Tournament:  | Round:  | Opponent:  | Judge: 

Contention 1 is Inherency

Massive interest in offshore win exists, but a convoluted permitting process and lack of federal leadership ensure no projects can be completed

Gregory J. Rigano 2010 (J.D. Hofstra University School of Law): NOTE: THE SOLUTION TO THE UNITED STATES' ENERGY TROUBLES IS BLOWING IN THE WIND. Lexis

There is a nationwide sentiment towards … slow down the development of projects.

And, this regulatory environment drives away investment

Ashlyn N. Mausolf 2012 (JD University of Detroit Mercy School of Law): NOTE: Clearing the Regulatory Hurdles and Promoting Offshore Wind Development in Michigan. Lexis

Despite all of the potential benefits …causing further delays. ⁿ⁹⁴

And the web of regulation is so bad that only one offshore wind project has been permitted

Todd J. Griset 2010 (practices law with Preti Flaherty.’s Energy and Telecommunications Group): HARNESSING THE OCEAN.’S POWER: OPPORTUNITIES IN RENEWABLE OCEAN ENERGY RESOURCES. OCEAN AND COASTAL LAW JOURNAL. http://www.preti.com/files/6969_TGrisetOceanPower.pdf

B. Example of Cape Wind … of its permitting process.

Contention 2 is the Economy

Scenario 1 is Jobs:

High unemployment is a national crisis—must boost job growth to fully recover
Morici 8/3 (Peter, economist and professor at the Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, 8/3/12, “Unemployment Rises, Hundreds of Thousands Quit Looking” Fox) http://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/2012/08/03/unemployment-rises-hundreds-thousands-quit-looking/

The economy added 163,000 jobs … the unemployment rate is 15%.  

And offshore wind creates over a million jobs that can’t be outsourced – that saves the economy

NREL 2010 (National Renewable Energy Laboratory): Large-Scale Offshore Wind Power in the United States ASSESSMENT OF OPPORTUNITIES AND BARRIERS. http://www.nrel.gov/wind/pdfs/40745.pdf

Developing a domestic wind … (GWEC et al. 2008; Musial 2007).

And green jobs create economic resilience

LA Times 2012: California green jobs more recession resistant, study says. http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/07/business/la-fi-mo-green-jobs-20120207

While many industries in California … companies added 7% more positions.

Scenario 2 is Manufacturing:

US manufacturing sector is on the brink of irreversible decline
Kaushal et al 11 (Arvind, partner with Booz and Co, Thomas Mayor, senior executive advisor, Patricia Riedel, principal at Booz and Co. Fall 2011, “Manufacturing’s Wake-Up Call”) http://booz.com/media/file/sb64-11306-Manufacturing's-Wake-Up-Call.pdf

Both the optimists and the pessimists … erode past the point of no return.

But, multiple U.S. manufacturers are prepped to jump on offshore wind – stimulation of demand is key

Maria Gallucci 4/6 (InsideClimate News Staff Writer) 2012: This Week in Clean Economy: Manufacturing Job Surge Seen for East Coast Offshore Wind. http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20120404/this-week-clean-economy-offshore-wind-energy--maryland-governor-omalley-new-jersey-cape-wind-china-europe

The idea is to stimulate … would have plenty of time to prepare.

And that revives the manufacturing sector – and that sparks massive growth

NREL 2010 (National Renewable Energy Laboratory): Large-Scale Offshore Wind Power in the United States ASSESSMENT OF OPPORTUNITIES AND BARRIERS. http://www.nrel.gov/wind/pdfs/40745.pdf

The nation is also recovering … U.S. economy as a whole.

Economic collapse causes a shooting war

John B. Judis 11 (senior editor of The New Republic and a Visiting Scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace) 8/8: “Liberals’ Strange Retreat on Government Spending.” http://www.tnr.com/article/john-judis/93287/obama-administration-economy-recession?page=0,1

The first consideration has to … create over the next year.

Extinction

Broward 9 ((Member of Triond) http://newsflavor.com/opinions/will-an-economic-collapse-kill-you/ AD: 7-7-09 )ET

Now its time to look … facing us in the 21st century.

Scenario 3 is Ports:

Antiquated ports can’t accommodate new supertankers from Panama – other countries will reap the benefits

Ed Rendell 2012 (Co-chairman of the Building America’s Future Education Fund): U.S. must get prepared to handle larger ships. http://www.aapaseaports.com/pdf_issues/AAPASeaports_Summer2012.pdf

Big ships are indeed coming… the World Economic Forum ranks the U.S. 23rd, behind such countries as Iceland and Estonia.

But there is no impetus for new investment now – that risks global economic leadership

Paul Scott Abbott 2012 (Editor AAPA Seaports Magazine: Infrastructure investment holds key to prosperity. http://www.aapaseaports.com/pdf_issues/AAPASeaports_Summer2012.pdf

At the American Association of Port Authorities’s centennial spring conference, Charlie Cook, a political analyst for NBC News and National Journal and publisher of The Cook Political Report, said … future export goals out of reach.

Ports investment key to job creation, and competitiveness in global trade.

ASCE 2012; Failure To Act The Economic Impact Of Current Investment Trends In Airports, Inland Waterways, And Marine Ports Infrastructure; American Society of Civil Engineers by Economic Development Research Group, Inc. Copyright 2012. http://www.asce.org/uploadedFiles/Infrastructure/Failure_to_Act/Failure%20To%20Act%20Ports%20Economic%20Report.pdf

By failing to invest in its … between 2012 and 2020, as shown in Table 19.

That’s key to promoting an American economic model – the alternative is mercantilism, which destroys economic cooperation and risks protectionism

Posen 9 – Deputy director and senior fellow of the Peterson Institute for International Economics (Adam, “Economic leadership beyond the crisis,” http://clients.squareeye.com/uploads/foresight/documents/PN%20USA_FINAL_LR_1.pdf)

In the postwar period, … following priority measures.

Protectionism will cause terrorism and global wars – risks extinction

Panzner 8 – faculty at the New York Institute of Finance, 25-year veteran of the global stock, bond, and currency markets who has worked in New York and London for HSBC, Soros Funds, ABN Amro, Dresdner Bank, and JPMorgan Chase (Michael, “Financial Armageddon: Protect Your Future from Economic Collapse,” p. 136-138)

Continuing calls for curbs on … societies as the beginnings of a new world war.

Offshore wind development will result in port expansion

NREL 2010 (National Renewable Energy Laboratory): Large-Scale Offshore Wind Power in the United States ASSESSMENT OF OPPORTUNITIES AND BARRIERS. http://www.nrel.gov/wind/pdfs/40745.pdf

Impeding the onset of …, allowing work at sea to be minimized.

Germany proves those expansions create regional trading hubs

Joel Whitman 2011 (Director of Strategy and Marketing at Global Marine Systems): Wind on the Waves. http://windsystemsmag.com/article/detail/224/wind-on-the-waves

With somewhere between 3-… mirror the experience of Bremerhaven.

Contention 3 is the Grid

Central electricity infrastructure is vulnerable to terrorist attacks

Kirsten Verclas 4/27 (Senior Program Manager at the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies) 2012: The Decentralization of the Electricity Grid – Mitigating Risk in the Energy Sector. http://www.aicgs.org/publication/the-decentralization-of-the-electricity-grid-mitigating-risk-in-the-energy-sector/

In addition to natural disasters… natural disasters or terrorist attacks.

Blackouts cause nuclear meltdown.

Capiello 11 (Dina, Huffington Post, "Long Blackouts Pose Risk To U.S. Nuclear Reactors" 3/29/11 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/29/blackout-risk-us-nuclear-reactors_n_841869.html)

WASHINGTON -- Long before the nuclear … agency's executive director for operations.¶

Nuclear power can’t restart quickly after blackouts

Public Citizen 03, national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization founded in 1971 to represent consumer interests , 09/08/2003, “The Big Blackout and Amnesia in Congress: Lawmakers Turn a Blind Eye to the Danger of Nuclear Power and the Failure of Electricity Deregulation”, http://www.tradewatch.org/documents/bigblackout.pdf, BB

To get the power grid back up … the Perry plant was down and out.

Meltdowns cause extinction

Harvey Wasserman 2001 (Senior Editor – Free Press): “America's Terrorist Nuclear Threat to Itself”, October, http://www.wagingpeace.org/articles/2001/10/00_wasserman_nuclear-threat.htm

Without continuous monitoring and … must be shut down.

Offshore wind solves a decentralized grid

NREL 2010 (National Renewable Energy Laboratory): Large-Scale Offshore Wind Power in the United States ASSESSMENT OF OPPORTUNITIES AND BARRIERS. http://www.nrel.gov/wind/pdfs/40745.pdf

Offshore wind power is poised … ground-level pollution, or public health issues.

Plan: The United States federal government should reduce permitting restrictions by consolidating authority to approve applications for the siting, construction, expansion and operation of offshore wind farms under the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

Contention 4 is Solvency

Delegating sole permitting authority to a single agency solves

Gregory J. Rigano 2010 (J.D. Hofstra University School of Law): NOTE: THE SOLUTION TO THE UNITED STATES' ENERGY TROUBLES IS BLOWING IN THE WIND. Lexis

The overall procedure regarding … process would be less elaborate.

The plan eliminates uncertainty in federal regulations which results in a gamut of new offshore wind projects

Todd J. Griset 2010 (practices law with Preti Flaherty.’s Energy and Telecommunications Group): HARNESSING THE OCEAN.’S POWER: OPPORTUNITIES IN RENEWABLE OCEAN ENERGY RESOURCES. OCEAN AND COASTAL LAW JOURNAL. http://www.preti.com/files/6969_TGrisetOceanPower.pdf

Furthermore, clarification and simplification … promote their cost-effective development.

And offshore wind has massive energy potential and is comparatively better than onshore wind

Todd J. Griset 2010 (practices law with Preti Flaherty.’s Energy and Telecommunications Group): HARNESSING THE OCEAN.’S POWER: OPPORTUNITIES IN RENEWABLE OCEAN ENERGY RESOURCES. OCEAN AND COASTAL LAW JOURNAL. http://www.preti.com/files/6969_TGrisetOceanPower.pdf

Much as with land-based … installed capacity in 2010.17

And substantial ocean energy incentives already exist, but can’t be accessed because of overarching regulation

Todd J. Griset 2010 (practices law with Preti Flaherty.’s Energy and Telecommunications Group): HARNESSING THE OCEAN.’S POWER: OPPORTUNITIES IN RENEWABLE OCEAN ENERGY RESOURCES. OCEAN AND COASTAL LAW JOURNAL. http://www.preti.com/files/6969_TGrisetOceanPower.pdf

The opportunities posed by ocean … projects compete in the electric industry.

And federal signal key to develop mature tech and major projects fall under federal jurisdiction

Jack K. Sterne 2009 (J.D. Roger Williams University): Symposium: The Seven Principles of Ocean Renewable Energy: A Shared Vision and Call for Action. Lexis

America urgently needs new sources … appropriate use of marine areas.