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Burtlow-Richards Aff
Last modified by David Hingstman on 2012/11/02 21:25
Burtlow/Richards FITs Aff Liberty
Advantage I WARMING
Catastrophic anthropogenic warming is happening – observable data and a scientific consensus confirm positive feedback
Kaku 11. (Michio, PhD from Berkeley University. Author of Ph.D. level textbooks. “Physics of the Future.” http://213.55.83.52/ebooks/physics/Physics%20of%20the%20Future.pdf)
By midcentury, the full impact of a fossil fuel economy should be in full swing: global warming. . . . To demand certitude, scientific or otherwise, contradicts the very pattern of our existence.
CO2 independently causes extinction
Westenskow 8. (Rosalie, UPI Correspondent, United Press International, “Acidic oceans may tangle food chain.” 06/06/08. http://www.upi.com/Energy_Resources/2008/06/06/Acidic_oceans_may_tangle_food_chain/UPI-84651212763771/print/)
citing Scott Doney, PhD from MIT in Chemistry, AND CITING, David Adamec, head of Ocean Sciences at NASA with a PhD in Meteorology from Naval Postgraduate School
Increased carbon levels in ocean water could have devastating impacts on marine life, . . . Article focuses on the use of renewables for the generation of electricity.
FITS key to optimize market for renewables
Masterson 10. (Crystal D., Third Year student at University of Oklahoma College of Law, American Indian Law Review, “Wind-Energy Ventures in Indian Country: Fashioning a Functional Paradigm.” 2010. 34 Am. Indian L. Rev. 317 Lexis.)
The feed-in tariffs require that every utility connect and give priority to all renewable-energy sources, . . . The result of such a market scheme is "less expensive renewable energy" n265 and the potential for less expensive electricity altogether. n266
Plan Text
The United States federal government should establish a feed-in tariff that creates long-term purchase contracts for new qualifying facilities that use wind power, solar power, or wind and solar power for energy production to ensure a reasonable rate of return.
ADVANTAGE 2: Grids
Grid centralization ensures energy disruptions
Hildyard et al 12 Nicholas, The Corner House, Larry Lohmann and Sarah Sexton.12 Energy Security For Whom? For What? February 2012, http://www.thecornerhouse.org.uk/sites/thecornerhouse.org.uk/files/Energy%20Security%20For%20Whom%20For%20What.pdf
By the same token, the more that an energy system is subjected to centralised control . . . . The more FITs encourage the adoption of wind and solar, the more stable the grid becomes, rather than the other way around.
Independently, Susceptibility of our grid makes cyber-attacks likely in the near term
Copelin 12 (Laylan,Austin American-Statesman “Growing threat to utilities weighed” May 25, 2012 Lexis)
U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul on Thursday huddled behind closed doors with local and state electricity officials to discuss the escalating threat of cyberattacks against utilities. McCaul, a leader in Congress on cybersecurity issues, heard from officials with the City of Austin, Austin Energy, the Lower Colorado River Authority and Electric Reliability Council of Texas. The Austin Republican said he is reassured about the steps local officials have taken, including keeping some critical functions unconnected to the Internet, but said the threat remains. He noted that the National Security Agency has predicted a major cyberattack on U.S. infrastructure over the next 12 to 18 months and that a recent al Qaeda video calls for "electronic jihad." . . . "The U.S. power grid is particularly vulnerable to the risk of cyberattacks, and given the reliance on power by all other sectors, it deserves special and urgent attention," he said.
Modernization of the grid deters attacks and prevents attacks effectiveness
NETL 7 (National Energy Technology Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, “MODERN GRID BENEFITS” August 2007 http://www.netl.doe.gov/smartgrid/referenceshelf/whitepapers/Modern%20Grid%20Benefits_Final_v1_0.pdf)
SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED VULNERABILITY TO TERRORIST ATTACK AND NATURAL DISASTERS A Center for Contemporary Conflict white paper estimates the direct cost of the 9/11 terrorist attack at $27 billion, in addition to the tragic loss of life. . . . Meanwhile, the grid’s increased resistance to attack makes it better able to cope with natural disasters.
Successful cyber-attack on the grid would cause US lash out triggering nuclear war
Habiger, 2/1/2010 (Eugue – Retired Air Force General, Cyberwarfare and Cyberterrorism, The Cyber Security Institute, p. 11-19)
However, there are reasons to believe that what is going on now amounts to a fundamental shift as opposed to business as usual. Today’s network exploitation or information operation trespasses possess a number of characteristics that suggest that the line between espionage and conflict has been, or is close to being, crossed. . . .. The effect of this would be to undermine our deterrence‐based defenses, making us significantly more at risk of a major war.
Second, Blackouts cause nuclear meltdown
Capiello 11 (Dina, Huffington Post, “Long Blackouts Pose Risk To U.S. Nuclear Reactors” 3/29/11 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/29/blackout-risk-us-nuclear-reactors_n_841869.html
A 2003 federal analysis looking at how to estimate the risk of containment failure said that should power be knocked out by an earthquake or tornado it "would be unlikely that power will be recovered in the time frame to prevent core meltdown." . . . "They certainly could have made all the difference in this particular case," he said, referring to Japan. "That's assuming you have stored these things in a place that would not have been swept away by tsunami."
Nuclear Meltdown causes Extinction
Lendmen 11 (Stephen, “Nuclear Meltdown in Japan” 3/13/11 http://rense.com/general93/nucmelt.htm)
For years, Helen Caldicott warned it's coming. In her 1978 book, "Nuclear Madness," she said: "As a physician, I contend that nuclear technology threatens life on our planet with extinction. . . The Doomsday Clock keeps ticking.
ADVANTAGE 3: Green Economy
Feed-in tariffs stimulate investment in green energy
Kofetsky 2008, “DEUTSCHLAND OBER ALLES: WHY GERMAN REGULATIONS NEED TO CONQUER THE DIVIDED U.S. RENEWABLE-ENERGY FRAMEWORK TO SAVE CLEAN TECH (AND THE WORLD)”, https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=13955f78a3a8375d&mt=application/pdf&url=https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui%3D2%26ik%3Db62fd2ee4a%26view%3Datt%26th%3D13955f78a3a8375d%26attid%3D0.1%26disp%3Dsafe%26zw&sig=AHIEtbRX3GpQtnAMY29zWdsBnFGFuWibbA
Global warming., threats to energy Security, and rising energy costs have become unavoidable in today's world of political turmoil and eco-awareness.1 Each day the world's reliance on carbon-based fuels and waning natural resources causes further environmental damage . . . This Comment argues that the United States must follow the lead of other progressive nations by enacting, a national, demand-pull,:" renewable-energy scheme to foster clean-tech capital formation and innovation. Without this stimulation, the prospects are dim for advancing clean tech to sufficiently meet the current energy concerns.
FITs can provide three million US jobs directly and indirectly
World Future Council 2011, “Feed-In Tariffs – A guide to one of the world’s best environmental policies Boosting Energy for our Future”, http://www.worldfuturecouncil.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Maja/Feed-in_Tariffs_WFC.pdf
How many jobs can RE create? The German FIT legislation has been instrumental in creating a world-beating industry in around 15 years, almost from scratch. Latest figures show that 214,000 people are now employed in the sector [BMU, 2007. . . . Management, sales, advice and other technical support staff will be needed, and the legions of satellite system installers and servicing personnel, who are facing a plateau or even decline in new installations and servicing needs, will have a great opportunity to benefit from this new industry.
Ability to export renewables is the cornerstone of American economic recovery
Jenkins 2011, Jesse, ”Director of Energy and Climate Policy, Breakthrough Institute”, http://energy.nationaljournal.com/2011/10/is-america-losing-the-clean-en.php#2102285
There are a host of reasons why targeted policies and smart public investments in emerging clean tech sectors are justified. . . . if the United States is to build a durable and globally competitive clean energy industry, making clean energy cheap and fully competitive should become our nation’s rallying focus.
Failure of US economic recovery leads to nuclear war.
Merlini, Senior Fellow – Brookings, 11 [Cesare Merlini, nonresident senior fellow at the Center on the United States and Europe and chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Italian Institute for International Affairs (IAI) in Rome. He served as IAI president from 1979 to 2001. Until 2009, he also occupied the position of executive vice chairman of the Council for the United States and Italy, which he co-founded in 1983. His areas of expertise include transatlantic relations, European integration and nuclear non-proliferation, with particular focus on nuclear science and technology. A Post-Secular World? Survival, 53:2, 117 – 130]
Two neatly opposed scenarios for the future of the world order illustrate the range of possibilities, albeit at the risk of oversimplification. The first scenario entails the premature crumbling of the post-Westphalian system. One or more of the acute tensions apparent today evolves into an open and traditional conflict between states, perhaps even involving the use of nuclear weapons. . . . One way or another, the secular rational approach would be sidestepped by a return to theocratic absolutes, competing or converging with secular absolutes such as unbridled nationalism.
Global economic crises cause war strong statistic support
Royal, '10 (Jedediah, Director of Cooperative Threat Reduction Program
Less intuitive is how periods of economic decline may increase the likelihood of external conflict. . . . This observation is not contradictory to other perspectives that link economic interdependence with a decrease in the likelihood of external conflict, such as those mentioned in the first paragraph of this chapter. As such, the view presented here should be considered ancillary to those views.