Tournament:  | Round:  | Opponent:  | Judge:
Plan Text
Plan: The United States Federal Government should substantially increase market-fixed production cost incentives for domestic deployment of small modular nuclear reactors. 

Renaissance Adv
US nuclear renaissance inevitable- only way to meet demand and government subsidies
Worthington 2012 (David Worthington, February 9, 2012, The U.S. nuclear renaissance has begun  , Smart Planet, http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/intelligent-energy/the-us-nuclear-renaissance-has-begun/13058) JD
There are cooling towers on the horizon in the United States. The nuclear renaissance
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million homes at a cost of US$14 billion, CNN reported.

Global cooperation has restored public faith in nuclear energy; Fukushima doesn’t matter
WNA 11 (World Nuclear Association, The Nuclear Renaissance  , August 2011, http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf104.html) JD
The 1986 Chernobyl disaster marked the nadir of public support for nuclear power. However
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been any harm or hazard to anyone on account of those from nuclear power

Scenario 1: Meltdowns
Old reactor types make meltdowns inevitable – reactors have shut down in the past and the NRC has failed at regulation
Gronlund 2007 (Nuclear power in a Warming world: Assessing the Risks, Addressing the Challenges, Lisbeth Gronlund;  David Lochbaum;  Edwin Lyman, Union of Concerned Scientists, http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/nuclear_power/nuclear-power-in-a-warming-world.pdf) JD
Safety problems remain despite a lack of  serious accidents.   A serious nuclear power accident
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problems so extensive that a year or more is   needed to fix them.

SMRs solve
Wheeler 10 (November 22, 2010, “Small Modular Reactors May Offer Significant Safety and Security Enhancements”, John Wheeler, Clear Trend, http://thisweekinnuclear.com/?p=1193) JD
Even better, most SMRs are small enough that they cannot over heat and melt
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and lower operating costs (a smaller footprint means a smaller security force). 

Meltdowns cause extinction
Lendman, 2011
(Stephen, Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization, 03/ 13, “Nuclear Meltdown in Japan,”, The People’s Voice http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2011/03/13/nuclear-meltdown-in-japan, accessed 8-2-12, RSR)
Reuters said the 1995 Kobe quake caused $100 billion in damage, up to
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entire region. "It could be, literally, an apocalyptic event.

Scenario 2: Nuclear Terrorism Scenario
Old reactor types make nuke terror inevitable- They’ll steal fissile material
Early, et al., 2009
(Bryan (Former Research Fellow at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs), Matthew Fuhrmann (Professor in Political Science at Texas AandM) and Quan Li (Professor in Political Science at Texas AandM), “Atoms for Terror: The Determinants of Nuclear/Radiological Terrorism”, Social Science Research Network, RSR)
The presence and size of a civilian nuclear infrastructure affect terrorist groups’ cost-benefit
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often look for NR materials in the country that they wish to attack.

Terrorists can also use aircrafts and truck bombs to trigger a meltdown.
Schifman 2010
(Ben, J.D. Candidate at the Columbia School of Law, “The Limits of NEPA:  Consideration of the Impacts of Terrorism in Environmental Impact Statements for Nuclear Facilities, Columbia Journal of Environmental Law, Vol. 35, No. 2, pg. 374, RSR)
Existing nuclear power plants were designed to withstand natural disasters, such as earthquakes,
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term deaths and as many as 518,000 long-term deaths.

SMRs solve - they’re buried underground, heavily layered and no on-site refueling
Loudermilk 2011
(Micah, research associate with the Energy and Environmental Security Policy program at National Defense University, “Small Nuclear Reactors and US Energy Security: Concepts, Capabilities, and Costs”, Journal of Energy Security, 5-31-11,
http://www.ensec.org/index.php?view=articleandcatid=116%3Acontent0411andid=314%3Asmall-nuclear-reactors-and-us-energy-security-concepts-capabilities-and-costsandtmpl=componentandprint=1andpage=andoption=com_contentandItemid=375, accessed 8-1-12, RSR)
As to the small reactors themselves, the designs achieve a degree of proliferation-
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reactors are mitigated and concerns over the widespread distribution of nuclear fuel allayed.

Nuclear terrorism causes retaliation that sparks global nuclear war and extinction.
Ayson 2010
(Robert, Professor of Strategic Studies and Director of the Centre for Strategic Studies: New Zealand –  Victoria University of Wellington, “After a Terrorist Nuclear Attack: Envisaging Catalytic Effects”, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 33(7), July)
But these two nuclear worlds—a non-state actor nuclear attack and a
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be admitted that any preemption would probably still meet with a devastating response.

Leadership Adv
The commercial industry is the key internal link to nuclear leadership – federal investment is key
Pete Domenici and Warren F. “Pete” Miller, part time Research Professor at Texas A and M University and former assistant secretary for nuclear energy at the U.S. Department of Energy, July 2012, “Maintaining U.S. Leadership in Global Nuclear Energy Markets,” Bipartisan Policy Center,http://bipartisanpolicy.org/sites/default/files/Leadership%20in%20Nuclear%20Energy%20Markets.pdf

As an active participant in commercial markets, the United States has considerable leverage internationally
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jurisdiction over commercial nuclear trade, global safety and security, and nonproliferation. 

Plan key to a robust manufacturing sector in the US that spreads the model around the world
Rosner and Goldberg ‘11
[Robert, Stephen, University of Chicago, Energy Policy Institute, Small Modular Reactors – Key to Future Nuclear Power Generation in the U.S., http://epic.uchicago.edu/sites/epic.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/SMRWhite_Paper_Dec.14.2011copy.pdf]

As stated earlier, SMRs have the potential to achieve significant greenhouse gas emission reductions
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Japan, Korea, Russia, and, now rapidly emerging, China.
SCENARIO 1: Proliferation
Brink of widespread prolif now
CFR 7-5-2012, “The Global Nuclear Nonproliferation Regime,” Council on Foreign Relations, http://www.cfr.org/proliferation/global-nuclear-nonproliferation-regime/p18984

Nuclear weapons proliferation, whether by state or nonstate actors, poses one of the
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way for "the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons."

Ensures safe nuclear technology - allows the US to promote non-proliferation objectives, otherwise wildfire prolif is inevitable
Loudermilk 2011
(Micah, research associate with the Energy and Environmental Security Policy program at National Defense University, “Small Nuclear Reactors and US Energy Security: Concepts, Capabilities, and Costs”, Journal of Energy Security, 5-31-11,
http://www.ensec.org/index.php?view=articleandcatid=116%3Acontent0411andid=314%3Asmall-nuclear-reactors-and-us-energy-security-concepts-capabilities-and-costsandtmpl=componentandprint=1andpage=andoption=com_contentandItemid=375, accessed 8-1-12, RSR)
Reactor safety itself notwithstanding, many argue that the scattering of small reactors around the
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standards on nuclear agreements, spent fuel reprocessing, and developing reactor technologies.

Proliferations causes extinction – nuclear arms races and miscalculated nuclear war
Utgoff 2’
Utgoff, 2002 (Deputy Director of the Strategy Forces, and Resources Division of the Institute for Defense Analyses, Victor, “Proliferation, Missile Defence, and American Ambitions,” Survival, Volume 44, Number 2, Summer)
First, the dynamics of getting to a highly proliferated world could be very dangerous
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a hill to bury the bodies of dead cities or even whole nations.

SCENARIO 2: Tech Leadership
Global warming is happening; 5 reasons
NWF 12 (July 2012, National Wildlife Federation, http://www.nwf.org/Global-Warming/What-is-Global-Warming/Global-Warming-is-Happening-Now.aspx) JD
No longer is global warming something only facing future generations. Changes to our climate
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 as low-lying areas are inundated with saltwater.
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)
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.
SMRs key to spurring the development of nuclear technology – increases the competitive edge.
Fleischmann, ‘11
(Chuck, Representative from the 3rd District in Tennessee, “Small Modular Reactors Could Help With U.S. Energy Needs”, American Physical Society, Vol. 6, No. 2, October 2011, http://www.aps.org/publications/capitolhillquarterly/201110/backpage.cfm, accessed 8-1-12, RSR)
The timely implementation of small reactors could position the United States on the cutting edge
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strategic position on the forefront of expanding global technologies in the nuclear arena.
Next 5 years key to avoid a tipping point – gets modeled internationally
Strobe Talbott, President of the Brookings Institution, and John-Michael Arnold, special assistant to the President at Brookings, 5-25-2012, “It’s the Climate, Stupid!” Brookings,http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2012/5/25%20americas%20role%20talbott/0525%20americas%20role%20talbott.pdf

On both economic and security policy, the United States is suffering from an acute
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a window of opportunity or a window of obligation, it is closing.

Nuclear tech solves warming – decreases reliance on carbon based sources.
WNA 7 (World Nuclear Association, Nuclear Energy: Meeting the Climate Change Challenge¶ , IPCC, 4th Assessment Report, Mitigation of Climate Change (2007), http://www.world-nuclear.org/climatechange/nuclear_meetingthe_climatechange_challenge.html)
Over the next twenty five years global electricity demand is expected to double. By
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supply process heat, enabling industry to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels.
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/ 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.

Solvency
Nuclear industry is constricting – no new reactors coming online
Pete Domenici and Warren F. “Pete” Miller, part time Research Professor at Texas A and M University and former assistant secretary for nuclear energy at the U.S. Department of Energy, July 2012, “Maintaining U.S. Leadership in Global Nuclear Energy Markets,” Bipartisan Policy Center,http://bipartisanpolicy.org/sites/default/files/Leadership%20in%20Nuclear%20Energy%20Markets.pdf

Prospects for new reactor construction in the United States have constricted significantly in recent years
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construction very difficult for at least the next decade, if not longer.
Incentives now takes out their disads
WNN 12 (World Nuclear News, SMR vendors apply for government funds, May 22 2012,
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NN-SMR_vendors_apply_for_government_funds-2205124.html)
The DoE announced in March 2012 that a total of $450 million would be
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and licences in order to identify the most viable candidates for accelerated commercialization."

But only the plan solves- production cost incentives for SMRs key – Creates a sustainable domestic industry.
Rosner and Goldberg, ‘11
(Robert (William E. Wrather Distinguished Service Professor in the Departments of Astronomy and Astrophysics and Physics) and Stephen (Special Assistant to the Director at the Argonne National Laboratory) , Energy Policy Institute at Chicago, “Small Modular Reactors – Key to Future Nuclear Power Generation in the U.S.”, Technical Paper, Revision 1, November 2011) RCM
Production Cost Incentive: A production cost incentive is a performance-based incentive.
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should be subject to further analysis as higher quality cost estimates become available.

Tournament: UMKC | Round: 3 | Opponent: KU CG | Judge: S Peterson

Econ

Lack of consumer confidence is keeping US economy stagnant

Atkinson and Ezell 9/19 (Robert D. and Stephen J. "Why US economy imploded and why recovery is so slow," The Hill. 19 Sept 2012.  http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-a-budget/250367-why-us-economy-imploded-and-why-recovery-is-so-slow)**
But rather than downsize as demand for their services fell, Wall Street doubled down
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a while, but without a competitive heart, health can’t be restored. 

Domestic productions is hurt by shrinking global trade

Bomkamp 9/19 (Samantha. "FedEx Claims US Economy is Stalling," AP. 19 Sept 2012. http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/374072/fedex-claims-us-economy-stalling)**
FedEx Corp. says the global economy is stalling, and it’s going to get
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, while rising gas prices and high unemployment kept consumers from spending freely.

US deficit is hurt by export sales

AP 9/18 ("Broadest US trade deficit falls in second quarter to %24117.4b," AP. 18 Sept 2012.  http://gulfnews.com/business/economy/broadest-us-trade-deficit-falls-in-second-quarter-to-117-4b-1.1078173)
Many economists predict it will widen again in coming quarters. A global slowdown has
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percent in the April-June quarter and job growth has been disappointing.

Extend Royal 9- Crisis cause war through increasing internal dissent, re-distribution of geo-political power, and through creating a rally around the flag affect in aggressive countries.

Extend green and cob- it solves all impacts and makes the more likely.

Extend Mandelbaum- American economic leadership is key to global growth. It’s resilient as long as we have a strong and growing economy.

Economic stagnation causes war-interdependence solves.

Yee 99 (Tan Tan, Journal of the Singapore Armed Forces, Jan-Mar, http://www.mindef.gov.sg/safti/pointer/back/journals/1999/Vol25_1/7.htm)JFS

Like the Democratic Peace Proposition, the notion that increased interdependence reduces the probability of
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about, it may sometimes not be enough to prevent war from happening.

Their impact takeouts are wrong – laundry list of reasons why economic crisis causes war

Strauss-Kahn 9 (Dominique, Manging Director of the IMF, International Monetary Fund, http://www.imf.org/external/np/speeches/2009/102309.htm)JFS 

Let me stress that the crisis is by no means over, and many risks
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50 percent chance of returning to violence, partly because of weakened institutions.

====Supply chain is strong. ====
WNN 9-13(world nuclear news, "strong supply chains support new builds" http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NN-Strong_supply_chain_supports_new_build-1309128.html)

With nuclear new-build investment set to top some %241.5 trillion by 2030, the World Nuclear Association (WNA) has launched an in-depth report assessing the role and development of a robust and reliable supply chain to support the growing nuclear power sector over the next two decades.
Juan Molina presents the report at the WNA Symposium The World Nuclear Supply Chain:
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. "We can make things easier for the industry and the world." 

ECON CP

Perm: DO Both.

Extend NEI 9- The construction and promise of new plants solves the nuclear industry and spills over to others- growth in the nuclear industry will catalyze investment throughout the supply chain for nuclear and will lead to growth in manufacturing.

Extend NEI 12- Construction of new plants and increased workforces at current ones will jumpstart the economy in the short term and new plants will provide for cheaper electricity and an expanded workforce in the long term. Nuclear also solves technological leadership, which solves competitiveness.

States

1. It’s not reciprocal – we don’t get multiple actors, they shouldn’t either.

2. It’s unresearchable – authors advocate many single actors taking an action, but rarely many acting together.  Unless they can show a solvency advocate for their text, it’s abusive.

3. It’s artificially competitive – there’s no single actor that could choose to do their plan, so it doesn’t prove an opportunity cost to the plan, so there’s no reason to vote for it.

4. It fiats a solvency burden – we have one actor and if we want more, we need solvency for modeling – it’s unfair that they can fiat that all those actors work together, so we lose all our ground for solvency arguments.

5. It’s unpredictable – guessing one agent is hard enough, but if they can have several it gives an infinite number of possible combinations which makes research or preparation impossible.

6. Vote on it for fairness and ground.

Agency preemption of federalism is the critical battleground for global issues of federalism

Young 2008(Earnest, Professor of Law at Duke Law School, "Executive Preemption", Northwestern University Law Review, Vol. 102, No. 2, p869)

Preemption of state regulatory authority by national law is the central federalism issue of our
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Agency action thus evades both the political and the procedural safeguards of federalism.

Russia models US federalism

Lynn and Novikov 1997(Nicholas J., lecturer at U Edinburgh, and Alexei V., project manager at the Instutute for Urban Economics, 3-22-97 ("Refederalizing Russia: Debates on the Idea of Federalism in Russia", Publius, p. Lexis)

One of the most important political debates in Russia since 1990 has been over the
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who proposed abolishing all the republics and national-formations in1991.(18)

Russian disintegration from a lack of central control would result in nuclear war

David 1999(Steven R., professor of political science at Johns Hopkins, "Saving America from the Coming Civil Wars", Foreign Affairs, p. Lexis)

Divining the military’s allegiance is crucial, however, since the structure of the Russian
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this threat more than the chaos that would follow a Russian civil war.

UQ: Obama Wins Now: General

Obama wins and only an unexpected event can derail his chances

Huffington Post 9-18-12 (Why Mitt Can’t Reach That "5-10%" and Obama Will Win. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-ziegler/media-bias_b_1892362.html?utm_hp_ref=elections-2012-http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-ziegler/media-bias_b_1892362.html?utm_hp_ref=elections-2012) 

While, since he is still below 50% in every key swing state, it is still theoretically possible that Obama could lose, it is becoming rather obvious to anyone not named Dick Morris (whenever I find myself agreeing with him I immediately know I must be wrong) that Obama, barring something really dramatic happening, is going to be reelected.

Obama wins – electoral math

Charles Gibson, Journalist, 9-21-12 (http://darien.patch.com/articles/gibson-predicts-obama-will-win-during-quinnipiac-lecture-d3976692~%23photo-11448404-http://darien.patch.com/articles/gibson-predicts-obama-will-win-during-quinnipiac-lecture-d3976692)

Charles Gibson, the former anchor of "ABC World News," predicted President Barack
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this year. That means he only needs to pick up 33 more."

Obama wins now – key battleground states
ABC News 9-19-12 (Battleground Polls: Could Obama Lose the Popular Vote but Win the Election? http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/09/battleground-polls-could-obama-lose-the-popular-vote-but-win-the-election/-http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/09/battleground-polls-could-obama-lose-the-popular-vote-but-win-the-election/)

A handful of new polls today show President Obama leading in important battleground states.
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election were held today, they indicate that Obama would be the favorite.

Obama pulling ahead in national polls – surge in Democratic enthusiasm is key

Blumenthal 9-19-12 (Mark. Obama Up 8 Points Nationally In Latest Pew Poll. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/19/2012-polls-obama-lead_n_1897591.html?utm_hp_ref=fb%26src=sp%26comm_ref=false-http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/19/2012-polls-obama-lead_n_1897591.html?utm_hp_ref=fb%26src=sp%26comm_ref=false)

WASHINGTON — A dozen national polls conducted over the past week have produced a range
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So as the election approaches, keep an eye on the enthusiasm gap. 

Yep, he’s still winning – polls prove

Nate Silver, Chief Polling Analyst for NYT, 9-21-12 (Obama’s Convention Bounce May Not Be Receding. http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/21/sept-20-obamas-convention-bounce-may-not-be-receding/?gwh=D70AA66001034191563FDABF537972F3~%23more-34814-http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/21/sept-20-obamas-convention-bounce-may-not-be-receding/?gwh=D70AA66001034191563FDABF537972F3)

President Obama’s position inched forward in the FiveThirtyEight forecast on Thursday. His chances of
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led in all 21 of these surveys — and usually by clear margins. 

Winning now – swing state polls

Nate Silver, Chief Polling Analyst for NYT, 9-21-12 (Obama’s Convention Bounce May Not Be Receding. http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/21/sept-20-obamas-convention-bounce-may-not-be-receding/?gwh=D70AA66001034191563FDABF537972F3~%23more-34814-http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/21/sept-20-obamas-convention-bounce-may-not-be-receding/?gwh=D70AA66001034191563FDABF537972F3)

On average, he has held a six-point lead in these surveys, and he has had close to 50 percent of the vote in them. Mr. Obama’s results have been more varied among polling firms that use different methodologies. A com/elections2012/ in eleven swing states, released on Thursday by the online firm YouGov, were fairly strong for Mr. Obama, putting him ahead among likely voters in all of the states except North Carolina. 

Polls prove Obama expanding lead in swing states and with independents

Politico 9-21-12 (Purple Poll: Obama gains momentum in swing states. http://www.politico.com/blogs/burns-haberman/2012/09/purple-poll-obama-gains-momentum-in-swing-states-136287.html?hp=r9-http://www.politico.com/blogs/burns-haberman/2012/09/purple-poll-obama-gains-momentum-in-swing-states-136287.html?hp=r9)

From the latest pdf?utm_medium=email%26utm_campaign=PurplePoll+Sept+2012-+from+Doug%26utm_content=PurplePoll+Sept+2012-+from+Doug+CID_3d908eaa034685f378af8d464ed685de%26utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software%26utm_term=For%20much%20more%20read%20the%20full%20poll%20and%20our%20analysis%20here out today, President Obama gets his biggest swing
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-in-Chief, and Obama appears to be at an advantage.

Base enthusiasm is critical to an Obama win

comto-arouse-his-base-obama-goes-left-left-and-leftarticle2502948)

The usual strategy for presidential candidates is to appeal to the political center in hopes
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. Except for the conservative press, the media largely ignored his speech. 

Public opposes nuclear power

New York Times 3-23-11 (Poll Shows Public Is Losing Faith in Nuclear Power. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E05E5DC1231F930A15750C0A9679D8B63-http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E05E5DC1231F930A15750C0A9679D8B63) 

What had been growing acceptance of nuclear power in the United States has eroded sharply
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nearby, compared with 69 percent of Democrats and 65 percent of independents. 

Nuclear is already Romney’s thing – it will look like Obama is tacking towards the GOP solution to energy

SNL Renewable Energy Weekly 8-31-12 (Romney pushes plan for North American energy independence by 2020. LN)

Romney released a white paper on his website Aug. 23 that lays out a
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designs and "license approved reactor designs on approved sites within two years."

Polls confirm women overwhelmingly oppose nuclear energy expansion

New York Times 3-23-11 (Poll Shows Public Is Losing Faith in Nuclear Power. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E05E5DC1231F930A15750C0A9679D8B63-http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E05E5DC1231F930A15750C0A9679D8B63) 

There was also a gender divide: while a majority of men said they approved
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possibility, including just 13 percent of those who live in the West.

Women vote is key and even a small shift could shift the election results

ALAN GREENBLATT, NPR Contributor, 9-4-12 (NPR. org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2012/09/04/160550473/its-no-secret-democrats-look-to-women-for-votes. http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2012/09/04/160550473/its-no-secret-democrats-look-to-women-for-votes-http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2012/09/04/160550473/its-no-secret-democrats-look-to-women-for-votes)

He may not declare out loud, like Ann Romney, that he loves women
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Republicans triumph when they win among women — or at least come close.

===2AC===

====Inevitable- oil and gas production declining. ====
Hancox 8-9(Ed, d Hancox works in nonprofit development. He holds a M.A. degree in International Affairs from The New School where he worked as a research associate on a project examining Russia’s transition from Communism. Before earning his Masters, Ed worked as a journalist, a disc jockey and as a technical writer with a multi-national electronics firm. "Putin Pussy Riot Problem is Nothing Compared to Volatile Oil Prices" http://www.policymic.com/articles/12476/putin-pussy-riot-problem-is-nothing-compared-to-volatile-oil-prices)**
Last week Russian President Vladimir Putin was in London to take in one of his
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in Russia, Putin could rather quickly find himself without any political support. 

====Russian econ Trending down-inflation. ====
WSJ 8-3(Wall Street Journal, "IMF: Russian Economy May Be Running Above Capacity" http://www.marketwatch.com/story/imf-russian-economy-may-be-running-above-capacity-2012-08-03)**
MOSCOW—The International Monetary Fund left its economic growth targets unchanged for Russia Friday
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The central bank left rates unchanged for the seventh straight month in July.

====Low prices good-forces reform. ====
Yuriev 12(Alexander, reporting for RT, "Lower Oil Prices Good For Russia" http://rt.com/business/news/oil-price-russia-economy-497/)**
Russia will benefit from lower oil prices says Jim O’Neill, Chairman for Goldman Sachs
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said. "Russia has lots of challenges, so does everybody else." 

====Corruption leads to instability and nationalism-turns the da. ====
Satter 12(David, Foreign Policy Research Insitute, "The Threat of Russian Nationalism’ http://www.eurasiareview.com/26042012-the-threat-of-russian-nationalism-analysis/)**
The result of this and other cases was to convince a generation of fascist inclined
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rule of law and away from ethnic conflict and claims of national superiority.

(nationalism impact, if needed)

====Regime resilient- empirically proven. ====
Sakwa 9(Richard, Professor of Russian and European Politics University of Kent at Canterbury The United Kingdom, "The economic crisis and regime stability in Russia" http://www.tse.fi/FI/yksikot/erillislaitokset/pei/Documents/bre2009/297%201-2009%20Expert%20articles.pdf)**
Threats to the system, however, should not be exaggerated, with polls at
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system that had precisely claimed to have overcome the crisis of the 1990s.

====Reductions in U.S. oil/gas imports will sink Russia. ====
Kalachikina 12(Yulia, RBC Daily (Russian Newspaper), "U.S. policy to reduce Oil imports Hurts Russia" http://rbth.ru/articles/2012/06/29/new_us_oil_strategy_to_hit_russia_16025.html)**
In the next eight years, the United States expects to reduce oil imports from
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has become impervious to the pressure of price fluctuations in the global market."