Tournament: DVC | Round:  | Opponent:  | Judge:
Plan Text
The United States Federal Government should substantially increase financial incentives for solar energy production in the United States by eliminating tariffs on crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells imported from the People’s Republic of China.

Solvency
Solar Solvency (1/3)
New tariffs are drastically increasing the price of Chinese solar panels in the US.

Bradsher and Cardwell 12

(Keith Bradsher and Diane Cardwell, writing for the New York Times, “US slaps high tariffs on Chinese solar panels” http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/18/business/energy-environment/us-slaps-tariffs-on-chinese-solar-panels.html?_r=1andpagewanted=allandpagewanted=print)

The United States on Thursday announced the imposition of antidumping tariffs of more than 31
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likely to mean a substantial increase in the price of solar panels here.
Solar Solvency (2/3)
Nearly half of planned US installations were going to use Chinese solar panels.

Bullis 12

(Kevin Bullis, writing for Technology Review, published by MIT, “Could Tariffs on Chinese Solar Panels Do More Harm than Good?” 3.20.12 http://www.technologyreview.com/news/427283/could-tariffs-on-chinese-solar-panels-do-more/)

But the real story is more complicated. For one thing, cheap Chinese panels
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substantial impact," he says. "There's no way to avoid that."
 
Solar Solvency (3/3)

These tariffs are crushing solar energy production – cost is the key factor keeping Americans from installing solar panels.

Bensinger 12
(Ken, April 23, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer, “U.S. tariffs on Chinese solar cells fuel debate about green jobs,” http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/23/business/la-fi-solar-jobs-20120423, d/a 8-2-12, ads)

But a close look at the U.S. solar industry suggests that the
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terms of going solar is whether they can save money,” Rive said.
Energy Independence Advantage
 
Energy Independence Advantage (1/6)
Tariffs choke American solar industry – all the jobs are in sales, installation, and maintenance, not production.

Reuters 12

(Reuters wire story, “CASE Responds to Damaging Solar Tariff Decision” 17 May 2012 http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/17/idUS201557+17-May-2012+BW20120517)

Jigar Shah, the President of CASE, stated, “Today SolarWorld received one
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cells and panels will make it harder for American families to access solar.”
 
Energy Independence Advantage (2/6)
Solar development key to energy independence and preventing economic crisis

Jabusch 12

(Garvin Jabusch, “Tariffs on Chinese Solar Are Bad for Us All” on Green Alpha's Next Economy 18 May 12 http://sierraclub.typepad.com/gaa/2012/05/tariffs-on-chinese-solar-are-bad-for-us-all.html) sbb

Slowing down solar development is undesirable in general. Remember, solar at scale represents
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we just ceded the advantage in getting Saudi’s solar business to Chinese firms.
 
Energy Independence Advantage (3/6)
Scenario 1: Economy
Economic crisis causes war – internal conflict spawns wars over resources

Royal 10 (Jedediah, director of Cooperative Threat Reduction at the U.S. Department of Defense, Economics of War and Peace: Economic, Legal, and Political Perspectives, pg 213-215)

Less intuitive is how periods of economic decline may increase the likelihood of external conflict
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As such the view presented here should be considered ancillary to those views.
 
Energy Independence Advantage (4/6)

Scenario 2: Environment
Renewable energy is key to stop global warming.

Shahan, 02/12 (Clean Technica, Zachary Shahan, 02/29/12, “Former Microsoft Exec. Needs” http://cleantechnica.com/2012/02/29/former-microsoft-exec-nathan-myhrvold-climate-scientist-ken-caldeira-on-our-clean-energy-not-natural-gas-needs/) og

In summary, Myhrvold and Caldeira have shown in pretty stark terms that, if
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wind, solar, and nuclear, and possibly carbon capture and storage.
 
Energy Independence Advantage (5/6)
Warming causes extinction – melting polar ice caps and massive carbon release.

Ahmed 2010 (Nafeez Ahmed, Executive Director of the Institute for Policy Research and Development, professor of International Relations and globalization at Brunel University and the University of Sussex, Spring/Summer 2010, “Globalizing Insecurity: The Convergence of Interdependent Ecological, Energy, and Economic Crises,” Spotlight on Security, Volume 5, Issue 2, online)

Perhaps the most notorious indicator is anthropogenic global warming. The landmark 2007 Fourth Assessment
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– a situation endangering the survival of all life on earth.xi
 
Energy Independence Advantage (6/6)
Warming is real and anthropogenic

Lewandowsky and Ashley 2011 (Stephan Lewandowsky, Professor of Cognitive Studies at the University of Western Australia, and Michael Ashley, Professor of Astrophysics at the University of New South Wales, June 24, 2011, “The false, the confused and the mendacious: how the media gets it wrong on climate change,” http://goo.gl/u3nOC)

But despite these complexities, some aspects of climate science are thoroughly settled. We
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the 19th century, pre-dating even Sherlock Holmes and Queen Victoria.
 
Energy Democratization Advantage
 
 
Energy Democratization Advantage (1/4)
Solar has the power to decentralize the current system through widespread distribution of individualized power generation.

Himmelman 12 Jeff Himmelman, writing for the New York Times, “The Secret to Solar Power” http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/12/magazine/the-secret-to-solar-power.html?_r=1andpagewanted=alland_moc.semityn.wwwandfb_source=message#hTaoesb,4) sbb 

Silicon Valley has done a great job of talking about its disruptive potential, but
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of 2003 and saved the U.S. economy several billion dollars.
 
Energy Democratization Advantage (2/4)
Short-term market mechanisms are the only solution to environmental destruction.
Bryant 12—professor of philosophy at Collin College (Levi, We’ll Never Do Better Than a Politician: Climate Change and Purity, 5/11/12,http://larvalsubjects.wordpress.com/2012/05/11/well-never-do-better-than-a-politician-climate-change-and-purity/)

Somewhere or other Latour makes the remark that we’ll never do better than a
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there’s no way around this, and we do need to act now.
Energy Democratization Advantage (3/4)
Without the plan, further environmental justice threatens to dehumanize
Faber 08 (Daniel Faber, “Capitalizing on Environmental Injustice: The Polluter-Industrial Complex in the age of Globalization”, published by Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2008, ISBN, 0-7425-3391-3 pg124) mp

These inadequacies exacerbate antagonisms between people of color and the mainstream environmental movement. Such
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never full participants in the decision-making which leads to them.21
 
Energy Democratization Advantage (4/4)

We must seek justice for environmental racism – that’s critical to preventing global collapse
Bryant 95 (Bunyan, Professor in the school of Natural Resources and Environment, and an adjunt professor in the center for Afro-American and African studies at the University of Michigan, “Environmental Justice: Issues, Policies, and Solutions, p.209-212, MV) 

The cooperative relations forged after World War II are now obsolete. New cooperative relations
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the production cycle, we should at least have that as a goal.