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

1AC

Plan

The United States federal government should substantially reduce restrictions on offshore natural gas production in the United States.

1ac adv 1

Advantage One: Warming

CO2 emissions will run away in the status quo—natural gas is the only effective alternative to coal—U.S. development is modeled globally and prevents extinction
Riley 8/13—BA, LL.M., PhD, professor of energy law at The City Law School at City University London (Alan, 8/13/12, “Shale Gas to the Climate Rescue,” http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/14/opinion/shale-gas-to-the-climate-rescue.html, RBatra)

The battle against runaway climate change is being lost. The green movement and the energy industry — while engaged

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radical cuts in carbon dioxide emissions over the short and medium term.

And, natural gas acts as a bridge fuel—spurring broad renewable development
Ju 12 – Anne Ju (senior science writer for the Cornell Chronicle) July 17, 2012 “Study Proves Natural Gas Can Bridge the Gap to a Clean Energy Economy” http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Study-Proves-Natural-Gas-Can-Bridge-the-Gap-to-a-Clean-Energy-Economy.html

Natural gas is a good transition step on the road to greener energy sources like wind, solar, and

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percentage terms no matter how fast the transition.”

Second, the plan is key to extract methane hydrates—prevents leaks
US Chamber of Commerce 11 (Institute for 21st Century Energy, Chamber of Commerce, no date given (website registered 2011), “Immediately Expand Domestic Oil and Gas Exploration and Production,” http://www.energyxxi.org/immediately-expand-domestic-oil-and-gas-exploration-and-production)//CC

Another potential source of significant amounts of domestic natural gas is methane hydrates, an icelike

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of traditional natural gas on the OCS also acts to thwart work to develop methane hydrates.

Methane hydrates will inevitably be released – tech developments key to solve runaway warming
Embleton 8 Author of "Oilephant Down: Canada at the end of Cheap Oil". Owner Yahoo Group "RunningOnEmptyCA", author of blog oilbeseeingyou.blogspot.com. Thirty years experience in computer systems, much of it in the oil and petrochemical industry. Lifetime member of Mensa Canada. Ten years experience in health food industry (Richard Embleton, Energy Bulletin, 5 December 2008, “Methand Hydrates: What are they thinking?” http://www.energybulletin.net/node/47505)//CC
A chunk of methane ice exposed to the air and ignited will burn until all of the methane in that ice has been consumed. Methane

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greenhouse gas than CO2, that should be extremely worrying to anyone who accepts the validity of the global warming theory.

And, methane hydrates make the difference between solving and runaway warming
RC 5 (RealClimate, Realclimate.org, 12 December 2005, “Methane hydrates and global warming,” http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2005/12/methane-hydrates-and-global-warming/)//CC
The other possibility for our future is an increase in the year-in, year-out chronic rate of methane emission to the atmosphere. The

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be the difference between success and failure in avoiding ‘dangerous’ anthropogenic climate change. That’s scary enough.

Warming is real and causes extinction
Morgan 9 – Professor of Current Affairs @ Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, South Korea (Dennis Ray, “World on fire: two scenarios of the destruction of human civilization and possible extinction of the human race”, Futures, Volume 41, Issue 10, December 2009, Pages 683-693, ScienceDirect)

As horrifying as the scenario of human extinction by sudden, fast-burning nuclear fire may seem, the one consolation is that this future can

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to gamble with our future at this game of Russian roulette while time increasingly stacks the cards against our chances of survival?

1ac adv 2

Advantage Two: Helium

US helium reserves are depleting.  There is no push for increased helium projects now – new sources key
Jaime Kammerzell (writer for RigZone) November 2011 “Helium to Move from Byproduct to Primary Drilling Target” http://rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=112735
The future of the U.S. Helium Reserve is uncertain, Bo Sears said. The reserve has a short life span and

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company is focused on exploiting these new sources."

Even small helium shortages cause escalating market crises – causes rapid price spikes
William J. Nuttall (senior lecturer in technology policy at Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, Cambridge) Richard H. Clarke (cryogenics and helium specialist at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, Abingdon, Oxfordshire) and Bartek A. Glowacki (reader in the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge)  May 2012 “Stop squandering helium” http://www.scs.illinois.edu/nmr/docs/HeliumStopSquanderingNature_Nature31May2012.pdf
Helium prices are a function of supply and demand. In addition to the US government, the market is dominated

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the longer term, helium production and storage need to be expanded and embedded within the natural-gas industry.

US natural gas production is key global helium production
EIA (Energy Information Administration, the official energy statistics agency of U.S. Government) 2006 “Natural Gas Processing: The Crucial Link Between Natural Gas Production and Its Transportation to Market” http://www.eia.gov/pub/oil_gas/natural_gas/feature_articles/2006/ngprocess/ngprocess.pdf
The world’s supply of helium comes exclusively from natural gas production. The single largest

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in the United States for the most part, come from the FHR.

This collapses US particle acceleration efforts
CN 12 – Citation News, “Scientists' High-Pitched Response to Helium Shortage”, 3-22, http://www.cyberregs.com/webapps/Blog/post/Scientists-High-Pitched-Response-to-Helium-Shortage.aspx
Helium - the second lightest element in the universe with an atomic weight of 4.002602 - is an inert gas that can be cooled to

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huge spike in billing for medical procedures, such as MRIs, scientific research, and defense expenditures, as well as party balloons.

Accelerators stop nuclear testing
Henning 10 (Walter, Senior Physicist – Argonne National Laboratory and Member – American Association for the Advancement of Science, “Accelerators for America’s Future”, June, http://www.acceleratorsamerica.org/files/Rep ort.pdf)

From the earliest days of their development, accelerators have made critical contributions to the security

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eliminate the need for highly enriched uranium and nuclear reactor facilities for production.

Global nuclear war --- and causes space militarization and bioweapons use
Johnson 1 (Rebecca, Executive Director – Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy, The Guardian, 7-17, Lexis)

Then the international arms control and non- proliferation regimes collapsed. Americans weren't bothered at first, for hadn't the

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citizens of even the most advanced military nation. Mumbling and grumbling won't keep us safe. It is time to speak out.

1ac adv 3

Advantage Three: Prices

Natural gas price spikes are inevitable – increased supply key to offset cost increases
Adams 8/30—Rod Adams (Publisher at The Energy Collective, former nuclear submarine engineer) August 30, 2012 “Will natural gas prices in North America skyrocket by the end of 2014?” http://theenergycollective.com/rodadams/107901/look-out-natural-gas-prices-north-america-will-skyrocket-end-2014

My friends and family recognize that I am an odd bird. I often wake up in the middle of the night as a result of thinking about things that few others worry about. Tonight was a

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nuclear energy. I may be totally off base, but I do not see a new round of coal plant building anyplace outside of Germany, the home of brown coal fans.

And, the price spike will be quick and massive
Finger 7/27 Forbes contributor (Richard Finger, Forbes, 27 July 2012, “Natural Gas Is Heading Higher: More Data,” http://www.forbes.com/sites/richardfinger/2012/07/27/more-data-natural-gas-is-heading-higher/)//CC

So when, not if, gas reaches $5.00 undoubtedly many drilled wells will be completed. COP and others

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inexorably go lower than they should and higher than they should. This phase of the cycle is upon us. $8.00 gas is coming, so prepare.

That prompts a broad switch back to coal plants
Reuters 9/12 (9/12/12, “Coal power to drive U.S. emissions higher next year: report,” http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/12/us-usa-coal-emissions-idUSBRE88B1IM20120912, RBatra)

U.S. fossil fuel emissions will rise 2.8 percent next year as higher costs for natural gas prompt power

from petroleum and natural gas should be nearly flat next year, coal emissions will increase by 8.5 percent, the report said. 

Independently, coal kills clean freshwater and causes acid rain
Bosselman 07 (Fred Bosselman (Professor of Law Emeritus, Chicago-Kent College of Law) 2007 “The new power generation: environmental law and electricity innovation: colloquium article: the ecological advantages of nuclear power”, New York University Environmental Law Journal, lexis)

Virtually all of the coal mined in the United States is used as boiler fuel to generate electricity, 122 and although few users of that

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travel long distances and create acid rain that significantly harms plants and animals. 

And, clean freshwater key to all life on earth
Jackson and Running 01 (Robert B. Jackson and Steven W. Running Spring 2001 “Water in a Changing World”, Issues in Ecology, Ecological Society of America, http://www.biology.duke.edu/jackson/issues9.pdf) 

Life on earth depends on the continuous flow of materials through the air, water, soil, and food webs of the

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providing habitat for aquatic life or maintaining suitable water quality for human use

Acid rain causes extinction
McKenzie 08 “Causes, Effects, and Solutions of Acid Rain” http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hall/9111/DOCS.HTML

Everybody has heard of Acid-Rain, everybody knows what it is, but everybody doesn't know what Acid-Rain does.  Acid-Rain has

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everybody has heard of it and everybody knows what it does now.

Second, low prices give US manufacturing an edge – increasing domestic production key
Boman 12 – Karen Boman (Writer for Downstream Today, a petrochemicals news agency) March 2012 “Panel: Low Natural Gas Prices Give US Manufacturers Edge” http://www.downstreamtoday.com/news/article.aspx?a_id=35687andAspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

Low U.S. natural gas prices currently give the U.S. manufacturing sector a slight competitive

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industry,” Timmons noted. “It’s new, it’s innovative,” Timmons said. “I would even venture to say it’s sexy.”

This locks in a manufacturing renaissance – draws companies back to the US
Motavalli 12 – Jim Motavalli (Staff Writer for the New York Times specializing in Environmental journalism) April 2012 “Natural Gas Signals a ‘Manufacturing Renaissance’” http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/11/business/energy-environment/wider-availability-expands-uses-for-natural-gas.html?_r=1andpagewanted=all

The rapid development of shale gas technology has helped reduce energy imports and, in some cases,

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a manufacturing renaissance in the U.S., including billions in cost savings, a significant number of new jobs and a greater investment in U.S. plants.” 

Economic shocks are inevitable – strong domestic manufacturing is key to economic resilience and retaining our innovation leadership
Ettlinger and Gordon 11 – Michael Ettlinger (the Vice President for Economic Policy at the Center for American Progress, former director of the Economic Analysis and Research Network of the Economic Policy Institute) and Kate Gordon (the Vice President for Energy Policy at the Center for American Progress. Most recently, Kate was the co-director of the national Apollo Alliance, where she still serves as senior policy advisor. Former senior associate at the Center on Wisconsin Strategy) April 2011 “The Importance and Promise of American Manufacturing” http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/04/pdf/manufacturing.pdf

Manufacturing is critically important to the American economy. For generations, the strength of our country

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everything from exchange rate fluctuations to trade embargoes to natural disasters.

Otherwise a complete collapse in domestic RandD is inevitable
Lind and Freedman 12 – Michael Lind (policy director of New America’s Economic Growth Program and a co-founder of the New America Foundation) and Joshua Freedman (program associate in New America’s Economic Growth Program) April 2012 “Value Added: America’s Manufacturing Future” http://growth.newamerica.net/sites/newamerica.net/files/policydocs/Lind,%20Michael%20and%20Freedman,%20Joshua%20-%20NAF%20-%20Value%20Added%20America%27s%20Manufacturing%20Future.pdf

Manufacturing, RandD and the U.S. Innovation Ecosystem Perhaps the greatest contribution of manufacturing to

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employment if RandD were offshored along with production.

And, high natural gas prices independently destroy jobs and growth—the plan boosts all sectors of the economy
Rich Wells (VP Energy for DOW Chemical). "What's cooking with Gas: The Role of Natural gas in Energy Independence and Global Warming Solutions." 30 July 2008. Online.

Although much attention is focused on the increase in the price of oil, natural gas has also seen significant price increases.

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energy, government imposed tariffs or tougher regulations, will ultimately be borne by the consumer. 

Economic decline causes war – strong statistical support
Royal 10 – Jedediah Royal, Director of Cooperative Threat Reduction at the U.S. Department of Defense, 2010, “Economic Integration, Economic Signaling and the Problem of Economic Crises,” in Economics of War and Peace: Economic, Legal and Political Perspectives, ed. Goldsmith and Brauer, p. 213-214

Less intuitive is how periods of economic decline may increase the likelihood of external conflict. Political science literature has contributed a

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conflict at systemic, dyadic and national levels.5 This implied connection between integration, crises and armed conflict has not featured prominently in the economic-security debate and deserves more attention. 

1ac solvency

Status quo locks 98% of offshore natural gas production
Pyle 7/10 (Thomas J., July 10, 2012, “Energy Department sneaks offshore moratorium past public; Jobs and oil-supply potential are shut down,” The Washington Times, lexis)

While the Obama administration was taking a victory lap last week after the 5-4 Supreme Court decision to uphold the president's

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responsible for increased production and reduced oil import.

It is directly responsible for all-time production lows
Hastings 7/23 (Rep. Doc Hastings, The Hill, 23 July 2012, “President Obama’s offshore drilling plan must be replaced,” http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/energy-a-environment/239529-president-obamas-offshore-drilling-plan-must-be-replaced)//CC

The president’s plan only offers 15 lease sales limited to the Gulf of Mexico and, very late in the plan, small parts of

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States’ energy resources under lock-and-key.

Plan expands production – kick starts nearly 100 new projects
Hillegeist et al 11 – Paul Hillegeist et al (President and COO at Quest Offshore Resources, Inc, Sean Shafer, Project Director, Andrew Jackson, Project Manager, Leslie Cook , Senior Research Consultant) December 2011 “The State of the Offshore U.S. Oil and Gas Industry” http://energytomorrow.org/images/uploads/Quest_2011_December_29_Final.pdf

If drilling permits going forward were to be issued at pre‐moratorium rates, the number of

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the nation in terms of energy security, employment and government revenue.