Tournament: UNI | Round: 1 | Opponent:  | Judge: 

Plan: The United States federal government should require that rates paid by utilities for the purchase of electric energy from new qualifying facilities using wind and/or solar power ensure a reasonable rate of return for 25 years and mandate allowed grid access for these qualifying facilities including the requirement that utilities bear the cost for any grid reinforcements the new qualifying facility may require. We reserve the right to clarify.

Climate Advantage:

Climate change is real and anthropogenic – fundamental science, atmospheric patterns, greenhouse gas fingerprints, and newest measurements all confirm

Braganza 6/14/11
(Karl – PhD from School of Mathematics at Monash University, Head of Climate Monitoring at the Bureau of Meteorology’s National Climate Centre, his salary is not funded from any external sources or dependent on specially funded government climate change projects, "The Greenhouse Effect is Real:  Here’s Why," The Conversation, http://theconversation.edu.au/the-greenhouse-effect-is-real-heres-why-1515)

The greenhouse effect is fundamental science. . . with simultaneous warming in the lower atmosphere (troposphere).

Rising greenhouse gases account for 90% of global warming – newest ocean studies allow isolation of natural variability

Radio Australia 6/11/12
("Research Shows Humans Main Cause of Global Warming," http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/2012-06-11/research-shows-humans-main-cause-of-global-warming/958298)
¶ A US-led research group is claiming to have bolstered the argument. . .  rising greenhouse gases primarily," he said.¶ The research team says the ground-breaking study will help guide further climate change research and international policy development.

Feed-in Tariffs solve warming—two internal links:

1. Electricity Sector—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

Electricity sector is key

Mormann 11. (Felix, German JD and JSD from University of Passau School of law, as well as an LMM from UC BerkeleySchool of Law and is a research Fellow at Stanford’s Steyer Center for Energy Policy and Finance, writing for Economic Law Quarterly, "Requirements for a Renewables Revolution." 05/02/11. http://www.boalt.org/elq/documents/elq38_4_03_2012_0808.pdf)

Renewable sources of energy are relevant not only to electricity generation . . . Accordingly, this Article focuses on the use of renewables for the generation of electricity.

2. Modeling—US Climate legislation mobilizes other actors to solve warming—fosters cooperation

Cummins and Allen 2010 (Ronnie, Int’l. Dir. – Organic Consumers Association, and Will, Policy Advisor – Organic Consumers Association, "Climate Catastrophe: Surviving  the 21st Century", 2-14, http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/02/14-6-http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/02/14-6)

The hour is late. Leading climate scientists such as James Hansen are literally shouting at the top of their lungs that the world needs to reduce emissions both Democrats and Republicans-along with agribusiness, real estate developers, the construction industry, and the fossil fuel lobby appear determined to maintain "business as  usual." 

International cooperation key to solvency – ecosystems go beyond national borders and tragedy of the commons requires collective responses

Ivanova* and Esty in 8 - *Assistant Professor of Government and Environmental Policy at The College of William and Mary and the Director of the Global Environmental Governance Project at the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy, and Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law and Policy at Yale University (2008. " Reclaiming U.S. Leadership in Global Environmental Governance " Vol 28 No. 2. http://mxivan.people.wm.edu/Ivanova%26Esty-SAIS%20Review-2008.pdf-http://mxivan.people.wm.edu/Ivanova%26Esty-SAIS Review-2008.pdf) 

What has confused analysts and policymakers, especially those overseas, is that Global environmental problems, . . . The organization was intended to serve as the world’s ecological conscience, provide impartial monitoring and assessment, be a global source of information on the environment, "speed up international action on urgent environmental problems," and "stimulate further international agreements of a regulatory character." 14

Climate change will be the largest factor in global conflict – accelerates instability and adds pressure to fragile countries

Zaffos 4/2/12
(Joshua - master’s degree from the edu/, "Military Sees Threats, Worry in Climate Change, The Daily Climate, wwwp.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/2012/04/climate-security)

Instability accelerant A 2010 Defense Department review-http://www.defense.gov/qdr/ identified climate change and energy security as "prominent military vulnerabilities,". . . . This periodic, global climate shift, which previews projected climate transformations, has played a role in one out of every five civil conflicts since 1950, making it as significant as any geopolitical or economic factor, according to Hsiang. 

Climate change causes destruction of civilization

Hansen et al. 12
(James - NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Columbia University Earth Institute, "Scientific Case for Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change to Protect Young People and Nature, 2012, Our Children’s Trust, http://ourchildrenstrust.org/sites/default/files/Hansen’s%20Latest%20Declaration%20.pdf-http://ourchildrenstrust.org/sites/default/files/Hansen%27s Latest Declaration .pdf.)

Fossil fuel emissions to date are only a small fraction of potential emissions from known reserves and potentially recoverable resources (Fig. P1). Although there are uncertainties in reserves and resources, ongoing fossil fuel subsidies and continuing technological advances ensure that more and more of these fuels will be economically recoverable.. . . . And these scenarios all assume a massive 100 GtC reforestation program, essentially restoring biospheric carbon content to its natural level. 

And science reports show renewables can curb warming – they can provide the US with enough electricity by 2030

Renewable Energy World 2007, "ASES Report: Renewable Energy Can Curb Global Warming by 2030", http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2007/02/ases-report-renewable-energy-can-curb-global-warming-by-2030-47351

American Solar Energy Society (ASES) unveiled its 200-page landmark report, "Tackling Climate Change in the U.S.: Potential Carbon Emissions Reductions from Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy by 2030." . . . Because global warming is an environmental crisis of enormous magnitude, we cannot afford to wait any longer to drastically reduce carbon emissions. Energy efficiency and renewable technologies can begin to be deployed on a large scale today to tackle this critical challenge.

II.  Competitiveness Advantage

Currently the US is at the top but is risking decline in the green economy – lack of investment and tech innovation

BlueGreen Alliance 2012, "Can the U.S. Compete in the
Global Clean Economy?", http://www.bluegreenalliance.org/news/publications/document/US-Global-Competitiveness.pdf

THE STAKES ARE HIGH Over the next decade, an estimated %242.3 trillion will be invested in clean technologies.3 China’s green stimulus of %24200.8 billion accounted for 34 percent of its total stimulus package, topping the U.S.’s total green stimulus by over %24106 billion.

Specifically promoting renewable electricity is key to competitive standing – Feed-in tariffs solve through new energy development and green jobs

World Future Council 2009, "FITness Testing: Exploring the myths and misconceptions about feed-in tariff policies", http://www.worldfuturecouncil.org/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF/FITness_Testing_Myths.pdf

The growth of the US renewable electricity is important not only to US climate response, but also to US competitiveness in the emerging global clean energy economy. . . . During 2009, a number of countries announced new feed-in tariffs, including China, India, South Africa, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

And lack of renewable policy action by the government is killing competitiveness now – US green competitiveness key to global economy in the future

Dean 2010, Bob, Natural Resources Defense Council Staff Blog, Obama: Clean Energy Key to U.S. Competitiveness, http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/bdeans/obama_clean_energy_key_to_us_c.html

President Obama has laid to rest any doubt about his determination to push for comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation, placing it near the center of his jobs agenda and casting it as essential to American competitiveness. . . .Obama, though, laid out a vision for leading the country away from outmoded energy habits and into the 21st Century with policies that can set us on the path to the clean and sustainable energy future we need to put our people back to work. That’s job one, he said, for all of us.

And green competitiveness determines our overall standing – China’s race proves the US will be shut out of markets and lose strategic position without innovation

Hart 2011, Melanie, Policy Analyst on China Energy and Climate Policy at the Center for American Progress, "China Eyes Competitive Edge in Renewable Energy", http://www.americanprogress.org/ issues/china/news/2011/08/24/10128/china-eyes-competitive-edge-in-renewable-energy/

Instead of trying to beat the United States at its own game they are looking forward to the next round and shifting focus to direct their technology efforts toward the critical emerging market sectors where the United States is not yet dominant—the seven key "strategic emerging industries" mentioned above.. . . . The Chinese understand that they cannot beat us at our own game. But if the United States does not adjust to these new market realities we may soon find ourselves on the losing end of theirs.

China rise will cause US confrontation absent US innovation leadership

Pape 09, PolSci Prof at UChicago,  (Robert, January, "Empire Falls" http://nationalinterest.org/article/empire-falls-2952)

Over time, America’s power is fundamentally a result of its economic strength.. . . . The harsh reality is that the United States no longer has the economic capacity for such an ambitious grand strategy. With 30 percent of the world’s product, the United States could imagine maintaining this hope. Nearing 20 percent, it cannot.

US Sino War causes extinction.

Takai ’9 ~[Retired Colonel and Former Researcher in the military science faculty of the Staff College for Japan’s Ground Self Defense Force ("U.S.-China nuclear strikes would spell doomsday", October 7, http://www.upiasia.com/Security/2009/10/07/us-china_nuclear_strikes_would_spell_doomsday/7213/-http://www.upiasia.com/Security/2009/10/07/us-china_nuclear_strikes_would_spell_doomsday/7213/)~]

What would happen if China launched its 20 Dongfeng-5 intercontinental ballistic missiles, each with a 5-megaton warhead, at 20 major U.S. cities? Prevailing opinion in Washington D.C. until not so long ago was that the raids would cause over 40 million casualties, annihilating much of the United States. . . . Accordingly, the FAS and NRDC conclusively advised U.S. leaders to get out of the vicious cycle of nuclear competition, which costs staggering sums, and to promote nuclear disarmament talks with China. Such advice is worth heeding by nuclear hard-liners. 

And loss of competitiveness loses America smart power – benign form of heg that solves your impact turns

Armitage and Nye 2007, Richard (Former Deputy Secretary of State) Joseph (Professor of Political Science at Harvard) December 12 "Why So Angry, America?" http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/IL12Df01.html

The world is dissatisfied with American leadership. Shocked and frightened after September 11, 2001, we put forward an angry face to the globe, not one that reflected the more traditional American values of hope and optimism, tolerance and opportunity. . . . and institutions that became the core of the international order for the past half-century. The Cold War ended under a barrage of hammers on the Berlin Wall rather than a barrage of artillery across the Fulda Gap precisely because of this integrated approach.

American power stops conflict in every region - hegemony is inevitable the question is whether or not other nations let America use it effectively

Kagan 11contributing editor to The Weekly Standard and a senior fellow in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution, Robert, "The Price of Power", 1-24, Vol. 16, No. 18, http://www.weeklystandard.com/print/articles/price-power_533696.html,

Today the international situation is also one of high risk. • The terrorists who would like to kill Americans on U.S. soil constantly search for safe havens from which to plan and carry out their attacks. . . . e information and intelligence and no certainty about the outcomes. No foreign policy doctrine can avoid errors of omission and commission. But history has provided some lessons, and for the United States the lesson has been fairly clear: The world is better off, and the United States is better off, in the kind of international system that American power has built and defended. 

And feed-in tariffs would solve competitiveness – investment and policy implementation to support development

BlueGreen Alliance 2012, "Can the U.S. Compete in the
Global Clean Economy?", http://www.bluegreenalliance.org/news/publications/document/US-Global-Competitiveness.pdf

The current political environment does not sufficiently support the growth of job-creating sectors like the renewable energy industry. . . . To support the further development of clean energy technologies, the U.S. must enact additional policies that promote renewable energies. These policies include: a carbon cap, carbon market, federal renewable energy standard, feed-in tariffs, and green bonds. Every country in the Group of 2013 — except the U.S. and Canada — have a renewable energy standard and feed-in tariffs.14

III.  Grid Advantage

Blackouts are inevitable, luckily FITS can solve—two internal links

1. Transmission—adding more transmission to the grid through renewables key to stability—nullifies terrorist attack on grid

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.)

Second, concerns surround the vulnerability of the United States’ aging transmission grid. n51 As a result of its interconnected properties and overstressed condition. . .  Accordingly, the addition of sizable transmission capacity to make widespread wind production tenable could pacify concerns relating to national security by reducing the risk of widespread power failures and increasing the use of domestic energy.

Attack on grid inevitable—if it works we’ll lash out causing 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. (What that suggests for the proper response is a different matter.) First, the number of cyberattacks we are facing is growing significantly.. . . . The effect of this would be to undermine our deterrence‐based defenses, making us significantly more at risk of a major war.

Second is energy storage and green grid—FITS key to both

Behles 12. (Deborah, Associate Professor of Law and Clinical Staff Attorney, Environmental Law and Justice Clinic, Golden Gate University School of Law. William and Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review. "An Integrated Green Urban Electrical Grid." Spring 2012. 36 Wm. %26 Mary Envtl. L. %26 Pol’y Rev. 671 Lexis.)

To provide an economic incentive to overcome the barrier of the initial capital cost, various states and countries have implemented regulatory programs that provide predictable revenue for sales of energy generated from a distributed generation resource. T A community transitioning to the green urban grid should develop a targeted feed-in tariff to encourage development of the distributed generation identified in the integrated planning exercise. In addition, the concept of feed-in tariffs could also be useful for encouraging other types of resources on the new urban green grid such as energy storage. n233

Energy Storage key to nullify inevitable blackouts

Licata 8/8/12 (John, is the founder and chief energy strategist for Blue Phoenix Inc., an independent research and consulting company focused on clean energy "Commentary: How the U.S. can avoid a blackout like India’s" http://money.cnn.com/2012/08/08/news/economy/blackout-india/index.htm)

I really enjoy the summertime. Yet I’m worried. Another heat wave is forecast to blanket much of the United States this week. We already have a drought to deal with. . . A major power outage is possible in the U.S. and that could wreak havoc on our already fragile economy. We need to remember that we can’t remain a superpower if our lights aren’t on. 

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)

WASHINGTON — Long before the nuclear emergency in Japan, U.S. regulators knew that a power failure lasting for days at an American nuclear plant, whatever the cause, could lead to a radioactive leak. Even so, they have only required the nation’s 104 nuclear reactors to develop plans for dealing with much shorter blackouts on the assumption that power would be restored quickly.

Nuclear Meltdown causes Extinction—Outweighs nuclear war

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. If present trends continue, the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink will soon be contaminated with enough radioactive pollutants to pose a potential health hazard far greater than any plague humanity has ever experienced.". .. . The Doomsday Clock keeps ticking.

IV.  Solvency

FIT provides perceived stability for investors in renewable energy – key to solving

Moriguchi 2009, Ryohei, Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies
Center for Environmental Studies
Brown University,  "Implementing a Feed-In Tariff in the United States", http://envstudies.brown.edu/theses/RyoheiMoriguchiThesis.pdf

Another important lesson that should be noted is that the perceived stability of the two models contributed much to their success. . . . Jager 28 notes that investors perceive government programs solely funded through its budgets as more risky, because such programs are subject to downsizing through administration changes.

And FITs solve – allow for citizens’ investment in market which is key to full-scale adoption of renewable tech

Farrell 2009, Institute for Local Self-Reliance staff
John, "Feed-in Tariffs for Renewable Energy", http://www.ilsr.org/feedin-tariffs-renewable-energy/

Vermont, Oregon, Gainesville, FL, and the Canadian province of Ontario have recently adopted feed-in tariffs for renewable energy. . . . In Germany, it’s helped boost renewables to 16 percent of electricity in a decade, with almost half of those renewable power systems owned by German citizens and investors. 

And FITs are comparatively better policies that current US ones to promote renewables – produces 4x the electricity at half the cost of PTC and RPS

Farrell 2010, Institute for Local Self Reliance staff
John, "Tax credits make lousy renewable energy policy", http://www.ilsr.org/why-tax-credits-make-lousy-renewable-energy-policy/

For two years, solar and wind energy producers seeking federal incentives have been able to take cash grants in lieu of tax credits. The stimulus act program helped keep the renewable . . . The U.S. can extend the cash grant program, but it merely treats a symptom of the disease. A better policy awaits.