Tournament: UNLV | Round: 2 | Opponent: USC DP | Judge: Bausch
Obama’s winning despite recent Romney gains- any large swing toward Romney now dooms him
Silver 10/12/2012 (Nate, Genius, writer for FiveThirtyEight, now under the New York Times, The blog is devoted to rigorous analysis of politics, polling, public affairs, sports, science and culture, largely through statistical means, Oct. 12: Romney Debate Gains Show Staying Power, http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/12/oct-12-romney-debate-gains-show-staying-power/)
Still, the clear majority of its interviews preceded the vice-presidential debate.
AND
might have more to gain than to lose in the final two events.

Nuclear Power Unpopular and causes political ramifications – cost, lack of clean perception, and polls

Daily Kos, June 5th 2012, Nuclear Power and Public Opinion: What the polls say, http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/06/05/1097574/-Nuclear-Power-and-Public-Opinion-What-the-polls-say

Americans are not exactly wild about the idea of building new nuclear reactors. Polls
AND
help direct that sentiment to build the energy future we need and deserve.

Base Mobilization key to winning the election—empirically proven for incumbents
WSJ 5/22 (The Wall Street Journal “As in 2004, energizing the base a key to victory” 5/22/12 http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/18583004/as-in-2004-energizing-the-base-a-key-to-victory#ixzz1MekSBwU) KY
President Barack Obama does not often dwell on similarities to his predecessor, George W
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But 2004 suggests that both sides' strategies may start with mobilizing the core.
Obama win key to US-Russia relations – Romney’s agenda is belligerent and controversial.
Reichardt 7/9. (Adam is the Managing Editor of New Eastern Europe, “Considering Russia in the Voting Booth,” New Eastern Europe, 2012, http://www.neweasterneurope.eu/node/382)

Obama’s policy towards Russia is easier to gauge, since there has already been four
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, and perhaps even hostile, to the intentions of American foreign policy.
US/Russian war causes extinction – most probable
Bostrom ‘2 Nick Bostrom, professor of philosophy - Oxford University, March, 2002, Existential Risks: Analyzing Human Extinction Scenarios and Related Hazards, Journal of Evolution and Technology, p. http://www.nickbostrom.com/existential/risks.html

A much greater existential risk emerged with the build-up of nuclear arsenals in
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preludes to the existential risks that we will encounter in the 21st century.

Tournament: UNLV | Round: 2 | Opponent: USC DP | Judge: Bausch
The United States federal government should conduct a binding regulatory negotiation over the substance, implementation and enforcement of plan.
The CP accelerates energy development and overcomes bureaucratic issues
Lemaire Professor at University College London Energy Institute ’12 (Xavier, “SERN,” http://www.reeep.org/830/sern.htm, Mike)
The Sustainable Energy Regulation Network (SERN) facilitates exchange of experience and knowledge between
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and SERN can put interested regulatory bodies in relation with energy efficiency experts.

The aff gets watered down by lack of unified energy policy, resistance from fossil fuel industries, and citizen opposition – the CP is key to avoid politics
Nolon Director of Land Use Law Center at Pace University Law School ’11 (Sean, “Negotiating the Wind: A Framework to Engage Citizens in Siting Wind Turbines,” Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution Vol. 12 no. 2, accessible online via http://cojcr.org/vol12no2/327-372.pdf, Mike)
The need for more renewable sources of energy is unequivocal and the call can be
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, provides for decommissioning, and enables siting negotiations at the local level.

Tournament: UNLV | Round: 2 | Opponent: USC DP | Judge: Bausch
Interpretation- “Energy production” means electricity made from the energy
US Code 2012 (Title 42 › Chapter 149 › Subchapter XIII › § 16491, http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/16491)
42 USC § 16491 - Energy production incentives¶ (a) In general¶
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or to otherwise impair, restrain, or discriminate, against interstate commerce.
Violation- they affect a sector aside from electricity production
Reasons to vote
Limits- they open up affs about using fossil fuels for a ton of other things
Metcalf and Weisbach 2009 (Gilbert and David, Professor, Department of Economics, Tufts University; Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research.¶  Professor, The University of Chicago Law School, THE DESIGN OF A CARBON TAX, 33 Harv. Envtl. L. Rev. 499, lexis)
A. Emissions¶ According to the 2008 Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse
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millions of metric tons ("MMT"), keeping electricity as a separate category.
Ground- all of our strategies assume electric sector affs- that’s where the core of the natural gas DA literature is and where there’s actually lit development- allowing other sectors or purely extraction affs avoids those debates
Voter for fairness, education, and competitive equity

Tournament: UNLV | Round: 2 | Opponent: USC DP | Judge: Bausch
SQ will decrease emissions by 80% by 2050- maintaining the transition key to solve warming and avoid peak oil impacts
Lovins 2012 (Amory, physicist, environmental scientist, writer, and Chairman/Chief Scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute, Oxford MA, A Farewell to Fossil Fuels: Answering the Energy Challenge, Foreign Affairs, March/April, proquest)
Weaning the United States from those fossil fuels would require two big shifts: in
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last, Americans could make energy do their work without working their undoing.
Nuke power trades off with renewables, jacks short-term transition key to solve warming and peak fossil fuel
Conolley 2011 (Heather, PhD Candidate in Political Science at UC- Santa Barbara, The Renaissance of Nuclear Energy in the Shadow of Climate Change, PhD Dissertation, proquest)
Given the long lead time associated with development and reactor ¶ construction, nuclear opponents
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). Thus opportunity costs for constructing nuclear reactors must be ¶ carefully considered.
Extinction
Tickell ‘8 (Oliver, Climate Researcher, “On a Planet 4C Hotter, All We Can Prepare for is Extinction,” The Guardian, 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. 

Tournament: UNLV | Round: 7 | Opponent: Puget MS | Judge: Sam Allen
Obama win is critical to continued US-Europe relations.
Blaney 9/27/2012 (senior fellow at Center for International Policy, The Campaign and Foreign Policy: The Balance between Obama and Romney (Part I), Harry C. Blaney, http://cipnationalsecurity.wordpress.com/2012/09/27/the-campaign-and-foreign-policy-the-balance-between-obama-and-romney-part-i/)
This can’t be the last judgment since the election is still some 6 weeks away
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That is Obama’s goal and does not seem to be that of Romney. 

US-EU COOPERATION PREVENTS GLOBAL WAR.
O’SULLIVAN 4. John, editor-in-chief of United Press Int’l, former editor of National Review, “Europe and the Establishment” National Interest -- March 31
The report's starting point -- that U.S.-European relations are extremely important
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the maneuvering between a half-dozen great powers that led to 1914. 

Tournament: UNLV | Round: 7 | Opponent: Puget MS | Judge: Sam Allen
F-35 being funded now– new budget proposals can derail
Jeremiah Gertler, February 16, 2012 Specialist in Military Aviation, F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program, http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/weapons/RL30563.pdf
FY2012 defense authorization act: The report on the House-passed version of the
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the SAC mark funded $695¶ million less than the Administration request.
Short-term shift in defense budget causes serious disruptions in funding for Operation and Maintenance- this hallows out the military and destroys military superiority
Koehl, 10-31-‘8 (Stuart- Fellow at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, senior research fellow on US-European defense cooperation at the Center for Transatlantic Relations _{“The Unbearable Lightness of Barney; A Democratic congressman's irresponsible and impossible plan to cut the defense budget by 25 percent”, The Weekly Standard)
The first thing to know is the Defense budget is not a pot of money
AND
. So we aren't going to be able to cut OandM.
F-35s key to hegemony—cutting them would kill the aerospace industry and alliances
Donnelly, 2011 - director of the Center for Defense Studies 7/18/11Thomas, The Weekly Standard, “An Extremely Immodest Proposal,” http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/extremely-immodest-proposal_576967.html?, accessed 7/24/)
No doubt the legal and monetary obligations would be great, but the strategic,
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and production experience to make stealthy, manned combat aircraft will rapidly disappear.
Biggest Impact- Solves all conflict
Lowther, PhD, military defense analyst at the Air Force Research Institute, Fall 10 (Adam, “Air Diplomacy Protecting American National Interests” http://www.au.af.mil/au/ssq/2010/fall/lowther.pdf)
Air diplomacy is likely to become more important because of the speed, flexibility,
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is equally desirable. Air diplomacy is a primary contributor to that mission.}

Tournament: UNLV | Round: 7 | Opponent: Puget MS | Judge: Sam Allen
Text – the Department of Energy should alter the Quadrennial Technology Review to include a recommendation to substantially increase market-fixed production cost incentives for electricity from Small Modular Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors for military facilities in the United States.
Competes---the CP’s policy statement is not legally binding---it doesn’t enact the plan, it simply recommends its mandates
Charles H. Koch 5, the Dudley W. Woodbridge Professor of Law, William and Mary School of Law, Spring 2005, “Policymaking by the Administrative Judiciary,” Alabama Law Review, 56 Ala. L. Rev. 693, p. lexis n110 E.g., Consol Edison Co of New York v. FERC, 315 F.3d 316, 323 (D.C. Cir 2003)
"Policy statements" differ from substantive rules that carry the "force of law
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Administrative Open Mind, 41 DUKE L J 1497, 1503 (1992).

Solves the Case---the practical result is the same as binding law---the policy statement sends the signal of the plan and causes agencies to implement it
James Hunnicutt 99, J.D., Boston College Law School, December 1999, “NOTE: Another Reason to Reform the Federal Regulatory System: Agencies' Treating Nonlegislative Rules as Binding Law,” Boston College Law Review, 41 B.C. L. Rev 153, p. lexis
Depending on whether a rule is adopted with or without notice-and-comment
AND
the rule in court and have given up on the appeals process. n156

The CP particularly avoids perception of spending
Connor N. Raso 10, J.D., Yale Law School, January 2010, “Note: Strategic or Sincere? Analyzing Agency Use of Guidance Documents,” The Yale Law Journal, 119 Yale L.J. 782, p. lexis
Two studies have advanced positive theories predicting when agencies issue guidance documents. Asimow argues
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analyzing what may motivate agencies to use guidance in place of legislative rules.

Tournament: UNLV | Round: 7 | Opponent: Puget MS | Judge: Sam Allen
Natural gas development strong now – the plan is a direct trade-off.
Jesse Jenkins, director of energy and climate policy at the Breakthrough Institute, previously worked as a Policy and Research Associate at the Renewable Northwest Project, 1-20-2012, “Avoiding a Natural Gas Bridge to Nowhere,” The Energy Collective, http://theenergycollective.com/breakthroughinstitut/74658/avoiding-natural-gas-bridge-nowhere
Just as the history of unconventional natural gas production in America was fundamentally shaped by
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just like its past, depends on our willingness to invest in innovation.
That collapses the economy and ensures oil dependence.
McCrudy – 9/25/12 (Dave McCurdy, President and CEO, American Gas Association, Nat Gas Offers Tremendous Opportunities, SEPTEMBER 25, 2012, http://energy.nationaljournal.com/2012/09/sizing-up-the-role-of-natural.php)
Natural gas is America’s domestic, clean foundation fuel for now and for our long
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benefits of this clean, domestic, abundant energy source to all Americans.

Oil dependence causes extinction
Heinberg -03  (Richard Heinberg, core faculty member at New College of California, The Party’s Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies, 2003, p. 230)
Today the average US citizen uses five times as much energy as the world average
AND
just of industrial civilization, but of humanity and most of the biosphere.

Tournament: USC | Round: 3 | Opponent:  | Judge:
Comprehensive immigration reform will pass and it’s on top of the agenda
CSM 12/28/2012 (Christian Science Monitor, Immigration reform: Is 'amnesty' a possibility now?;
Congress seems primed to address immigration reform in 2013, and even a path to citizenship - which critics deride as 'amnesty' for illegals - may be on the table. The shift in the national conversation came suddenly. Here's why., lexis)
The momentum of President Obama's resounding victory in November's election - with a big push
AND
, even while they leave open just who can get on that path.
iThere is massive opposition to the plan.
Levi 12 (Michael is a Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. “A Strategy for U.S. Natural Gas Exports,” June, http://www.hamiltonproject.org/files/downloads_and_links/06_exports_levi.pdf)
But there is also great wariness in many quarters about the prospect of allowing exports
AND
concerns, particularly the desire to secure cheap energy inputs for their industries.
PC key- especially with Democrats
DMN 1/2/2013 (Dallas Morning News, Editorial: Actions must match Obama’s immigration pledge, http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/20130102-editorial-actions-must-match-obamas-immigration-pledge.ece)
President Barack Obama said all the right things Sunday about immigration reform. The president
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fight this year for a comprehensive solution. Nothing but action will count.
CIR key to the economy- recession inevitable without it
Hinojosa-Ojeda 2012 (Raúl, Founding Director of the North American Integration¶ and Development Center at the University of California, Los Angeles, The Economic Benefits of Comprehensive Immigration Reform, http://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/2012/1/cj32n1-12.pdf)
The historical experience of legalization under the 1986¶ Immigration Reform and Control Act indicates
AND
in which legal status and labor rights exert¶ upward pressure on wages.

Multiple factors make escalating conflict likely --- impact’s global nuclear war
Burrows 9 (Mathew J., Counselor – National Intelligence Council and Jennifer Harris, Member of the Long Range Analysis Unit – National Intelligence Council, “Revisiting the Future: Geopolitical Effects of the Financial Crisis”, Washington Quarterly, April, http://twq.com/09april/docs/09apr_Burrows.pdf)
Increased Potential for Global Conflict
Of course, the report encompasses more than economics and indeed believes the future is
AND
frustrated and the current benefits they derive from a globalizing world turn negative.

Tournament: USC | Round: 3 | Opponent:  | Judge:
Text – The State of Alaska should expand the Alaska Gasoline Inducement Act to include substantial direct subsidies in return for comments for construction of natural gas pipelines. The State of Alaska should reduce and defer production and property taxes of any Alaska natural gas pipeline producers until the completion of the project.
CP leads to the construction of Alaskan natural gas pipelines.
Persily -11 (Larry, Federal Coordinator, Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects, Office of the Federal Coordinator, State fiscal options to help move Alaska gas, October 2011, http://www.arcticgas.gov/sites/default/files/documents/state-fiscal-options-help-move-alaska-gas-final.pdf
The options discussed here were chosen to illustrate broad categories of approaches the state could
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change market economics or guarantee the state a positive return on its money.
That solves the aff
Easterbrook -11 (GREGG EASTERBROOK, December 10, 2011, The Pipeline We Actually Need, NYT, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/11/opinion/sunday/the-pipeline-we-actually-need.html?pagewanted=all)
That’s where the missing pipeline comes in. Prodigious amounts of natural gas are sitting
AND
them politically impossible. But Canada has overcome domestic obstacles to Keystone XL.

Tournament: USC | Round: 3 | Opponent:  | Judge:
Text: The Department of Energy should include substantially reducing production restrictions on federal lands in the Outer Continental Shelf for conventional gas in the next Quadrennial Energy Review.
The process is key - Inclusion of the plan in the QER facilitates dialog and market confidence while preventing crippling agency fragmentation.
Moniz, 12
Ernest, the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics and Engineering Systems and Director of the Energy Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He served as Under Secretary of the Department of Energy and as Associate Director for Science in the Of½ce of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Of½ce of the President during the Clinton administration. He currently serves on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, Stimulating Energy Technology Innovation, Daedalus, 141:2, 81-93, http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/DAED_a_00148
It should come as no surprise that I do not have the answers for how
AND
sector with the increased confidence needed to make sound clean energy investment decisions.
Including the plan in the QER creates momentum for a govern-wide consensus and prevents policy fragmentation. Rushing undermines industry confidence and guts solvency.
Moniz, 12
Ernest, the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics and Engineering Systems and Director of the Energy Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He served as Under Secretary of the Department of Energy and as Associate Director for Science in the Of½ce of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Of½ce of the President during the Clinton administration. He currently serves on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, Stimulating Energy Technology Innovation, Daedalus, 141:2, 81-93, http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/DAED_a_00148
Given the magnitude of the task, pcast recommended in 2011 that the doe carry
AND
coordinated government wide actions that earn decent buy-in from major stakeholders.

Tournament:  | Round:  | Opponent:  | Judge: 

Islanding

Potential accidents mean DoD wouldn’t use SMRs at bases that are ACTUALLY important, and their paranoid conspiracy theories about grid failure apply to SMR operation too- zero solvency

King 2011 (Marcus King, Ph.D., Center for Naval Analyses Project Director and Research Analyst for the Environment and Energy TeamLaVar Huntzinger, Thoi Nguyen, March 2011, Feasibility of Nuclear Power on U.S.Military Installations, www.cna.org/sites/default/files/research/Nuclear Power on Military Installations D0023932 A5.pdf)
DoD must also consider the potential effect of military training on¶ reactor operations.
AND
, or an evacuation order,¶ would create lasting damage to national security.

SQ microgrids and renewables solve

Asmus and Adamson 2012 (Peter, Senior Research Analyst at Pike Research, a market research and consulting team that provides in-depth analysis of global clean technology markets, and Dr. Kerry-Ann, Research Director and Ph.D. in fuel cells from Imperial College, London, Military Microgrids: ¶ Stationary Base, Forward Operating Base, and¶ Mobile Smart Grid Networks for Renewables Integration,¶ Demand Response, and Mission-Critical Security, December, http://www.pikeresearch.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/MMG-12-Executive-Summary.pdf)
Stationary Military Bases¶ As awareness about the electrical grid’s vulnerability to terrorist attacks and
AND
Martin, General Electric (GE), Honeywell, Boeing,¶ and Eaton.

Small modular renewables are dominating the small markets now- no SMRs- we control uniqueness- solves "microgrids"

Lovins 2012 (Amory, physicist, environmental scientist, writer, and Chairman/Chief Scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute, Oxford MA, A Farewell to Fossil Fuels: Answering the Energy Challenge, Foreign Affairs, March/April, proquest)
REPOWERING PROSPERITY The United States must replace its aging, dirty, and insecure electric
AND
, since higher efficiency and renewable energy should lower the demand for gas.

No cyberattack- doesn’t make sense for anyone to initiate it- "theoretically vulnerable" does not mean anything WILL happen- US benefits more from cyber capabilities than anyone else

Gartzke 2012 (12/7, Erik, Associate Professor of Political Science at University of California, San Diego, The Myth of Cyberwar: Bringing War on the Internet Back Down to Earth, http://dss.ucsd.edu/~~egartzke/papers/cyberwar_12062012.pdf)
A blitz of media, punditry and public pronouncements inform interested observers and policy¶
AND
yet another set of technologies that extend existing disparities in power and influence.

No motive for cyberterror, wouldn’t accomplish anything

Gartzke 2012 (12/7, Erik, Associate Professor of Political Science at University of California, San Diego, The Myth of Cyberwar: Bringing War on the Internet Back Down to Earth, http://dss.ucsd.edu/~~egartzke/papers/cyberwar_12062012.pdf)
The fact that terrorists may resort to cyberwar does not imply that cyberwar is an
AND
, perhaps less, at shaping hearts and minds than the traditional model.

No impact to heg—

1. Heg solves nothing—Past two decades prove

Mearsheimer 11 (John J., R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, The National Interest, Imperial by Design, lexis)
One year later, Charles Krauthammer emphasized in "The Unipolar Moment" that the
AND
heady days of the early 1990s have given way to a pronounced pessimism.

2. Heg decline doesn’t trigger war

Buzan 11 (Barry, London School of Economics, Department of International Relations, "A World Order Without Superpowers: Decentred Globalism")
In 2004 I argued, in line with much mainstream thinking, that the most
AND
to keep the world order from falling into 1930s-style imperial competition.

Desalination

They have *ZERO* evidence that US SMRs would be used for desalination purposes

Nuclear desalination now- they don’t have a US key warrant and international actors relevant to their impacts are totally on it- even if they win the aff would be "better" this should be sufficient

WNA 2012 (December, World Nuclear Association, independent non-profit organization organization that promotes nuclear power and supports the many companies that comprise the global nuclear industry, Nuclear Desalination, http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf71.html)
Desalination: nuclear experience¶ The feasibility of integrated nuclear desalination plants has been proven
AND
Energy Agency (IAEA) is fostering research and collaboration on the issue.

Middle East Desalination R%26D solves

AME 12-3-12 ("Desalination Provides Solutions to Water Scarcity Issues in the Middle East," http://www.ameinfo.com/desalination-provides-solutions-water-scarcity-issues-321142-http://www.ameinfo.com/desalination-provides-solutions-water-scarcity-issues-321142**, Mike)
It is well-documented that water scarcity is being driven by a combination of
AND
renewable desalination and adopting a more energy efficient approach towards their energy solutions." 

Turn - Multiple other countries are developing SMR designs explicitly designed for desal. US designs made for the military would make them less competitive

WNA 2012 (December, World Nuclear Association, independent non-profit organization organization that promotes nuclear power and supports the many companies that comprise the global nuclear industry, Nuclear Desalination, http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf71.html)
Small nuclear reactors suitable for desalination¶ SMART: South Korea has developed a small
AND
single VBER-300 unit on a 25,000 dwt catamaran barge.

No water wars

Lawfield 10 (Thomas Lawfield is an MA candidate at the University for Peace. Water Security: War or Peace? Thomas Lawfield May 03, 2010 http://www.monitor.upeace.org/innerpg.cfm?id_article=715)
In reality, water does not cause war. The arguments presented above, although
AND
overall capacity for technological and market driven solutions to water scarcity.~27~

No escalation

Lowi 8 (Miriam, Scare Water, Abundant Oil: Resources and Conflict
in the Middle East and North Africa, http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/documents/ISA_scarcewaterabundantoil.pdf)
Although disputes over water are common and the effects of water exploitation practices are numerous
AND
-confrontational, ways to enhance resource availability and with more certain outcomes.

Diplomacy has limited utility – can’t be effectively practiced by the government

Wolf and Rosen 4 (Charles Jr. Wolf - Senior Economic Adviser and Corporate Fellow in International Economics at RAND, and Brian Rosen - Doctoral Fellow at the RAND Corporation, "Public Diplomacy: How to Think about and improve it," www.rand.org/pubs/occasional_papers/2004/RAND_OP134.pdf)
Still, a reformed and enhanced public diplomacy should be accompanied by limited expectations about
AND
messenger (the United States government), inevitably the two will be linked.

Solvency

Give zero cred to any solvency evidence- SMRs are made-up hypotheticals
Dittmar 2012 (Michael, Institute of Particle Physics, ETH Zurich, Nuclear energy: Status and future limitations, Energy, Volume 37, Issue 1, January 2012, Pages 35–40, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2011.05.040)
4.3. Thorium based fission reactors and other new reactors¶ Not much
AND
seems to be supported by the latest news about such claims ~15~.
SMRs suck- they link harder to every single one of our more generic-sounding nuclear takeouts
Nuclear Power Daily, citing Makhijani, engineering PhD from Berkeley, 2010 (’Small Modular Reactors’ No Panacea For What Ails Nuclear Power, citing Arjun Makhijani, http://www.nuclearpowerdaily.com/reports/Small_Modular_Reactors_No_Panacea_For_What_Ails_Nuclear_Power_999.html)
The same industry that promised that nuclear power would be "too cheap to meter
AND
, mired in unresolved safety issues, and a threat to public health.

Their author concludes it takes a decade just for SMR approval
Andres and Breetz 1AC Article ’11 (Richard B., Professor of national Security
AND
lib/pdf/StrForum/SF-262.pdf, Mike)
International Reactor Innovative and Secure (IRIS) model, which mostly uses mature LWR
AND
a decade or more before they get design approval from the NRC.19
Here is exactly how the aff goes down – the first plant isn’t finished until 2022
St. Louis Beacon 4-26-12 ("Big or Small, Questions About Nuclear Reactors Remain," https://www.stlbeacon.org/~~%23%21/content/24610/pros_cons_of_small_modular_reactors-https://www.stlbeacon.org/, Mike)
Officials at Ameren and Westinghouse said the small modular reactor depends on technology that is
AND
as it can, power could be generated from the plant in 2022. 

Incentives for SMRs won’t do anything – no approved design means no investment

McCormick, 12 (Colin, Senior Advisor for R%26D in the Office of the Under Secretary at the Department of Energy, Interview on October 22, 2012, http://www.debateandtherealworld.com/article.php?id=3-http://www.debateandtherealworld.com/article.php?id=3)
D+TRW: What steps can the DOD or DOE take to promote SMRs
AND
it works safely and efficiently and will be ready to go by 2022. 

Plan can’t cause investment or construction- nobody believes it’s real- their ev is all from designers promoting their projects

ENR 2012 (Engineering News-Record, Small Modular Reactors Are Emerging As Next Wave in Sector Construction, 2/27, lexis)
With federal approval to build the first U.S. nuclear reactors in 30
AND
. «In addition, is it economic? It’s too conceptual now.»

Regulations overwhelm solvency- incentives can’t overcome regulatory costs

Hopf 2011 (Jim, senior nuclear engineer and member of the American Nuclear Society Public Information Committee, "Roadblock in Congress for SMR Development," 10-25-11, http://ansnuclearcafe.org/2011/10/25/congress-smr/-http://ansnuclearcafe.org/2011/10/25/congress-smr/)
NRC Issues More Important?¶ As many have observed, the main barrier to the
AND
as scaling fees with reactor capacity, it may destroy SMRs’ economic viability.

Tournament:  | Round:  | Opponent:  | Judge: 

Framework 1NC

a. The AFF must defend a topical plan and its implementation by the United States federal government.

The colon means the USFG is the agent of the res

Webster’s 00 Guide to Grammar and Writing (http://ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/colon.htm-http://ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/colon.htm)
Use of a colon before a list or an explanation that is preceded by a clause that can stand by itself. Think of the colon as a gate, inviting one to go on… If the introductory phrase preceding the colon is very brief and the clause following the colon represents the real business of the sentence, begin the clause after the colon with a capital letter.

That excludes individual action

Black’s Law Dictionary, ’99 (Seventh Edition Ed. Bryan A. Garner (chief))
Federal government 1. A national government that exercises some degree of control over smaller political units that have surrendered some degree of power in exchange for the right to participate in national political matters.

b. They don’t defend the USFG, that’s a voter- we must position ourselves as the government

Rawls 99 , Political Philosopher (John, The Law of Peoples, p. 56-7)
How is the ideal of public reason realized by citizens who are not government officials
AND
part of the political and social basis of peace and understanding among peoples.

And, it turns their personal activism arguments

Dye 84, Florida State University Thomas,  (UNDERSTANDING PUBLIC POLICY, p. 7)
Policy analysis encourages scholars and students to attack critical policy issues with the tools of
AND
science become more "relevant" to the problems of society. 7

And, We must forecast %26 make policy proscriptions about energy—Policy action represent an ethical duty to the future and are key to human survival

Reader, ’79 ~Mark, Editor of "Energy: The Human Dimension" (1977) and teaches courses in Enviro ethics, alternative futures, cultural evolution, and politics @ Arizona State University.  Energy and Global Ethics, The Humanist, July/Aug~
We are beginning to realize that as long as we do not think in terms
AND
the dimensions and the dynamics of human as well as all other life.

And, kills switch-side debate- they don’t engage both sides of the resolution and justify their actions with ideological claims. Switch side debate is good and solves all their offense- any reason why their argument is important are solved by reading it on the negative.

And, Seeing both sides of an issue is a vital part of the democratic process and preserves the validity of dissenting opinions

Spragens 00, Professor of Political Science at Duke University (Thomas, "POLITICAL THEORY AND PARTISAN POLITICS," p. 90-91)
In another equally important respect, however, Plato was, as a consequence of
AND
, is no small contribution to the democratic enterprise of self-governance.

Their abandonment of this process results in totalitarianism

Lewis 92, Assistant Professor at George Washington University (Martin, GREEN DELUSIONS, 1992, p. 258)
A majority of those born between 1960 and 1980 seem to tend toward cynicism,
AND
compromise becomes a kind of immorality, and constitutional refinements become inconvenient niceties.

And, Clash- they refuse to debate the merits of their policy advocacy. Even if they claim to effect policymaking, the timeframe skew takes out any disad links

Moral questions in the abstract are irrelevant- we must discuss how they should be applied

Ignatieff 4, Carr Professor of Human Rights at Harvard University (Michael, LESSER EVILS, p. 20-21)
As for moral perfectionism, this would be the doctrine that a liberal state should
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, and thus respect for one right might lead us to betray another.

This deliberation is the only way to minimize inevitable violence and evil

Ignatieff 4, Carr Professor of Human Rights at Harvard University (Michael, LESSER EVILS, p. 20-21)
To insist that justified exercises of coercion can be defined as a lesser evil is
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to our fellow citizens and submit to their judgment as to their correctness. 

And, Preparation- only limiting affs to topical USFG action creates a finite literature base. They kill topic education- they remove the incentive for specific negative. That base is a precondition for political action- unlimiting destroys political contest

Shively 00, Associate Professor of Political Science at Texas A%26M University (Ruth, POLITICAL THEORY AND PARTISAN POLITICS, p. 180)
’Thus far, I have argued that if the ambiguists mean to be subver¬sive about
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, one must sometimes silence or ex¬clude those who reject civility and democracy.

Failing to create that literature base destroys our chances for political involvement

Dybvig 00, professor of communications at ASU, and Iverson, professor of communications at the University of Montana, Ph.D from ASU (Kristin, Joel "Can Cutting Cards Carve Into Our Personal Lives: An Analysis of Debate Research on Personal Advocacy,"  http://debate.uvm.edu/dybvigiverson1000.html)
Mitchell claimed that debate could be more than it was traditionally seen as, that
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better informed and thus also more capable of articulating support for their beliefs.

Tournament:  | Round:  | Opponent:  | Judge: 

Peak Uranium

Reprocessing creates more uranium waste when there isn’t even a waste issue

UCSUSA, 2011 ~April 5^th, Union of concerned scientists, Nuclear Reprocessing: Dangerous, Dirty, and Expensive, http://www.ucsusa.org/nuclear_power/nuclear_power_risk/nuclear_proliferation_and_terrorism/nuclear-reprocessing.html~~
First, there is no spent fuel storage crisis that warrants such a drastic change
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efficiency—an extremely difficult endeavor that would likely take centuries to accomplish.

Reprocessing causes more accidents, doesn’t eliminate waste, and still causes prolif

Smith, 6 (Brice, Ph.D., assistant professor of physics at the State University of New York, Cortland, "Insurmountable Risks: The Dangers of Using Nuclear Power to Combat Global Climate Change", May 2006, http://ieer.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2006/05/InsurmountableRisksSummary.pdf-http://ieer.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2006/05/InsurmountableRisksSummary.pdf) WP

Alternatives to disposal in a mined repository are unlikely to overcome the many challenges posed
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they would still pose a significant risk if deployed on a large scale.

Zero chance they overcome all the barriers to global nuclear development

Kessides 2012 (Ioannis N. Kessides, The World Bank, Development Research Group, The future of the nuclear industry reconsidered: Risks, uncertainties, and continued promise, Energy Policy, Volume 48, September 2012, Pages 185–208, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2012.05.008)
Throughout its history, nuclear power has been controversial and susceptible to instinctive rejection.
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reactors would simply be unsuitable for most developing countries with small electric grids.

1. Proliferation will be slow

Waltz 00 (Kenneth Waltz, Professor of Political Science at UC Berkeley, Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, v1 n1, Winter/Spring 2000)
It is now estimated that about twenty–five countries are in a position to
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, in which one or two states per decade gradually develop nuclear weapons.

2. No domino effect – it’s empirically denied

Bergenas 10 (Research Associate at the Henry L. Stimson Center, Johan, "The Nuclear Domino Myth", http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/66738/johan-bergenas/the-nuclear-domino-myth)
But there’s one problem with this "nuclear domino" scenario: the historical record
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was there even a two-country nuclear arms race in the region.

1. Chemical weapons are extremely hard to disperse or use effectively – no way terrorists could manage it

Rothstein, Auer, and Siegel 4 (Linda, editor, Catherine, managing editor, and Jonas, assistant editor of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, BAS, November/December, http://www.thebulletin.org/article.php?art_ofn=nd04rothstein)
In "The Dew of Death," Joel Vilensky and Pandy Sinish recounted the strange
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Some tiny amount of worry should probably be devoted to leaking chemical munitions. 

2. A chemical weapons attack would kill very few people and has a very low probability

Easterbrook 3 (Greg, New York Times, February 16, 2003 p. http://www.newagepointofinfinity.com/homeland_security.htm)
If terrorists use chemical weapons, they will probably affect a tiny area at worst
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duct tape likely exceeds your risk of dying because you lacked duct tape.

Peak Uranium not true—Best qualified sources say so…

Pistilli, ’9 ~Melissa, Exlusive to Uranium Investing News ¶ Peak Uranium Debate¶ Wednesday November 25, 2009, 6:58pm PST http://uraniuminvestingnews.com/2462/peak-uranium-debate.html~~
¶ Many in the overlapping uranium and nuclear industries claim the known below-ground
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states that the "currently identified resources are adequate to meet this expansion."

Conventional weapons can deter

GSN 3-19 ("Debate Heats Up Over Conventional, Nuclear Deterrence Tradeoffs", http://www.globalsecuritynewswire.org/gsn/nw_20100319_6793.php)
With an eye toward making good on U.S. President Barack Obama’s nearly
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it would be wrong to overemphasize the conventional military’s potential to prevent wars.

No impact – international agreements like START prevents war now – their impact evidence 

Nuclear deterrence is still stable in the status quo—its halting disarm afforts

Georgia Bulletin 2010 ("Dependence on nuclear deterrence prevents disarmament, UN nuncio says", http://www.georgiabulletin.org/world/2010/03/17/US-2/)
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Nuclear deterrence — the concept that possessing nuclear weapons will
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especially between the United States and Russia, the world’s foremost nuclear powers.

Too many political barriers to uranium production

FOE News, 2009 ~Energy Department Reduces Tritium Processing, http://www.foe.org/news/news-releases/2009-05-energy-department-reduces-tritium-processing~~
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Department of Energy has taken a step
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per year, which is also one of the drivers for the decision.

Warming

Warming’s irreversible

Solomon et al ’10 Susan Solomon et. Al, Chemical Sciences Division,
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", October 26, 2010 Vol 107.43: 18354-18359)
Carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and other greenhouse gases increased over the
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that time has dropped to about one-third of the peak value.

No warming impact

- Recent cooling disproves climate models
- CO2 is not a pollutant – agriculture and wildlife trends prove
- Evidence is biased – scientists seeking funding
- Dissent is being quelled by warming theorists – crushes scientific inquiry
Allegre et al. 12
(Claude Allegre, former director of the Institute for the Study of the Earth
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/SB10001424052970204301404577171531838421366.html, accessed 5-24-12Bosley)
There’s no compelling scientific argument for drastic action to ’decarbonize’ the world’s economy. A
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, and they fiercely defended their dogma and the privileges it brought them.

Past emissions stay in the atmosphere
Walsh 11
(Bryan Walsh, TIME magazine http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2011/01/10/climate-unstoppable-global-warming/~~%23ixzz1QVftMyb3-http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2011/01/10/climate-unstoppable-global-warming/, January 10, 2011, accessed 6-27 as)
One of the biggest obstacles to reducing carbon emissions is the simple fact that political
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slower than political time, so it’s easy to put off until tomorrow.
But two papers published over the weekend in Nature Geoscience show that the very length
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The damage is already done—and continues for the next 900 years.

No runaway
Idso and Idso 2011 Craig D. (founder and chairman of the board of the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change) Sherwood B. (president of the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change) February "Carbon Dioxide and Earth’s Future Pursuing the Prudent Path" http://www.co2science.org/education/reports/prudentpath/prudentpath.pdf. 

With respect to the recent rate at which the earth has warmed, we examine
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-century" — was by far "the most striking historical example."

Warming isn’t anthropogenic
Idso, Carter and Singer 2011 ~Craig D. Ph.D Chairman for the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change, Robert M. Ph.D Adjunct Research Fellow James Cook University, S. Fred Ph.D President of Science and Environmental Policy Project, Climate Change  Reconsidered  2011 Interim Report" Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change http://nipccreport.org/reports/2011/pdf/2011NIPCCinterimreport.pdf

New evidence points to a larger role for solar   forcing than the IPCC has acknowledged
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stratospheric water vapor, volcanic and seismic   activity, and enhanced carbon sequestration.

CO2 doesn’t cause warming

Lewis 7 (Richard, Institute of Economic Affairs, Global Warming False Alarms,
www.globalwarminghype.com/upld-book403pdf_.pdf)
The cornerstone of the global warming theory is that the CO2 content of the atmosphere
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is today but the air  temperature was only 1.5 degrees higher.
concentrations of greenhouse gases.6

1. Species extinction won’t cause human extinction – humans and the environment are adaptable

Doremus 00 (Holly,  Professor of Law at UC Davis Washington %26 Lee Law Review, Winter 57 Wash %26 Lee L. Rev. 11, lexis)  
In recent years, this discourse frequently has taken the form of the ecological horror
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that a high proportion of species can be lost without precipitating a collapse.

2. Collapse is common—

a. New species fill the void

Kerr 94 (Richard, Science 28)
In the immediate aftermath of an extinction, some taxa – groups of animals such as species or genera – flourish, then gradually fade. Others that had apparently vanished can reappear, Lazarus-like. In the turmoil, new groups may gain ascendancy, filling ecological niches left empty by the extinction and displacing other survivors to create a new ecological order (See box on p.29).

b. No spillover to other species

Moore 98 (Thomas, Climate of fear, why we shouldn’t worry about global warming, 1998, p.98-99)
Nevertheless, the loss of a class of living beings does not typically threaten other
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As long as the host remains, so will parasites and symbiotic species.

No impact to food prices—

1. Food Prices hit 20 year high

Corrigan 11 (Annie, Indiana Public Media Announcer, World Food Prices Soar To 20-Year High, http://indianapublicmedia.org/eartheats/world-food-prices-soar/)
Prices for cooking oils, grains, sugar and meat have soared to levels not
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response to sky-rocketing prices for sugar, flour, and oil. 

2. Multiple alt causes to food price volatility

FAO 11 (Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, Price Volatility in Agricultural Markets, http://www.fao.org/economic/es-policybriefs/briefs-detail/en/?no_cache=1%26uid=48900)
There is emerging consensus that the global food system is becoming more vulnerable and susceptible
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that trading in futures markets may have amplified volatility in the short term. 

Nuclear doesn’t trade off with coal- only provides baseload power- keeps dirty energy on the grid

Chakravorty et al 2012 (Ujjayant, Professor of Economics at Tufts University and Fellow at the Toulouse School of Economics and CESifo, Resource Use under Climate Stabilization: Can Nuclear Power Provide Clean Energy?, Journal of Public Economic Theory, Volume 14, Issue 2, pages 349–389, March 2012, DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9779.2011.01545.x)
An important issue not modeled in the paper is the issue of base load versus
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the energy producer. This issue could hinder the adoption of nuclear technology.

Nuke power declining now

Mez 2012 (Dr. Lutz, Coordinator of the Berlin Centre for Caspian Region Studies at the Free University of Berlin, Nuclear energy–Any solution for sustainability and climate protection?, Energy Policy, Volume 48, September 2012, Pages 56–63, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2012.04.047)
2. Any revival of nuclear power since 1981?¶ Has the global renaissance of
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operation than in 2002, when the historical zenith of 444 was attained.

No nuclear growth in India, China or Brazil

Mez 2012 (Dr. Lutz, Coordinator of the Berlin Centre for Caspian Region Studies at the Free University of Berlin, Nuclear energy–Any solution for sustainability and climate protection?, Energy Policy, Volume 48, September 2012, Pages 56–63, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2012.04.047)
The three biggest emerging market countries—India, China and Brazil—embarked on
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2 percent of electrical power, with one additional reactor block under construction.
No prolif
They cause prolif

They don’t solve leadership advantages- all the manufacturing would happen overseas

Makhijani and Boyd 2010 (Arjun and Michele, electrical and nuclear engineer who is President of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research; former director of the Safe Energy Program at Physicians for Social Responsibility; Small Modular¶ Reactors¶ No Solution for the Cost, Safety, and Waste Problems¶ of Nuclear Power, http://www.psr.org/nuclear-bailout/resources/small-modular-reactors-no.pdf)
Increased safety and¶ proliferation problems¶ Mass manufacturing raises a host of new¶
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arisen in many products from¶ drywall to infant formula to rabies vaccine.

Cheap natural gas solves demand now

Lamonica 8/9 (Martin, 12, Technology Review, "A Glut of Natural Gas Leaves Nuclear Power Stalled" http://www.technologyreview.com/news/428737/a-glut-of-natural-gas-leaves-nuclear-power/)
The nuclear renaissance is in danger of petering out before it has even begun,
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13 per million BTUs; prices have now dropped to around %243. 

Leadership IS NOT based on domestic industry- it’s based on the LEGACY of safety and tech leadership, which the SQ obviously solves- no reason institutional legitimacy will go away if we do renewables instead

Domenici and Miller September 2012 (Senator Pete V. Domenici¶ Former U.S. Senator and Bipartisan¶ Policy Center Senior Fellow¶ ENERGY PROJECT STAFF¶ Lourdes Long¶ Senior Policy Analyst¶ Warren F. "Pete" Miller, Ph.D.¶ Former Department of Energy Assistant¶ Secretary for Nuclear Energy; Maintaining U.S.¶ Leadership in¶ Global Nuclear¶ Energy Markets, http://bipartisanpolicy.org/sites/default/files/Nuclear%20Report.PDF)
Given this near-term expansion, the United States will¶ continue to be
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by¶ newer-generation resources (potentially including some¶ nuclear replacements).