Tournament: UTD | Round: 2 | Opponent: Baylor CE | Judge: Mike Weitz
Immigration reform will pass in the status quo – insulated from the fiscal cliff – capital key and key to American economic competitiveness  
Kinnari 12/29
Aaron, founder of the Future Forum a platform for educating and engaging young leaders on important global issues, Immigration Reform Would Be the Biggest Gift We Could Get This Year. 12/29/12. http://www.policymic.com/articles/21633/immigration-reform-would-be-the-biggest-gift-we-could-get-this-year.
When it takes session in January, the 113th Congress will have a number of
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will be the gift that will keep on giving for generations to come.
SMR’s are politically unpopular – tied to the nuclear stigma
Szondy 12
David, Feb 16, GIZMAG “Feature: Small modular nuclear reactors - the future of energy?” http://www.gizmag.com/small-modular-nuclear-reactors/20860/
Indeed, it is in government regulations that the modular reactors face their greatest challenges
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skeptical scrutiny. However, red tape is still a very real thing.
Top priority and PC is key
Hesson 1/2
Ted, Reporter, ABC News, “Analysis: 6 Things Obama Needs To Do for Immigration Reform”, http://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/News/things-president-obama-immigration-reform/story?id=18103115#.UOSdSYnjlJ4
On Sunday, President Barack Obama said that immigration reform is a "top priority
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year. "There's only limited oxygen in the room," Chishti said.

The loss of economic leadership results in global conflict, withdrawal of global power projection, and escalation of hotspots
Friedberg and Schoenfeld 8
Aaron, professor of politics and international relations at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School, Gabriel, Visiting Scholar @ Witherspoon Institute, The Dangers of a Diminished America, WSJ, 10/21, Proquest
Pressures to cut defense spending, and to dodge the cost of waging two wars
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of these countries seek to divert attention from internal travails with external adventures. 

Tournament: UTD | Round: 2 | Opponent: Baylor CE | Judge: Mike Weitz
Text: The United States Federal Government should procure electricity from small water-cooled nuclear reactors, small liquid metal-cooled nuclear reactors, and small molten salt-cooled nuclear reactors for mission critical military installatons in the United States.
It competes – “small modular reactors” include 60 different reactor designs – the plan mandates the inclusion of “gas reactors” – the CP excludes it
King et al 11 (Dr. Marcus, Research Analyst and Project Director – CNA Corporation's Center for Naval Analyses, LaVar Huntzinger, and Thoi Nguyen, “Feasibility of Nuclear Power on U.S. Military Installations,” CNA Analysis and Solutions, March, http://www.cna.org/sites/default/files/research/Nuclear%20Power%20on%20Military %20Installations%20D0023932%20A5.pdf)
Status of SMR technologies and commercialization ¶ According to two recent International Atomic Energy Agency
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the PRISM, MHR, and HPM designs are given in figure 2.
Independently – not specifying which type of SMR they use is a voter – there are over 60 different types of reactors with distinct cooling systems and designs – that’s key to negative disad and cp ground. Absent that, the aff is a moving target.
It’s net-beneficial –
Plan overcomes prohibitive pricing of PBMRs ensuring meltdowns, prolif, and waste dumping
Makhijani and Boyd 10 *Arjun, electrical and nuclear engineer who is President of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research Michele, former director of the Safe Energy Program at Physicians for, Staff Scientist at the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research
(“Small Modular Reactors No Solution for the Cost, Safety, and Waste Problems of Nuclear Power” http://ieer.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/small-modular-reactors2010.pdf)
The Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) is a high-temperature gas-
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(consisting of uranium dioxide fuel pellets) or vitrified high level waste. 

Tournament: UTD | Round: 2 | Opponent: Baylor CE | Judge: Mike Weitz
Expansions of nuclear energy forecloses the public sphere through technocratic processes – civic policy is rejected as government control over nuclear power is manipulated through modernity
Sovacool and Valentine 10
Benjamin, National University of Singapore, Scott, U of Tokyo, Socio-political economy of nuclear energy in China and India, Energy 35, 3803-3813, Online 12
The history of nuclear energy in France suggests that countries promoting nuclear energy tend to
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binds the contents and the economic dimension being represented by the aquatic delicacy.
Nuclear technocracy guarantees Extinction – current distribution of power allows the military to take over all projects – this spreads the Military-Industrial Complex and places power into the hands of policy elites deploying dangerous technology with no democratic checks – public involvement is the only way to check
Beljac 8
Marko, PhD Monash University, Mission Statement, http://scisec.net/?page_id=5, online 12
But it cannot be stated that the mere existence of a faculty of scientific cognition
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of science would also remove the public subsidy that undergirds the Pentagon system.
The aff advantages are regressive dystopias- their alarmism exaggerates the threat of current structural trends by making them appear both excessively immediate and narrowly focused- this short-term approach acts as a Trojan horse that reduces the policy arena to the rule of experts and collapses weak public influence on nuclear issues
Kurasawa ‘4
(Fuyuki, Assistant Prof. of Sociology @ York University, Cautionary Tales, Constellations Vol. 11, No. 4, Blackwell Synergy)

Independently of this contractualist justification, global civil society actors are  putting forth a number
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well suited to grounding these tasks: the precautionary principle and global justice.
Text: the alternative is to reject the affirmative in order to re-assert the cautionary lessons of Ten Mile Island.
Re-engaging the public sphere is necessary to resolve the complications of nuclear technology – capitalism co-opts current movements and combines with a technocratic mindset forcing Expert opinion as Truth – the affirmative results in mechanical failures and nuclear collapse
Cunningham and Angelique 10
Ken and Holly, PhD Penn State, Meltdown of the Public Interest and the Need for an Engaged Public Sphere: A Critical (Re-) Interpretation of the Nuclear Accident at Three Mile Island, Humanity and Society, Vol 34, pp 64-88
Moreover, as noted above. the problem of historical forgetting is significant and increases
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informed, critical, deliberative public sphere. which Obama professes to desire.

Tournament: UNT | Round: 1 | Opponent: Minnesota BM | Judge: Matt Munday
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on grounds that it is arbitrary and capricious should issue a permanent injunction preventing a substantial amount of current restrictions on the production of crude oil on federal lands
The D.C. circuit has jurisdiction over federal agencies and empirically strikes down regulations
Adler 2K
Jonathan Adler is a senior fellow in environmental policy at the Competitive Enterprise¶ Institute, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research and advocacy organization in Washington, D.C., where he¶ previously served as Director of Environmental Studies P o l i c y S t u d y N o . 2 6 9¶ No Intelligible Principles:¶ The EPA's Record in Federal Court¶ http://reason.org/files/3217ecd7bf37b4ea6aa81d4dc9f59a26.pdf
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is
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, across the board, will fail to get through each hoop.41

The D.C. Court has the same precedential impact as the Supreme Court on agency rule making
Rossi 2K
JIM ROSSI is Associate Professor of State Administrative Procedure, Florida¶ State University College of Law; Visiting Associate Professor, University of Texas School of¶ Law, DOES THE SOLICITOR GENERAL ADVANTAGE¶ THWART THE RULE OF LAW IN THE¶ ADMINISTRATIVE STATE? http://www.law.fsu.edu/journals/lawreview/downloads/281/Rossi2.pdf
Linda Cohen and Matthew Spitzer’s study, The Government Litigant¶ Advantage,6 sheds
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in defining the rule of law in¶ administrative law practice and scholarship.¶ 

Tournament: UNT | Round: 1 | Opponent: Minnesota | Judge: Matt Munday
Hagel confirmation will pass – PC is key and there’s no room for other fights
Lizza 1-7
Ryan, “WILL HAGEL SPIKE THE G.O.P.’S FEVER?,” New Yorker, http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/01/how-much-will-the-nomination-of-chuck-hagel-hurt-obamas-second-term-agenda.html
President Obama’s nomination of Chuck Hagel for Defense Secretary has added yet another intense political
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the Hagel fight will have a cost to the rest of his agenda.
Solves several scenarios for Middle Eastern conflict
-prevents US attack on Iran
-solves Iran through negotiations
-solves fiscal military overstretch
Beinart 1-7 – M. Phil @ Oxford
Peter, associate professor of journalism and political science at City University of New York, senior political writer for The Daily Beast , former editor of TNR “Why Hagel Matters,” The Daily Beast, http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/01/07/why-hagel-matters.html
If media reports are true, Barack Obama will soon nominate Chuck Hagel to be
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one day look back upon Chuck Hagel’s nomination as the day it did.
Drilling costs capital and sparks backlash which Obama gets blamed for
Roberts ‘11
Dan, Contributor and former House of Representatives candidate, Clean Energy Politics, “Obama’s oil plan shows he still doesn’t get post-truth politics”, http://archives.cleanenergypolitics.com/news/2010/clean-energy-politics-news-Wednesday,_2011-05-18,_06:55.html
Gas prices are rising and people are angry. Republicans and conservative Dems are blaming
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. What are the purported upsides that are meant to offset these downsides?
Now is pivotal – strengthening Israeli Lobby clout ensures broad war with Iran – otherwise peaceful negotiations will solve
Afrasiabi 12-22 - former political science professor at Tehran University,  Boston Universityand Bentley College. He has been a visiting scholar at Harvard University, UC Berkeley, Binghamton University, Center For Strategic Research, Tehran and Institute for Strategic Studies in Paris
Kaveh L, “ Middle East peace hinges on will” http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NL22Ak05.html
The cause of peace is predicated on the propensity of decision-makers to opt
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a clearer picture that would shed lights on the answer to this question.
Extinction
The Nation 5  
8/6, Lexis
The above analysis vividly indicates US aggressive intentions on some pretext against Iran. US
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would amount to mass destruction and elimination of most of the global civilisation.    

Tournament: UNT | Round: 1 | Opponent: Minnesota  | Judge: BM
The affirmative appeal to production technology entrenches techno-economic hegemony
Wanner 12
Thomas Wanner¶ Green Economy and Growth in the Asia Pacific: constructing Green Markets and Green Consumers¶ WORKING PAPER No. 39 http://www.caglkyschool.com/pdf/working%20papers/NATBMA/NATBMA_WP12-39.pdf
Green growth is conceived not as replacement of sustainable development but rather as a subset
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between economic growth and environmental sustainability for achieving green economies and green growth.

Techno economic production is  unsustainable – only an analytical re-orientation can break the cycle of destruction
Princen 2 – Professor of Natural Resources @ U of Michigan
Thomas, Associate Professor of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy in the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan, where he also co-directs the Workshop on Consumption and Environment, Michael Maniates, Professor of Political Science and Environmental Science at Allegheny College, and Ken Conca, professor of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland,  “Confronting Consumption,” Confronting Consumption, Chapter 2
The difficulty in conducting such a transformative research agenda, I submit, Lies in
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the analysis. Goods may be good but cautious consuming is better.7
The alternative is to reject techno-economics of production
The impact is extinction
Ehrenfeld 5 – Professor of Ecology @ Rutgers
David, Dept. of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources @ Rutgers University, “The Environmental Limits to Globalization”, Conservation Biology Vol. 19 No. 2, EBSCO
The known effects of globalization on the environment are numerous and highly significant. Many
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have become so thoroughly entwined with ours within the global environment we share.

Tournament: UTD | Round: 5 | Opponent: OU LS | Judge: Nick Brown
Interpretation: The AFF doesn’t reduce a “restriction on energy production.”
Restriction means “the act of keeping something within specified bounds.”
WordNet, 2012
WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
“On” means the ‘something’ is energy production.
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, 2012
used as a function word to indicate destination or the focus of some action, movement, or directed effort crept up on him feast your eyes on this working on my skiing made a payment on the loan
“Energy production” is distinct from the broader “operation.” It’s just the process for final consumption.
COAG, 2009
Published by the Department of Climate Change on behalf of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Expert Group on Streamlining Greenhouse and Energy Reporting, “National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Streamlining Protocol” climatechange.gov.au//media/publications/greenhouse-report/nger-streamlining-protocol.pdf
7.1 Energy production Under the NGER Act corporations are required to report on
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. The NGER (Measurement) Determination outlines methodologies for estimating energy production.
Violation: regulations on flowback procedures doesn’t limit the actual production. Regulatory standards do not restrict.
Lee, 2000
Dr. James R. Lee, TED Case Studies, Case Number: 213, Carbon II Power Plant, http://www1.american.edu/ted/carbon2.htm
12.       Type of Measure: Regulatory Standard REGSTD At this point no
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indirect impact on the amount of power produced at plant from the plant.

Tournament: UTD | Round: 5 | Opponent: OU LS | Judge: Nick Brown
Text: The United States federal government should maintain status quo trajectory for enforcement of green completion regulations.  The United States federal government should make a clear, unanimous, binding and unambiguous statement that no other future natural gas productions regulations will be created.

It competes – the counterplan enforces the regulation that the plan “lessens”
Code of Federal Regulations 12
“40 CFR Part 63,” EPA, http://www.epa.gov/airquality/oilandgas/pdfs/20120417finalrule.pdf
Oil and Natural Gas Sector: New Source Performance Standards and ¶ National Emission Standards
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DATE 60 DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF PUBLICATION IN THE ¶ FEDERAL REGISTER.
Solves the case better – Enforcing green completion creates new revenue and increases sellable supply
Doniger 12 – JD, represented NRDC in a string of climate change cases, including Massachusetts v. EPA -- the landmark Supreme Court decision that greenhouse gases are air pollutants under the Clean Air Act and cases defending California’s clean car standards, EPA’s landmark “endangerment determination” and the EPA’s carbon pollution standards for vehicles
David, “Separating Fracked From Fiction: The Truth About the American Petroleum Institute's Attacks on EPA's New Air Pollution Standards For Natural Gas Fracking,” http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/ddoniger/separating_fracked_from_fictio.html
As we show in a recent NRDC report called “Leaking Profits,” green completions
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estimates that its new standards will create nearly 3,000 jobs nationwide.
Third Off – K

The counterplan is most economical and avoids the worst effects of climate change
Lehner 12 – Professor of Environmental Law @ Columbia
Peter, “Fracking's Dark Side Gets Darker: The Problem of Methane Waste,” http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/plehner/frackings_dark_side_gets_darke.html
The risks and challenges of extracting natural gas, and fracking, in particular,
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and an important step forward in cleaning up dirty, disruptive fracking operations.
Warming leads to extinction
Burkett 8 – Professor of Law
Maxine Burkett, Associate Professor, University of Colorado Law School, 2008, “Just Solutions to Climate Change: A Climate Justice Proposal for a Domestic Clean Development Mechanism,” 56 Buffalo L. Rev. 169, Lexis
The unparalleled scale of impact the climate crisis has had, and will continue to
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adapt to warming as they struggle to moderate and cope with its consequences. 

Tournament: UTD | Round: 4 | Opponent: UMKC AG | Judge: Derek Liles
Our interpretation—the affirmative should have to defend that action by the United States federal government is normatively desirable – the affirmative violates
Resolved means to enact by law
Words and Phrases 64  
Permanent Edition
Definition of the word
“to establish by law”.
The United States federal government refers to the actual government
Black’s Law Dictionary 90
6th Ed., p. 695
In the United States,
and township governments.
Should implies obligation to action
Merriam-Webster 2
Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, 2002, 10th Edition, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/should
Used in auxiliary function to express obligation, propriety, or expediency.
B) Violation—the aff does not defend the United States federal government action
C) Vote Negative—
1) Without Limits debate becomes impossible—T is a jurisdictional voting issue
Shively 2k—Professor of Political Science, Texas A and M
Ruth, Political Theory and Partisan Politics, p. 181-2
The requirements thus far are primarily negative.  The ambiguists must say “no”
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. In other words, contestation rests on some basic agreement or harmony.

2) Role of the negative: Our interpretation has a clear vision for the function of the negative team. We must disprove the desirability of their advocacy. If there is no predictable limit on what the affirmative can do, the negative is excluded from the debate. We become passive observers of their presentation. Our interpretation is the least exclusionary because it provides a place in the debate for negative teams.
3) Process impact:– this is the only academic forum where we get education based on clash and competition. If we aren’t able to prepare in advance for affirmatives the round becomes a 2 hour conference presentation about whatever books and articles they are reading, This education o/w any content specific education because
 a) you can get content specific education in any other forum
b) Without critical thinking skills developed through clash and competition we can’t effectively act on content-specific knowledge  
English et al 7
Eric English, Stephen Llano, Gordon R. Mitchell, Catherine E. Morrison, John Rief and Carly Woods, all former debate coaches, “Debate as a Weapon of Mass Destruction” http://www.pitt.edu/~gordonm/JPubs/EnglishDAWG.pdf
It is our position, however, that rather than acting as a cultural technology
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heirs to brand the activity as a ‘‘weapon of mass destruction.’’

c) without clash-based education we are likely to come to the wrong conclusions about the content b/c we don’t see both sides
4)  Epistemology: All aff claims are uncertain. Unpredictable advocacies are not subject to the type of rigorous scrutiny and testing that is required for a claim to be granted. If their claims are not predictable it means they are not subject to rigorous testing and should not be treated as true. You cannot evaluate the validity of their aff arguments until you conclude that it is topical because unTopical advocacies are not subject to the same amount of scrutiny and testing.  This means the aff can only claim offense from their interpretation, not from the value of the 1AC since the value of the 1AC has not been established through rigorous debate. 

5) Switch-side debating on the topic is uniquely important.  It allows debaters to become better advocates and increases critical thinking
Dybvig and Iverson 99
Kristin Chisholm Dybvig, and Joel O. Iverson, Can Cutting Cards Carve into Our Personal Lives: An Analysis of Debate Research on Personal Advocacy, http://www.uvm.edu/~debate/dybvigiverson1000.html
Not all debate research appears to generate personal advocacy and challenge peoples' assumptions. Debaters
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of various policy proposals helps debaters to strengthen their own stance on issues.
6) This debate is about competing interpretations. They must have a sustainable interpretation of debate that includes their affirmative they should lose. If their interpretation provides no limit on affirmative action, it doesn’t matter if we have good arguments against their aff b/c they can’t provide an interpretation that would allow their aff and protect good, predictable debates in the future.

Tournament: UTD | Round: 4 | Opponent: UMKC AG | Judge: Derek Liles
A. The affirmative violate their own philosophical premise—Heideggers example of Windmills is wrong—they do take energy and store it

Greenfield 04
Comparative Culture, 10: 1-20, 2004¶ This article is adapted from a paper presented to the Society for Philosophy and Technology annual conference at Hostra University, Hempstead, New York, June 1995.¶ The Saving Power: Aesthetics and¶ the Technological Worldview¶ Jerry Greenfield http://jerrygreenfieldonline.com/The_Saving_Power_%28article%29.html
So technology is a setting-upon, and modern technology is a setting-
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in-order, one setting-upon and the other just setting.

B. It’s a voting issue—The affirmative advocacy statement participates in a framing that violates their own standards in endorsing wind

C. The alternative—Refuse all technologies that use nature for energy and treat energy as a standing reserve