Tournament:  | Round:  | Opponent:  | Judge:
1AC

Plan: The US Federal Government should extend the expired 1603 Cash grant.

Observation 1-The 1603 cash grant has expired as Congress failed to pass the legislation.

The fiscal cliff deal has not extended the 1603 grant.

Baker Botts L.L.P 1/11/13 ("The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 Extends and Modifies the Production Tax Credit and Investment Tax Credit" Baker Botts is a full-service, leading international law firm, recognized for their understanding of the industries they serve http://www.bakerbotts.com/file_upload/Update201301Tax-ProductionTaxCreditandInvestmentTaxCredit.htm)

On January 2, 2013, President Obama signed the American Taxpayer Relief Act of
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under section 1603 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009.

Expired 1603 grant hurts both wind and solar industries as financing solar projects becomes more risky.

Valenza-http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/u/SolarFred;jsessionid=AF4A72D74DB68100159F188FE0A9B616  12 (Valenza is the founder of Unthink Solar. "Why the 1603 Treasury Grant Program Matters to Solar and RE")
Some may see 1603 as a program that only benefits large scale solar, but 1603 indirectly benefits the residential solar community, as well as solar thermal, and all other renewables. Without 1603, wind, geothermal, tidal energy — you name it — are all going to see declines in 2012 after any residual "safe harbors" have expired.
Briefly, 1603 is a grant (cash) that is given to commercial and
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other RE), and that means investors will invest in fewer solar projects.

Contention 1- Global warming.

Global warming is caused by CO2 emissions and can lead to human extinction.

Warming causes extinction

Tickell, ’8
(Oliver, Climate Researcher, The Gaurdian, "On a planet 4C hotter, all we can prepare for is extinction", 8-11, http://www.guardian.co.uk-http:www.guardian.co.uk commentisfree/2008/aug/11/ climatechange)
We need to get prepared for four degrees of global warming, Bob Watson told
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warming caused by human emissions could propel us towards a similar hothouse Earth.

It’s anthropogenic and scientific consensus goes aff.

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-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.

1603 Cash grant boosts the production of solar energy/panels, reducing anthropogenic CO2 emissions.

CO2 emissions, a greenhouse gas, is a main factor in global warming. Solar energy reduces CO2 emissions.

 DOE ’12 (US Department of Energy. From chapter 7 of SunShot Vision Study-  an in depth study about the potential of making solar technologies meet up with the demand for electricity over the next several decades. February 2012)

Solar energy reduces GHG emissions compared with most other sources of energy. Compared with
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the prevalence of diseases and other health threats that depend largely on local climate

Contention 2(Solvency)- Plan is the best way to approach solar and wind energy.

Finding solutions to overcome the obstacles that are impairing the progression of solar energy is that best to stabilize the cloudy future of solar energy.

(Glennon and Reeves, 10)
 (Robert Glennon is the Morris K. Udall Professor of Law and Public Policy at the University of Arizona, Rogers College of Law.  Andrew Reeves is a third-year student at the University of Arizona, Roger College of Law.

Ultimately, the article will attempt to show that—though the clouds on solar
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address the money, land, and water issues associated with solar power.

Solar industry faces economic decline, loss of jobs, and financing with expired 1603 Cash grant

Resch 11 (Resch is the CEO %26 founder of Solar Energy and Industries Association "Knocking Down a Few Solar Myths)
Recognizing that the tax credit was not working as they intended, Congress passed the
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will start to see projects scrapped and jobs lost almost instantly in 2012.

Contention 3-Economy

Economic investment and 1603 cash grant strengthens solar and wind industries, and provides more money to the government.

Renewable Energy is key to provide long-term economic security, and offer a conducive environment for research %26 development.

Mendonça, Jacobs, and Sovacool in 2010 (Miguel, Researcher, author and advocate of sustainability and resilience strategies, David, Director Renewable Energy, IFOK GmbH, and Benjamin K., Visiting Associate Professor at Vermont Law School, "Powering the Green Economy: The feed-in tariff handbook", p. 1-2)

’The green economy’ is a somewhat bemusing term from the perspective of the ecologist
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and Joe Biden promised to create five million new jobs through green measures.  

Without increasing job growth, we are headed to an economic disaster

Levin, 2011 (Becky, AFSCME news letter, http://www.afscme.org/news/publications/newsletters/works/fall-2011/economic-recovery-relies-on-jobs-http://www.afscme.org/news/publications/newsletters/works/fall-2011/economic-recovery-relies-on-jobs) American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

Investing in the working middle class is the surest path to an economic recovery that works for everyone, not just CEOs and huge corporations.
Before the plan can create its first job, Congress has to do its job
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their fair share is better than laying off nurses, teachers and firefighters."
The President’s plan recognizes that we have a jobs problem and a revenue problem (not surprising with an unfair tax system that lets major corporations dodge taxes and that finds millionaires paying lower percentages on their incomes than some of their employees.)
Congress has spent the past year arguing over the budget and the debt ceiling while doing nothing to create jobs. In August, the economy created exactly zero jobs. Without major action, the economy could be headed toward a "double-dip" recession.

US is bankrupt and on the brink of collapse.

Kenneth ’11("U.S. Economy is Bankrupt and Headed Towards Collapse" Billy Kenneth- Believer in free market capitalism, the only economic system that allows people truly to serve others. He is a writer at Policymic-we’ve created the first democratic online news platform to engage millennials in debates about real issues.)

The U.S. is destroying itself from the inside, and the rest
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the world order hasn’t happened yet doesn’t mean it isn’t going to happen.

Economic collapse causes nuclear war- extinction

Broward 9 ((Member of Triond) http://newsflavor.com/opinions/will-an-economic-collapse-kill-you/)
Now its time to look at the consequences of a failing world economy. With
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the economy is the most important issue facing us in the 21st century.

Taxable cash incentives provide the government more money than tax incentives

Varadarajan et. al 12 (Varadarajan , Pierpont, Hobbs, Rowley are members of the Climate Policy Initiative. CPI is policy analytic organization whose purpose is to "assess, diagnose, and support" actions and efforts of key governments globally to achieve low-carbon growth).

Government can save money while providing the same support for projects by using taxable cash
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price risk to government, as discussed in section 5.3 below.
For the small solar PV facilities, a 1603 Cash Grant led to a cost of electricity at least %2415/MWh lower than any financing structure with a tax credit. This is largely due to the fixed financial fees associated with obtaining tax equity financing for small projects, equivalent to %2429-38/ MWh generated. On the other hand, the large solar PV case yielded essentially equivalent cost of electricity with the ITC and 1603 Cash Grant.

Cash tax incentives are more flexible for investors.

Varadarajan et. al 12 (Varadarajan , Pierpont, Hobbs, Rowley are members of the Climate Policy Initiative. CPI is policy analytic organization whose purpose is to "assess, diagnose, and support" actions and efforts of key governments globally to achieve low-carbon growth).
Cash incentives can be used by any investor, whereas tax benefits require tax liabilities
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as the current ITC at half the cost to state and federal governments. 

Solar industry is a good investment

Gonzalez 12 (Gonzalez is a writer for Environmental Finance, a leading global publication for environmental news and issues. http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Renewable-Energy/Expiration-Of-Cash-Grant-To-Affect-Biomass-Wind-More-Than-Solar.html-http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Renewable-Energy/Expiration-Of-Cash-Grant-To-Affect-Biomass-Wind-More-Than-Solar.html)
The expiration of the 1603 US cash grant programme is likely to slow but not
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investors can use the tax credits renewable energy generators are able to access.

1603 cash grant more profitable than ITC or PTC

Bolinger et. al ’09 (Bolinger, Wiser, Cory and James are part of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory "PTC, ITC, or Cash Grant? An Analysis of the Choice Facing Renewable Power Projects in the United States")

Option to Elect Equivalent Cash Grant: As mentioned earlier, ARRA 2009 not only
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and could potentially drive developers and investors more strongly towards the cash grant. 

Green business expansion is critical to innovation, competitiveness, and economic security
Russell 10 (Graham, executive director of CORE, the largest sustainable business association in the Rocky Mountain Region, June 13, 2010, "The role of green business in economic recovery and stability", http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2010/06/14/focus5.html?page=all-http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2010/06/14/focus5.html?page=all, 8/4/12, atl)

The great news about green business is that it will deliver benefits to the U
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the adoption of this type of green business thinking across the entire economy.