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Solar FiT’s 1AC

Observation One – The Status Quo

The federal government is embracing solar as a viable form of energy production for American homes, but their plans for expansion are limited to 6 states and utility scale projects.

US Dept of Interior ’12 ~http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/Obama-Administration-Approves-Roadmap-for-Utility-Scale-Solar-Energy-Development-on-Public-Lands.cfm~~

As part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to
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support 13,000 construction and operations jobs according to project developer estimates. 

Even if current programs were expanded, utility scale federal projects do no integrate into the most overlooked communities that have been battered by their proximity to fossil fuel industries for decades; and are being excluded as beneficiaries of the solar movement.

Cervas ’12, Coordinator @ California Environmental Justice ~Strela, 1/19, Solar for All,http://caleja.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/SmallScaleRDGfitProposal_FINALv4.pdf~~

Low-income, communities of color have shouldered the burden of living adjacent to
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will give teeth to the concept of investing in communities most in need. 

These current incentive structures mean that the benefits of solar panels are reaped by wealthy families and businesses while low-income families literally pay the price.

Cardwell ’12, Business Day reporter for The New York Times covering energy ~6/4, Diane, Solar Panel Payments Set Off a Fairness Debate, New York Times,http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/05/business/solar-payments-set-off-a-fairness-debate.html?pagewanted=all~~

In California’s sun-scorched Central Valley, the monthly electric bill can easily top
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continue to encourage rooftop installations, while the utilities have generally been opposed. 

Thus, we offer the following plan: The Unites States Federal government should implement a feed in tariffs system for solar projects with a project size cap of 500 kilowatts, a program cap of 375 megawatts by 2020 at a "regular annual pace" with a term minimum of 20 years.

Observation Two – Solvency

A small-scale FiT structure will facilitate solar installation in low income communities.

Cervas ’12, Coordinator @ California Environmental Justice ~Strela, 1/19, Solar for All,http://caleja.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/SmallScaleRDGfitProposal_FINALv4.pdf~~

1 – Feed-in Tariffs (FiTs) for small-scale projects:
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innovation, education, etc. to local communities, especially underemployed communities.

These small scale projects will revitalize low income communities and give people control over their energy future.

Cervas ’12, Coordinator @ California Environmental Justice ~Strela, 1/19, Solar for All,http://caleja.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/SmallScaleRDGfitProposal_FINALv4.pdf~~

Low-income communities of color need renewable energy systems that are 1.5 MW or less. A small-scale feed-in tariff program for renewable distributed generation allows rooftop solar that can be sited in low income urban and rural communities. Small-scale projects create jobs, reduce energy bills, generate wealth, revitalize neighborhoods, and give people some control over their energy future. 

Observation Three – Energy Bills

The insanely high cost of energy forced upon low income communities by unequal access to solar strains their already limited budgets – forcing the choice between paying energy bills and every other necessary cost of living, including mortgages and rent.

Smith et. al. ’07, MD %26 MPH – Chairperson of Child Health Impact Assessment Working Group ~Lauren A., April, Unhealthy Consequences: Energy Costs and Child Health,http://www.hiaguide.org/sites/default/files/ChildHIAofenergycostsandchildhealth.pdf~~

High energy costs place increased economic demands on low-income households with limited budgets
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suggest that their situation would be even more precarious without this important assistance. 

Specifically, high utility bills in low income communities are a leading cause of individuals’ %26 families’ inability to maintain the habitability of their home.

Smith et. al. ’07, MD %26 MPH – Chairperson of Child Health Impact Assessment Working Group ~Lauren A., April, Unhealthy Consequences: Energy Costs and Child Health,http://www.hiaguide.org/sites/default/files/ChildHIAofenergycostsandchildhealth.pdf~~

It is well documented that high energy costs can result in unpaid bills, leading
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off moratorium period, families continue to accrue debt for their utility bills. 

3.5 million people are on the brink of losing their home as we speak.

National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty 04/16/12("Law Center Launches "All-In to End Homelessness" Campaign"  http://homelessnesslaw.org/2012/04/law-center-launches-%E2%80%9Call-in-to-end-homelessness%E2%80%9D-campaign/-http://homelessnesslaw.org/2012/04/law-center-launches-%E2%80%9Call-in-to-end-homelessness%E2%80%9D-campaign/)

The "All-In" campaign commemorates the Act’s 25th Anniversary – recognizing its
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to act.  It’s time to fulfill the promise of McKinney-Vento.

Scenario 1 – Interpersonal Victimization

Loss of housing specifically pushes women into a spiraling crisis of ongoing sexual assault layered on top of constant struggle to meet basic survival needs. Women experiencing homelessness are trapped in a traumatic lifestyle of perpetual and repeated battering, including rape – they are confined to this violence by their own transience as all avenues for remedy require a fixed contact location and shelters are the breeding ground for the types of violence they are trying to flee. Allowing women to retain their homes is the only way to begin to address the impact of this trauma and to stop the cycle before it starts for many women.

Goodman et.al. 11 ~Lisa A. Goodman, Ph.D., Katya Fels, %26 Catherine Glenn, M.A. With contributions from Judy Benitez, No Safe Place: Sexual Assault in the Lives of Homeless Women~

Although prevalence rates of homelessness have been estimated at up to seven to eight percent
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creating a growing number of ìspecial needsî victims whose needs are grossly neglected.

Women experiencing precarious housing situations are uniquely vulnerable to interpersonal violence – this demands our immediate attention.

Goodman et.al. 11 ~Lisa A. Goodman, Ph.D., Katya Fels, %26 Catherine Glenn, M.A. With contributions from Judy Benitez, No Safe Place: Sexual Assault in the Lives of Homeless Women~
Despite over two decades of media and public policy attention, homelessness remains an enormous
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might take to intervene with victims and prevent future sexual assaults from occurring.

Our role as debaters

Loss of daily shelter leads to unspeakable, inescapable violence against people in their most vulnerable state- we must take steps to pull people out of this trap.

Norton ’09 ~Larry,8/19, Dehumanizing the homeless: violence and hate, http://blog.oregonlive.com/oldtown/2009/08/dehumanizing_the_homeless_viol.html~~What is the effect of dehumanizing the homeless? Vulnerability. Previously (Part II) in commenting on the hate and violence against the homeless I suggested that there is an environment that dehumanizes the homeless and that it leaves them vulnerable. "Vulnerability, especially in the homeless situation, means that an attacker is likely feel that he or she can get away with it because the thought is that the "homeless people aren’t important, that homeless people are nobodies." ~Orlando Sentinel~. And, to make it even easier to get away with it is the fact that many of the attacks go unreported by the homeless; most likely because of the role the police play, i. e., enforcers of laws that are perceived as anti-homeless. From the NYT piece and the NCH Report as well as a Google search, it appears that many of the homeless that are being attacked are the chronic homeless who are the most vulnerable and would offer the least resistance. And, one has to recognize that it is unlikely that the attacks would occur against anyone but the very vulnerable. I would liken these attackers to those who would harm a cat or dog just for the thrill of it. Something is wrong with these attackers that even full employment or no homelessness would cure. These are predators that for a host of reasons seek out vulnerable people to harm. For a composite of the "who" and the "why"of ’homeless’ violence see the Oregonian’s article about the twin brothers that were responsible for five incidents of attacks. E. g., in the article, Portland Detective Kevin Warren states that the twin brothers were "always picking on people who are older and frailer. There’s no fair fights here. For the most part, it’s just a beat-down. They’re just beating people up because they’re thinking they’ll get away with it." Given the vulnerability — who takes advantage of it? "The assailants are outsiders, mostly teenagers "who punch, kick, shoot or set afire people living on the streets, frequently killing them, simply for the sport of it, their victims all but invisible to society." ~NYT~. The "National Coalition for the Homeless . . . says in its new report that 58 percent of assailants implicated in attacks against the homeless in the last 10 years were teenagers ~13 to 19~." ~NYT, NCH Report ~. But take a look at the NCH Report graph page 20. These are young assailants. 78% of them were 25 and younger. Of the 58%, 24% were 18 %26 19 years old with 24% being 13 -19. Portland’s Precinct Commander Reese in an Oregonian opinion would seem to agree when he identifies one group of offenders responsible for downtown problems: They are transient "young adults between 18 and 30 years of age. They’re the ones engaged in aggressive panhandling and intimidating behavior in downtown. ~....~ Most are addicted to heroin or alcohol." "They have made a lifestyle choice to live on the streets, and they consistently refuse housing, treatment or other services." Why do they do it? "A lot are thrill seekers," a quote by Brian Levin, a criminologist who runs the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino. ~NYT~. From another New York Times article pointing to youths as mostly to blame: "He ~15 years old~ does not know why. He was high, does not remember much and wants to forget the rest." And questioning motives in another incident: "What could possibly be in the mind of a 10- or 12-year -old that would possess them to pick up a rock and pick up a brick and beat another human being in the head?" But, in the NYT, a Texas State Representative sees it as a status issue: "More and more, we’re hearing about homeless people being attacked for no other reason than that they’re homeless . . ." Frankly I don’t buy that. It is an illogical proposition to attribute violence towards an individual or similarly situated persons merely because he or she is homeless. It is a blame the victim approach. These crimes, and they are that, are not akin to racial or sexual orientation discrimination. It is the vulnerability of those being attacked — isn’t it? Without belaboring this too much, the ’hate’ is not hate of the homeless — it is a sociopathic attack on the vulnerable. Attacking a vulnerable person, e. g., homeless, means that because the "homeless people aren’t important, that homeless people are nobodies" he or she feels they can get away with it. ~See Orlando Sentinel~. And, to make it even easier to get away with it is the fact that many of the attacks go unreported by the homeless; most likely because of the role the police play, i. e., enforcers of laws that are perceived as anti-homeless. From the NYT piece, the NCH Report , and a Google search, it appears that many of the homeless that are being attacked are the chronic homeless who are the most vulnerable and would offer the least resistance. And, one has to recognize that it is unlikely that the attacks would occur against anyone but the very vulnerable. I would liken these attackers to those who would harm a cat or dog just for the thrill of it. Something is wrong with them that even full employment or no homelessness would cure. These are predators that for a host of reasons seek out vulnerable people to harm. For a composite of the "who" and the "why"of ’homeless’ violence see the Oregonian’s article about the twin brothers that were responsible for five incidents of attacks. The NYT points to ’bum movies’ and articles like the one found in Maxim - "Hunt the Homeless" as examples of encouraging attacks on the homeless. Attacks by young adults and teenagers on vulnerable people because they can get away with attacks on nobodies will not be stopped by continuing to blame the victim. As noted, physical attacks are not a known problem in Portland, verbal attacks are heard on the streets and read all too often in the local media. But can physical attacks be far behind? Aren’t the means to resolve the violence readily available and easy to implement? 1st is to separate out the criminal element from the homeless category. This is important so that there is a clear definition of homeless — they are not criminals. Being poor, being without a job is not a criminal offense. 2nd is to implement social, not criminal, solutions to homelessness. Criminalization of unintended conduct is anti-democratic and certainly doesn’t fit the liberal image of Portland. Social solutions get to the root of the problem, criminal solutions begat criminals. 3rd is to arrest, prosecute and appropriately sentence those culprits who would attack the homeless. This will send a deterrent message to the attackers and a relief message to the many homeless victims. Well so much for day dreams.

People experiencing homelessness, even as they are brutalized are literally invisible in our society – our 1ac is an attempt to bring them back into our collective field of vision. Simple recognition is the first step.

Jean 10(Abby, August 5, 2010, "Vulnerability: Indexes, Homelessness and Disability" http://disabledfeminists.com/2010/08/05/vulnerability-indexes-homelessness-and-disability/)

This population is considered extremely difficult to serve, as lots have tried to engage
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that – and these programs are proving that assumption to be absolutely wrong.
 

Don’t read against K teams until 2AC if necessary

Our concrete approach  - using the USFG to focus on the needs of the people instead of their condition is the best way to respond to this epidemic of loss of permanent shelter.

Australian Human Rights Commission ’08("Homelessness is a Human Rights Issue" http://www.hreoc.gov.au/human_rights/housing/homelessness_2008.html~~%23fnB34)

Recognizing that homelessness impacts on a person’s ability to enjoy basic rights and freedoms has
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towards the full and immediate realization of the human rights of homeless persons.