and Policy at the University of Colorado, 199, Native American Sovereignty, p. 324-5

More important, the … other parts of the planet.

Loss of social diversity will cause planetary destruction

Rich, winner of the UN Global 500 Award for Environmental Achievment, 94

Bruce Rich, attorney at the Environmental Defense Fund and Natural Resources Defense Council, has worked for the US Agency for International Development, UN Environemnt Program, World Resources Institute, US Congress Office of Technology Assessment, and the world bank, awarded the UN Global 500 Award for Environmental Achievment, 1994, “Mortgaging the Earth”

The problem lies in … universal prediction and control.

Renewable energy development controlled by Tribes allows for sovereignty, sustainability, and financial security through energy independence

UConn Law Review, 12

Jessica R. A. Hamilton, Executive Editor on the Editorial Board of the Connecticut Law Review, April 2012, Connecticut Law Review Volume 44 Number 4, “FINDING NEW POWER IN THE WIND, THE EARTH, AND THE SUN: A SURVEY OF THE REGULATION OF ALTERNATIVE ENERGY GENERATED ON AMERICAN INDIAN RESERVATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES AND FIRST NATION RESERVES IN CANADA,” [DLP PRE]

American Indian Tribes in … and the Tribes and First Nations.

Economic self sufficiency key to self-determination

Alfred, Director Indigenous Governance Program @ Victoria, 99

Taiaiake Alfred, Director, Indigenous Governance Pogram, Victoria, 99, Peace, Power, Righteousness: An Indigenous Manifesto, p. 136-137

3. Economic self-sufficiency. Meaningful progress towards … general development of the community.

Development of Tribal renewable energy allows tribes to attain energy independence and sell energy back to state

UConn Law Review, April 2012

Jessica R. A. Hamilton, Executive Editor on the Editorial Board of the Connecticut Law Review, April 2012, Connecticut Law Review Volume 44 Number 4, “FINDING NEW POWER IN THE WIND, THE EARTH, AND THE SUN: A SURVEY OF THE REGULATION OF ALTERNATIVE ENERGY GENERATED ON AMERICAN INDIAN RESERVATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES AND FIRST NATION RESERVES IN CANADA,” [DLP PRE]

VI. GOVERNMENTAL DEVELOPMENT INCENTIVES AND FUNDING OPTIONS FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS ON RESERVES AND RESERVATIONS

As described above, all tribal lands …equality in the bargaining power.

Control over renewable energy development is key to self-determination

Arizona Law Review ‘10

Bethany C. Sullivan, J.D. Candidate, University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. “NOTE: Changing Winds: Reconfiguring the Legal Framework for Renewable-Energy Development in Indian Country,” 52 Ariz. L. Rev. 823, Fall [JSN]

Improving tribal ability to develop … optimal position to spearhead this development.

Investment in renewable energy improves tribal standard of living, creates jobs, raises revenue, and addresses rural electrification problems

UConn Law Review, April 2012

Jessica R. A. Hamilton, Executive Editor on the Editorial Board of the Connecticut Law Review, April 2012, Connecticut Law Review Volume 44 Number 4, “FINDING NEW POWER IN THE WIND, THE EARTH, AND THE SUN: A SURVEY OF THE REGULATION OF ALTERNATIVE ENERGY GENERATED ON AMERICAN INDIAN RESERVATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES AND FIRST NATION RESERVES IN CANADA,” [DLP PRE]

IV. THE POTENTIAL FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY ON RESERVES AND RESERVATIONS

Given the vast area that reserves …the renewable energy projects suggested here.45

Energy development can help tribes attain self-determination and generate revenue

MacCourt, Chair Indian Law Practice, 10

June 2010, “Renewable Energy Development in Indian Country: A Handbook for Tribes,” Douglas C., Ater Wynne LLP: Attorneys at Law, A project for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC [DLP PRE]

In addition to the significant tribal … capacity to achieve economic independence.

Tribal owned energy will increase sovereignty, infrastructure, and economic growth while providing cheaper electricity and jobs

National Wildlife Federation 10

March 23, 2010, “The New Energy Future in Indian Country: Confronting Climate Change, Creating Jobs, and Conserving Nations,” Confronting Global Warming Report, released in collaboration with National Tribal Environmental Council, Native American Rights Fund, and the Intertribal Council on Utility Policy, [DLP PRE]

On average, Tribal households pay … resources for future generations.

PV ideal for reservations – power lines cant access and otherwise dependent on dirty fuels

UConn Law Review, April 2012

Jessica R. A. Hamilton, Executive Editor on the Editorial Board of the Connecticut Law Review, April 2012, Connecticut Law Review Volume 44 Number 4, “FINDING NEW POWER IN THE WIND, THE EARTH, AND THE SUN: A SURVEY OF THE REGULATION OF ALTERNATIVE ENERGY GENERATED ON AMERICAN INDIAN RESERVATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES AND FIRST NATION RESERVES IN CANADA,” [DLP PRE]

Photovoltaic solar power systems, which … extremely dependent on the weather.59

Tribal wind is efficient and provides energy for tribes

National Wildlife Federation 10

March 23, 2010, “The New Energy Future in Indian Country: Confronting Climate Change, Creating Jobs, and Conserving Nations,” Confronting Global Warming Report, released in collaboration with National Tribal Environmental Council, Native American Rights Fund, and the Intertribal Council on Utility Policy, [DLP PRE]

Tribal Wind

Turbines harness the wind’s … wind system to be around $32,000.6

Advantage 2 – Warming

Anthropogenic warming causes extinction

James Hansen, NASA space studies director, 5/9/12, Game Over for the Climate, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/10/opinion/game-over-for-the-climate.html?_r=2andpartner=rssnytandemc=rss [DCL PRE]

GLOBAL warming isn’t a prediction… immoral by coming generations.

Coupled models and RCP studies show that sharp emissions cuts would slow sea levels enough for adaptation strategies

Meehl et al., National Center for Atmospheric Research, ‘12

Gerald A. Meehl,             Aixue Hu,           Claudia Tebaldi,               Julie M. Arblaster,          Warren M. Washington,              Haiyan Teng,      Benjamin M. Sanderson,             Toby Ault,          Warren G. Strand            and James B. White III,

National Center for Atmospheric Research, PO Box 3000, Boulder, Colorado 80307, USA

Gerald A. Meehl, Aixue Hu, Julie M. Arblaster, Warren M. Washington, Haiyan Teng, Benjamin M. Sanderson, Toby Ault, Warren G. Strand and James B. White III

Climate Central, One Palmer Square, Suite 330, Princeton, New Jersey 08542, USA

Claudia Tebaldi

Center for Australian Weather and Climate Research, Bureau of Meteorology, GPO Box 1289, Melbourne 3001, Australia

Julie M. Arblaster

Relative outcomes of climate change mitigation related to global temperature versus sea-level rise, Nature Climate Change 2, 576–580 (2012), 7/1/12, http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v2/n8/full/nclimate1529.html#/affil-auth, DOI: doi:10.1038/nclimate1529  [DCL PRE]

There is a common perception … adaptation measures to be adopted.

Sea level rise bad

CO2 causes ocean acidification

Williamson and Turley, Natural Environment Research Council and Plymouth Marine Lab, ‘12

Phillip Williamson1,2,* and Carol Turley3, 1School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK

2Natural Environment Research Council, Swindon SN2 1EU, UK

3Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, The Hoe, Plymouth PL1 3DH, UK, Sept 2012, http://rsta.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/370/1974/4317.full, DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2012.0167 [DCL PRE]

2. Observed chemical and biological changes owing to ocean acidification

(a) Evidence for anthropogenic … local/regional circulation changes.

CO2 devastate marine biodiversity by the end of the century

Munday et al., Australian Research Council Centre of Coral Reef Studies, ‘10

Philip L. Mundaya,1, Danielle L. Dixsona, Mark I. McCormicka, Mark Meekanb, Maud C. O. Ferraric, and Douglas P. Chiversd

aAustralian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia;

bAustralian Institute of Marine Science, Perth, Western Australia 6009, Australia;

cDepartment of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, CA 95616; and

dDepartment of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, SK, Canada S7N 5E2

July 2010, http://www.pnas.org/content/107/29/12930.full, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1004519107 [JPW PRE]

Our results show that CO2 concentrations … at critical life-history transitions.

Ocean biodiversity key to solve extinction

Craig, Associate Prof Law, Indiana U School Law, 2003

(McGeorge Law Review, 34 McGeorge L. Rev. 155 Lexis)

Biodiversity and ecosystem function arguments … we will take most of the biosphere with us

Native American lands in the US hold vast renewable energy potential.

UConn Law Review 12

Jessica R. A. Hamilton, Executive Editor, Connecticut Law Review, April 2012, Connecticut Law Review Volume 44 Number 4, “FINDING NEW POWER IN THE WIND, THE EARTH, AND THE SUN: A SURVEY OF THE REGULATION OF ALTERNATIVE ENERGY GENERATED ON AMERICAN INDIAN RESERVATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES AND FIRST NATION RESERVES IN CANADA” [ACG PRE]

American Indian Tribes in the United States and … still in its infancy.

Demonstration of effective climate change methods by tribes serves as a global model that can avoid the worst climate change scenarios

Brittain et al, Center Manager at CMEW, 2011

Anna Brittain, Bachelors in Polisci and Environmental Studies from Williams, worked with Eurpean Director of the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development, worked with TRAFFIC providing research and writing assistance for a coral trade analysis report, MS in environmental science and management from the Bren School at UC Santa Barbra, Center Manager at the Center for Management of Ecological Wealth, Sheena Evans, BS in Environemnetal Science from University of Denver, Performing Arts Manager for UCSB Arts and Lectures Program, Amber Giroux, Bachelors in Biology and Environmental Studies from Whitman college, Becca Hammargren, bachelors in Political Science and Environmental Studies from St. Olaf College, worked as AmeriCorps outreach coordinator in the Sierra Nevada AmeriCorps Partnership, worked as community organizer in southwest Montana, works in Planning and Strategies Department at Southern Carolina Edison, Brock Treece, BA in Philosophy from Hillsdale College, Amy Willis, BA in Geography/Environmental Studies from UCLA, worked for the Stockholm Environment Institute’s Swedish International Agricultural Network Initiative, info on people from http://fiesta.bren.ucsb.edu/~chumash/about%20us.html, adviser = Hunter Lenihan, prof in Applied Marine and Fisheries Ecology at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Barbara, Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, “Climate Action on Tribal Lands: A Community Based Approach,” [DLP PRE]

The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash … amongst all tribal operations and governing bodies.

We have an ethical imperative to try to address climate change – lacking incentives, only adopting an ethical framework that supports mitigating human contributions to climate change and redressing environmental justice issues regardless of direct solvency can mobilize global support against emissions

Krakoff, Associate Dean of Research Colorado Law School, 8

Sarah, also Law Professor at Colorado Law School, “American Indians, Climate Change, and Ethics for a Warming World,” Legal Studies Research Paper Series, Colorodo Law, 85 Den., U.L. Rev. 865 (2008), [DLP PRE]

Yet as important as it is to … many American Indian tribes.

.

Plan

Plan: The United States Federal Government should offer a cash grant equal to 30% of the cost of wind or solar facilities for projects owned by Indian tribal governments or any partnership of which an Indian tribal government is a partner or holder of equity interest that would otherwise qualify for an Investment Tax Credit for a wind or solar project or a Production Tax Credit for a wind or solar project.

Solvency

Grants and accelerated depreciation eliminate the need for tax credits – allow tribes to invest in and control projects

MacCourt, Chair Indian Law Practice, 10

June 2010, “Renewable Energy Development in Indian Country: A Handbook for Tribes,” Douglas C., Ater Wynne LLP: Attorneys at Law, A project for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC [DLP PRE]

GRANTS IN LIEU OF TAX CREDITS

Section 1603 of the American … Project through a taxable corporation.

Grants effectively substitute for tax credits

Miskwish, president Laguna Resource Services Inc, 10
 Michael Connolly, Laguna Resource Services Inc is an environmental consulting firm and a principal with High Pass Energy, Inc. He served 17 years as a councilman for the Campo Band of Kumeyaay including as tribal treasurer, May 2010, “CAPTURING THE FULL BENEFIT OF ON-RESERVATION RENEWABLE ENERGY,”, 7 American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, NATIVE AM. RESOURCES COMM. NEWSLETTER 3, [DLP ACG PRE]

Tribal economic development has long been … commercial wind/ renewable energy sector