Tournament:  | Round:  | Opponent:  | Judge:
A: Low Natural Gas Prices key to Revival of U.S. Steel Industry
Flynn  5/2/12
Phil Flynn is senior energy analyst for The PRICE Futures Group and a Fox Business Network contributor, “Low natural gas prices propelling US manufacturing, taxes suffer”, Futures, May 2, 2012, http://www.futuresmag.com/2012/05/02/low-natural-gas-prices-propelling-us-manufacturing

So why is the US manufacturing ..., laying off 140,000 employees.

B. Natural Gas Competes Directly With Other Energy Sources
Mcrae and Ruppel 2011
Gregory S. Mcrae, MIT Professor of Chemical Engineering and Caryoly Ruppel, MIT Visiting Scientist Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, “The Future of Natural Gas”, http://web.mit.edu/mitei/research/studies/documents/natural-gas-2011/NaturalGas_Report.pdf, p.1

Natural gas is important in many sectors of the economy... of backup capacity. 

C. C:  US  Steel Must Stay Commercial Viable - critical for national defense
PR Newswire 07  January 10, 2007 Wednesday 3:29 PM GMT  “Domestically-Produced Steel Critical to National Defense and Security”

The critical interdependence of ...of the U.S. military.

D: End of U.S. Heg is World of Chaos and Anhilation
Ferguson 04.   
Niall Ferguson, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Professor of History, Harvard.  “A World Without Power.”  Foreign Policy Magazine July/August 2004

So what is left? ...not-so-new world disorder.

Tournament:  | Round:  | Opponent:  | Judge:
A: Obama Hurt by the Debate – but still has a slim edge in the swing states
Silver 10/12/12
Nate, NYT Election columnist and statistician, “Oct. 11: Obama’s Swing State ‘Firewall’ Has Brittle Foundation” http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/12/oct-11-obamas-swing-state-firewall-has-brittle-foundation/

President Obama’s position ... probability of 66.1 percent.

B: The plan upsets Obama’s balancing act on energy, reduces environmentalist turnout critical to reelection
Schnur, 4-9
Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California; he served as the national communications director of Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign in 2000, “The President, Gas Prices and the Pipeline,” http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/09/the-president-gas-prices-and-the-keystone-pipeline/

Like every president ... into this country.

C: Romney win causes China-bashing – causes a trade war
Gerstein 11
(Josh, writer @ Politico, “The GOP's China syndrome”, 11/22/12, http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/68952.html)

Mitt Romney says America ...rhetoric is “good politics.”

D: That goes nuclear
Taaffe 5
(Peter Taaffe, “China, A New Superpower?,” Socialist Alternative.org, Nov 1, 2005, pg. http://www.socialistalternative.org/news/article11.php?id=30)

While this conflict is ... interests are at stake. 

Tournament:  | Round:  | Opponent:  | Judge:
Text:
The United States Federal Government should substantially increase market-fixed production cost incentives for foreign deployment of small modular reactors by U.S. Firms and substantially reduce Nuclear Regulatory Commission and State Department procedural, cost, and export restrictions for SMR reactors to any and all countries with which the U.S. has a nuclear cooperation agreement.  We reserve the right to clarify.

Observation 1 Solvency
U.S. Firms are authorized to develop SMR reactors with Countries the US where there is a Section 123 Nuclear Cooperation Agreement
Kerr and Nitkin 2011
Paul, non-proliferation analyst for Congressional Research Service and previously mvp coach of debate legend Catholic OV, and Mary, non-proliferation analyst for Congressional Research Service, CRS Report for Congress, “Nuclear Cooperation with Other Countries a Primer”, http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/155617.pdf

Under existing law ... common defense and security.”

And the U.S. has such agreements with 20 countries, plus EURATOM and the IAEA.
Arms Control Association, May 2011
“The U.S. Atomic Energy Act Section 123 At a Glance”, http://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/AEASection123

Section 123 of the 1954 ... International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

And Section 123 Agreements uniquely solve prolif
Kerr and Nitkin 2011
Paul, non-proliferation analyst for Congressional Research Service and previously mvp coach of debate legend Catholic OV, and Mary, non-proliferation analyst for Congressional Research Service, CRS Report for Congress, “Nuclear Cooperation with Other Countries a Primer”, http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/155617.pdf

Section 123a., paragraphs (1) ...to all of the above requirements.

Tournament:  | Round:  | Opponent:  | Judge:
The 50 states and all relevant U.S. territories should _
State action gets modeled due to local innovation

Lash ’07 (Jonathan, “Climate Policy in the State Laboratory: How States Influence Federal Regulation and the Implications for U.S. Policy,” World Resources Institute, September, http://www.wri.org/publication/climate-policy-in-the-state-laboratory, TGA)

America has a long ...economy of the future.

States solve energy policy – bottom up approach works best

Nicholas Lutsey and Daniel Sperling, Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis, 8 (Energy Policy 36)

On the other hand...change will occur.

Environmental policy is delegated now – the plan kills this federalist model

Sovacool ’08 (Benjamin K., Research Fellow in the Energy Governance Program at the Centre on Asia and Globalization, 27 Stan. Envtl. L. J. 397 2008, TGA)

Third, other countries ... sends to the world.
Endless war

Calabresi ’95 (Steven G., Assistant Prof – Northwestern U., Michigan Law Review, Lexis)

Small state federalism ... the U.S. Supreme Court.

Tournament:  | Round:  | Opponent:  | Judge:
A. Subsidies are a coercive and immoral action.

Cleveland 2000 (Cleveland, Paul A. Professor of Economics, Grand Theft Auto:  The Immorality of Business Subsidies)
We should also point ... actually committed them.

B. We must reject an obligation to others in order restore the GOLD STANDARD of rights to actually pursue liberty, life, and happiness.

Machan, 2001 (Tibor, The Perils of Positive Rights http://www.thefreemanonline.org/features/the-perils-of-positive-rights/)

Because it is itself ... the altar of democracy.

C. AN OBLIGATION TO THE COLLECTIVE WILL END IN BLOODY DICTATORSHIP AND NUCLEAR WAR.
RAND, 1966 (Ayn, Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, p80)

Consider the plunder... an enslaved nation.

Tournament:  | Round:  | Opponent:  | Judge:
Attempts to manage the world render Earth and its inhabitants as objects, awaiting the subjective United States’ federal government’s action.  This form of dualism renders everything a self-circulating resource at humanity’s disposal, revealing one way of better relating to the world, all the while eclipsing other modes of thought.
McWhorter 92 (Ladelle, Professor of Philosophy and Women’s Studies at Richmond, Heidegger and the earth: Essays in environmental philosophy, Thomas Jefferson University Press, pp. 6)
The danger of a managerial ... we may never dream.

There is no end to technological thought and rationale – it will continue to find more destructive ways to control life and death.
Beckman 2k Tad: Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, Humanities and Social Sciences at Harvey Mudd College, “Martin Heidegger and Environmental Ethics,” http://www2.hmc.edu/~tbeckman/personal/Heidart.html.
The threat of nuclear annihilation ... to fabricate convincing arguments?

The standing reserve and the ontological damnation that comes from it outweighs nuclear war--life has no meaning in a framework that sustains the standing reserve and denies us an authentic relationship with being.
Zimmerman 94 Michael: Professor of Philosophy at Tulane. Contesting the Earth’s Future, p.104. 

Heidegger asserted that human ... "disclosed" by humanity.

Our alternative is to detach and release. We must learn to let things be what they are – this does not mean a retreat from technology or surrender to the inevitable, rather, it means a reorientation of how we relate to the world and the beings within it.
Sabatino 07 Charles J.: professor of philosophy at Daemen College “A Heideggerian Reflection on the Prospects of Technology” reprinted in Janus Head 10(1) www.janushead.org/10-1/sabatino.pdf p. 72-73.

The point of seeing ... shared gift of world?

Tournament:  | Round:  | Opponent:  | Judge:
T: substantial

1. Definition: substantial increase is at least 30%
   Bryson, 2001, Circuit Judge, US Court of Appeals Federal Circuit
   265 F.3d 1371; 2001 U.S. App. LEXIS 20590; 60 U.S.P.Q.2D (BNA) 1272, 9/19, lexis)
   The term "to increase ... in the claim.

2. Violation: the plan does not increase by 30%--the government is already funding loan guarantees at 36 billion dollars.
New York Times, 2011 (US Official Affirms Nuclear Loan Guarantees, http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/17/u-s-official-affirms-nuclear-loan-guarantees/)
With many riveted ... loan guarantee program.

C. Reasons to vote neg:
1.Fairness—the topic is worded to force us to debate substantial increases, guaranteeing us a link to spending disads and tradeoff disads.  If they don’t have to be substantial they don’t have to link to any of our off case args including kritiks.  No way for us to generate clash.

2. Education—fairness is the key internal link to education because good clash is key to education.  They could read the most educational argument in the world but if we can’t generate clash against it in the round, we could have spent less money and time and gotten it from a book.  Clash is the unique benefit to policy debate; thus if you think the debate is unfair then it’s on face uneducational and you should vote them down.

D. Voter for the reasons listed above and ADA rules.

Tournament: Districts | Round: 2 | Opponent: George Washington NS | Judge: Kimball

Support for immigration reform but it’s not certain

AP, 2-14, 13, http:~/~/www.thealpenanews.com/page/content.detail/id/290690/Calls-for-action-at-Senate-immigration-hearing-.html?isap=1andnav=5013url:http://www.thealpenanews.com/page/content.detail/id/290690/Calls-for-action-at-Senate-immigration-hearing-.html?isap=1andnav=5013

political capital key to passage

Michael Shifter, President, Inter-American Dialogue, 12.27.12

            http://www.thedialogue.org/page.cfm?pageID=32andpubID=3186

and, New agenda items like the aff risk sidetracking cir

Miami Herald 1.14.13

                http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/14/3178620/immigration-reform-cant-wait.html

Reform key to u.s.-latin American relations

Lisa Haugaard, Exec. Dir., Latin America Working Group, 1.4.13

            http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-haugaard/latin-america-united-states-           relations_b_2409247.html

relations prevent nuclear proliferation

Michael Shifter, President, Inter-American Dialogue Center, April 2012

                Remaking the Relationship: The United States and Latin America, An Inter-American Dialogue Policy Report, April 2012 p. 16

imPact is extinction

Matthew Kroenig, Asst. Prof. Georgetown University, 5.26.12

1NR

Obama will prioritize immigration

Wernick 1/25 Allan is a writer for the New York Daily News. “A look at where key Congressional players stand on immigration indicates reform could come soon,” 2013, http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/citizenship-now/immigration-chances-good-sweeping-immigration-reform-article-1.1245988

Sequestration will happen-~--budget deal won’t be finalized for months-~--proves the DA comes first

Hicks 1/24 Josh is a writer @ The Washington Post. “Party leaders predict temporary sequestration cuts are likely,” 2013, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2013/01/24/party-leaders-predict-temporary-sequestration-cuts-are-likely-2/

Political capital key to passage

Foley 1/15 Elise is a writer @ Huff Post Politics. “Obama Gears Up For Immigration Reform Push In Second Term,” 2013, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/15/obama-immigration-reform_n_2463388.html

PC is the deciding factor-~--otherwise CIR will fall by the wayside

Hesson 1/2 Ted is a writer @ ABC News. “Analysis: 6 Things Obama Needs To Do for Immigration Reform,” 2013, http://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/News/things-president-obama-immigration-reform/story?id=18103115

Passage dependent on Obama

Brownstein 1/31 Ronald, National Journal, 1/31/13, On Immigration, What Obama Can Learn From Bush's Failed Efforts, www.nationaljournal.com/columns/political-connections/on-immigration-what-obama-can-learn-from-bush-s-failed-efforts-20130131

Extending the PTC for more than a year cost political capital – Wind is unpopular

Leone June 4, 2012 Steve Leone, Associate Editor, RenewableEnergyWorld.com “Looming Deadline for PTC Extension is Major Focus at Windpower 2012” http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/06/looking-deadline-for-ptc-extension-is-major-focus-at-windpower-2012

Plan is not popular (Their card is talking about passed existing subsidies—has nothing to do with the current docket) and Republics hate the plan

Colman 07/31/12 Zack Colman Energy and Environment Staff Writer at The Hill “Obama official: Ending wind credit could have 'devastating effect'” http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/241315-ferc-chairman-ending-wind-credit-could-be-devastating

Extend

and, New agenda items like the aff risk sidetracking cir

Miami Herald 1.14.13

                http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/14/3178620/immigration-reform-cant-wait.html

Tournament: Districts | Round: 2 | Opponent: GWU NS | Judge: Kimball

A1: Low Natural Gas Prices key to Revival of U.S. Steel Industry

Flynn  5/2/12

Phil Flynn is senior energy analyst for The PRICE Futures Group and a Fox Business Network contributor, “Low natural gas prices propelling US manufacturing, taxes suffer”, Futures, May 2, 2012, http://www.futuresmag.com/2012/05/02/low-natural-gas-prices-propelling-us-manufacturing

A2: Regulations on coal are driving gas prices down now. Wind would tradeoff with natural gas making prices higher.

Ronald Brownstein — February 20, 2013

(“How Obama might find a way to limit carbon emissions in his second term”

http://qz.com/55245/how-obama-might-find-a-way-to-limit-carbon-emissions-in-his-second-term/)

B: Wind Kills Natural Gas use and actually promotes the use of dirty fuel—Germany empirically proves—Turns warming

Real Clear Energy December 17, 2012 (“Wind lowers the price of electricity, but…”

http://www.realclearenergy.org/charticles/2012/12/17/wind_can_lower_electrical_prices_106818.html)

C:  US  Steel Must Stay Commercial Viable - critical for national defense

PR Newswire 07  January 10, 2007 Wednesday 3:29 PM GMT  “Domestically-Produced Steel Critical to National Defense and Security”

D: End of U.S. Heg is World of Chaos and Anhilation

Ferguson 04.  

Niall Ferguson, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Professor of History, Harvard.  “A World Without Power.”  Foreign Policy Magazine July/August 2004

Tournament: Districts | Round: 2 | Opponent: GWU NS | Judge: Kimball

Text: The United States Navy should establish an international naval cooperative known as the Thousand Ship Navy.

Solves their shipping advantage--Thousand Ship Navy Key to Protect Shipping pipelines from Piracy and Terrorism

Klamper 2007

Amy, “The Thousand Ship Navy”, Seapower, 2/13/07 available at http://www.military.com/forums/0,15240,125158,00.html

Thousand Ship Navy Solves Heg Impacts

Admiral Nathman 2006

Admiral John Nathman, commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command, "Changes from sea to shore;

Fleet Forces chief talks teamwork with land-based units, allied navies" byline Christopher P. Cavas, Navy Times, September 2006

Alliances are key to Hegemony

Kupchan 2004

Clifford Kupchan. "Real Democratik." The National Interest. Fall 2004. Lexis.

Tournament: Districts | Round: 2 | Opponent: GWU NS | Judge: 

SQUO Solves – FAA Moving to allow Airborne Wind Now, just working out the safety regs

Namowitz Jan. 12

Dan, “FAA issues notice of policy on new airborne wind energy systems” Aircraft Owners and Pilots Ass’n (AOPA) Advocacy paper http:~/~/www.aopa.org/advocacy/articles/2012/120126faa-html 1/26/12

Turn – Working within current regulatory regime restrictions will be faster than starting new system

Levitan 2012

Dave, reporter, Yale Environment 360, 9/24/12,h ttp://e360.yale.edu/feature/high_altitude_wind_energy_huge_potential_and_hurdles/2576/

Solvency

Urban airborne wind would be unfeasible and massively unpopular
SciFi Ideas, 12. "Airborne Wind Generators: The Future of Renewable Energy?," April 3 http://www.scifiideas.com/sfi/technology/airborne-wind-generators-the-future-of-renewable-energy/

Uncertainty of yearly PTC expansion guts solvency
Peeples, 2/15
 Lynne, "Renewable Energy Policy Uncertainty Stalls A Fossil Fuel-Free Future, Experts Say," Huffington Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/15/renewable-energy-policy-tax-credits-fossil-fuels_n_2693730.html

Plan is insufficient for AWE adoption – no private sector financing means government funding necessary. Removing FAA restrictions can’t overcome attitudinal barriers
 Kozubek, 11
 Jim, "Airborne Wind Energy Industry Struggles To Fly," Talking Points Memo, November 4 http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/11/airborne-wind-energy-industry-struggles-to-take-off.php

Tournament: Districts | Round: 2 | Opponent: GWU NS | Judge: 

AEROSPACE

Immigration reform prevents a shortage in the aerospace industry.

Thompson 9 (David, President – American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and Dr. Richard Aubrecht, Vice President of Strategy and Technology – Moog, Inc., “The Aerospace Workforce”, Federal News Service, 12-10, Lexis)

Tournament: Districts | Round: 2 | Opponent: GWU NS | Judge: Kimball

Immigration reform expands skilled labor—spurs relations and economic growth in China and India.

LA Times 11/9/12 Other countries eagerly await U.S. immigration reform, http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/11/us-immigration-reform-eagerly-awaited-by-source-countries.html

US-Indian relations avert South Asian nuclear war.

Schaffer 2 Spring 2002, Teresita—Director of the South Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Security, Washington Quarterly, Lexis

Wind destroys military readiness – blocks radars and early warning systems

DOD 6 (Office of the Director of Defense Research and Engineering, “The Effect of Windmill Farms On Military Readiness”, REPORT TO THE CONGRESSIONAL DEFENSE COMMITTEES, www.defense.gov/pubs/pdfs/pdf, Acc: 8/3/12, og)

Wind turbines are physically large structures that will block the transmission of radar waves in a manner similar to tall buildings. The blockage caused by a single turbine, due to its slender shape, will be relatively small, resulting in a negligible shadow area behind that single turbine. Multiple turbines located in proximity of each other will also cause diffraction of radar waves. Decreasing the separation distance between the turbines increases the diffraction effect.¶ The diffraction of the radar waves will reduce the intensity of the propagating wave directly behind the turbines (see Figure 6) as well as the reflected signal from a target. This two-way reduction in signal strength will increase the difficulty in detecting and tracking targets flying at low altitude in the immediate vicinity of the wind turbines. This effect will be most pronounced for targets with a small RCS. Such targets inherently are the most challenging in all circumstances, and this added burden will result in a noticeable reduction in probability of detection for them.¶ Predicting the reduction in signal strength due to diffraction effects is potentially a mathematically tractable problem when it is assumed the turbine blades are stationary. This has been the basis for the “spacing algorithms” employed by a few nations. No method exists at present to accurately calculate the reduction in signal strength that will occur when the turbine blades are rotating.¶ Turbine blade rotation will also create false returns when attempting to detect and track targets at very low altitudes. This further complicates the situation, leading to the potential that low-RCS targets can successfully employ wind turbines to execute a “covert” approach to a high-value asset. This will compromise the ability of on-site or nearby security forces to detect such a possible attack with sufficient lead time to react. Consequently, special case-by-case analyses will be required to assess potential impacts on local air defense systems for high-value assets to determine if a nearby wind farm could compromise reaction capability. In such cases, any proposed wind farm should be located at a sufficient distance so that the on-site defense forces are able to identify any potential threat with sufficient warning time to enable them to react as required. Failure¶ 52¶ to incorporate such considerations in locating wind turbines either on site or in the nearby vicinity will degrade military readiness for this mission.

Wind Hurts readiness – devastates radars, weapons tests, and training missions

Robyn 10 (Dorothy, Phd, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, Testimony before the SUBCOMMITTEE ON READINESS, http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-111hhrg61770/pdf/CHRG-111hhrg61770.pdf, Acc: 8/3/12, og)

Wind hurts military readiness – defense radars

DOD 6 (Office of the Director of Defense Research and Engineering, “The Effect of Windmill Farms On Military Readiness”, REPORT TO THE CONGRESSIONAL DEFENSE COMMITTEES, www.defense.gov/pubs/pdfs/pdf, Acc: 8/3/12, og)

Military readiness maintains deterrence and prevents global war

Brownfield 12 (Mike, Assistant Director of Strategic Communications at The Heritage Foundation, “Morning Bell: Would You Take an SUV into Combat?” http:~/~/blog.heritage.org/2012/05/10/morning-bell-would-you-take-an-suv-into-combat/http://blog.heritage.org/2012/05/10/morning-bell-would-you-take-an-suv-into-combat/, Acc:8/3/12, og)