Gracie Cockett HSD Research Club Free Market Alternative Energy NEG

Table of Contents
Table of Contents....................................................................................................... 1

STRATEGY NOTES:......................................................................................................2

SIGNIFICANCE:............................................................................................................2

Renewable forms of energy are awesome like a possum! :D..................................2

Hydropower.............................................................................................................3

Solar........................................................................................................................3

Wind........................................................................................................................ 3

Biomass...................................................................................................................4

SOLVENCY:................................................................................................................. 4

A2: Free market solves. ..........................................................................................4

Federal incentives needed in “very bad” year in American private finance market.
................................................................................................................................ 4

A2: government subsidies/incentives fail................................................................5

DISADVANTAGES:.......................................................................................................5

Pollution..................................................................................................................5

Brink: Renewable energy sources are important for protecting the environment
and reducing carbon emissions. .............................................................................6

Impact: Without renewable, carbon emissions won’t be reduced. The air pollution
from carbon emissions can lead to severe health problems and even death..........7

Increased Oil Dependence.......................................................................................7

Internal link: US imports over 60% of its oil, and 30% of it comes from unstable
areas. .................................................................................................................... 7

Impact: Renewable forms of energy reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

Without them, we’ll be even more dependent on unstable areas...........................8

Job Loss................................................................................................................... 8

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Gracie Cockett HSD Research Club Free Market Alternative Energy NEG

STRATEGY NOTES:
For this case, I would advise pulling out your “alternative energy-good” briefs. Your
briefs that talk about the awesomeness of coal, nuclear, hemp, solar, wind, geothermal, space-
based solar power, ethanol, biomass….you name itI’ve included some of that kind of evidence in
this brief. (You could even run a counterplan increasing incentives to use a certain type of
renewable.) Also, get out all your briefs that talk about how oil dependence is bad, oil cause
pollution, etc. That evidence will be especially nifty for your DAs. For DA 1, refer to the
Ocean Acidification DA in Preston Black’s CO2 Deregulation brief. You can get some really
good impacts on the horridness of carbon dioxide emissions from that. 

SIGNIFICANCE:
Renewable forms of energy are awesome like a possum! :D
A. Geothermal
US Department of Energy, November, 2004 “Buried Treasure: The Environmental, Economic,
and Employment Benefits of Geothermal Energy” http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy05osti/35939.pdf

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The geothermal energy potential beneath our feet is vast. This tremendous resource amounts to
50,000 times the energy of all oil and gas resources in the world. And geothermal energy is
clean; it represents a promising solution for the nation and the world as we become ever more
concerned about global warming, pollution, and rising fossil energy prices. Furthermore,
increased development of geothermal energy gives people the potential to gain better control of
their own local energy resources and use a secure, safe, domestic source of energy.

Hydropower
US Department of Energy, January 2010, “Wind & Water Power Program”
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/hydro_ad.html
Hydropower is a fueled by water, so it's a clean fuel source. Hydropower doesn't pollute the air
like power plants that burn fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas. Hydropower is a domestic
source of energy, produced in the United States. Hydropower relies on the water cycle, which is
driven by the sun, thus it's a renewable power source. Hydropower is generally available as
needed; engineers can control the flow of water through the turbines to produce electricity on
demand. Hydropower plants provide benefits in addition to clean electricity. Impoundment
hydropower creates reservoirs that offer a variety of recreational opportunities, notably fishing,
swimming, and boating.

Solar
US Department of Energy, access date: April 18th, 2010 “Solar”
http://www.energy.gov/energysources/solar.htm

Developing technologies that take advantage of the clean abundant energy of the sun is important
to reducing greenhouse gasses and helps stimulate the economy. Examples of solar technologies
being developed by the Department of Energy and Industry are Photovoltaic cells, concentrating
solar power technologies and low temperature solar collectors.

Wind
US Department of Energy, access date: April 18th, 2010 “Wind”
http://www.energy.gov/energysources/wind.htm

People have harnessed the wind to deliver energy for centuries. Today, wind generates electricity
that powers millions of American homes and businesses and is one our nation’s fastest-growing
sources of energy. Taking advantage of this abundant domestic resource to generate electricity
helps meet America’s growing energy demands while improving our energy security and
protecting our environment.

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Biomass
Union of Concerned Scientists (leading science-based nonprofit working for a healthy
environment), 2010, “How Biomass Energy Works”
http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/technology_and_impacts/energy_technologies/how-
biomass-energy-works.html#Environmental_Benefits

Biomass energy brings numerous environmental benefits—reducing air and water pollution,
increasing soil quality and reducing erosion, and improving wildlife habitat.

SOLVENCY:
A2: Free market solves.

Federal incentives needed in “very bad” year in American private finance market.
Jim Tankersley, (journalist) February 2nd, 2010, “Wind energy job growth isn't blowing anyone
away” The Los Angeles Times, http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/02/business/la-fi-
green-jobs2-2010feb02/3
In an interview, Robert Rogan, senior vice president for ESolar
Inc., credited the stimulus for helping clean-energy companies through a "very bad" year in the
American private finance market. He insisted U.S. solar companies are poised for "explosive"
growth, but that to maximize it, they need longer-term incentives and better transmission lines to
link solar hot spots, such as the Southwest, and demand centers, such as the East Coast.

The federal stimulus bill saved wind and solar companies from job loss.
Jim Tankersley, (journalist) February 2nd, 2010, “Wind energy job growth isn't blowing anyone
away” The Los Angeles Times, http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/02/business/la-fi-green-
jobs2-2010feb02/3
Several factors accounted for the slow start, some of them linked to weakness in the overall
economy. Electric power demand fell nationwide last year. Electricity from coal and natural gas
is still by and large cheaper than wind or solar power. Renewable energy companies, faced with
limited demand, often used parts and equipment in stock or imported renewable technology
instead of building turbines or solar cells domestically. Industry analysts and energy company
executives said job growth is also hampered by lingering uncertainties in federal energy policy.
Those include questions about when or whether existing tax breaks will expire and whether the
Senate will pass a climate bill that would make fossil fuels more expensive -- and renewable
energy more competitive. The federal stimulus bill spared the wind and solar industries steep job
losses last year, executives said.

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A2: government subsidies/incentives fail

Government incentives help bring new technologies to the market. (Example: tax credits
for wind power)
US Energy Information Administration, September 8, 2008 “How much does the Federal
Government spend on energy-specific subsidies and support?”
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/energy_in_brief/energy_subsidies.cfm

Subsidies and support can encourage producers to bring new technologies to market until
manufacturers are able to produce the new technology in large quantities at costs competitive
with established commercial technologies. The periodic expiration and extension of the
production tax credit (PTC) for wind power since 1992 illustrates the effect of tax incentives.
Between 1997 and 2007, nearly 16,000 megawatts (MW) of wind capacity have been installed.
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 extended the PTC to wind facilities placed in service before
January 1, 2008. Subsequently, 8,438 MW of wind capacity was placed in service in 2006 and
2007.

1. Instead of picking favorites amongst clean energy technologies, a portfolio of

technologies needs to be funded.
Jim Tankersley, (journalist) February 2nd, 2010,
“Wind energy job growth isn't blowing anyone away” The Los Angeles Times,
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/02/business/la-fi-green-jobs2-2010feb02/3

Energy Department officials said that instead of focusing on one or two technologies, they have
funded a "portfolio of technologies" that will battle for a share of a growing domestic and global
market. "We are not in the business of picking winners," said Matt Rogers, a senior advisor at the
Energy Department who oversees stimulus spending. "We're creating competition among
innovative approaches in the marketplace."

DISADVANTAGES:
Pollution
Link: Aff. Plan cuts federal incentives to use alternative forms of energy.
Internal link: To maximize solar energy growth, long-term incentives and investments are
needed.
Jim Tankersley, (journalist) February 2nd, 2010, “Wind energy job growth isn't blowing anyone
away” The Los Angeles Times, http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/02/business/la-fi-green-
jobs2-2010feb02/3
In an interview, Robert Rogan, senior vice president for ESolar Inc., credited the stimulus for
helping clean-energy companies through a "very bad" year in the American private finance
market. He insisted U.S. solar companies are poised for "explosive" growth, but that to maximize
it, they need longer-term incentives and better transmission lines to link solar hot spots, such as
the Southwest, and demand centers, such as the East Coast.
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Internal link: Wind turbine manufacturers need assurances of stable demand, before they
will invest.
Jim Tankersley, (journalist) February 2nd, 2010, “Wind energy job growth isn't blowing anyone
away” The Los Angeles Times, http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/02/business/la-fi-
green-jobs2-2010feb02/3
Wind turbine manufacturers "need more certainty" to add shifts
and factories in the United States, said Elizabeth Salerno, director of data and analysis for the
wind industry trade group. Demand is the trigger," she said. "But it has to be long-term, stable
demand."

Internal link: low-carbon forms of energy are needed desperately.

Tyler Hamilton (journalist, the Toronto Star) October 15th, 2007 “Space-
based solar power back in play,” http://www.thestar.com/columnists/article/266738

NASA and the U.S. Department of Defence have together spent about $80 million (U.S.) over the last three decades studying the idea [of SBSP].
Seems like decent money, until you see that the U.S. government has spent about $21 billion over 50 years on that elusive energy utopia called
nuclear fusion. Perhaps it is time to give space-based solar power another look, given that such a system might already exist today had it received
Oil has surged past $80 a barrel and there's a desperate need for low- or
the money dumped into fusion.
zero-carbon energy sources. Lob a few bombs at Iran and the situation gets worse, not better.

Brink: Renewable energy sources are important for protecting the environment and
reducing carbon emissions.
US Department of Energy, access date: April 18th, 2010, “Renewables”
http://www.energy.gov/energysources/renewables.htm
Renewable energy sources, including wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, and water power play an
important – and increasing – role in our nation’s energy mix. The Department of Energy is
committed to the development of renewable energy technologies and their rapid adoption by the
marketplace. The growth of clean and domestic renewable energy is an important part of
addressing climate change and increasing our energy security. The Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Energy (EERE) invests in clean energy technologies that strengthen the economy, protect the environment, and
reduce dependence on foreign oil. EERE leverages partnerships across the federal government, academia, DOE National Laboratories, and the
private sector to develop and deploy clean energy technologies to reduce carbon emissions and create energy jobs.

America needs to increase use nuclear and coal energy to meet electricity demand and
reduce emissions.
Marvin Fertel (President and CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute) September 21st, 2009
“Nuclear must be part of energy equation” Op-ed for The Boston Globe,
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/09/21/nuclear_must_b
e_part_of_energy_equation/
Recent analyses have concluded that the nation’s use of nuclear energy must increase in the
coming decades to meet rising electricity demand and dramatically reduce emissions of
greenhouse gases linked to the threat of climate change. The Environmental Protection Agency, for example, in its June analysis of the
Waxman-Markey climate change bill found that the contribution of low- or zero-carbon energy technologies to electricity supply would increase
from the current level (14 percent) to 26 percent by 2020 and 38 percent by 2050. Meeting the bill’s 2050 carbon reductions, which will be driven
by a cap and trade system on carbon emitters, including coal-fired power plants, will require as many as 187 new nuclear energy facilities, EPA
said. Similarly, the National Academy of Sciences concluded in a July report, that substantial
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reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity sector are achievable through a
portfolio approach that includes nuclear energy. The report identifies new-generation nuclear
energy and coal-fired generators with carbon capture and sequestering capacity as two “key
technologies’’ that must be demonstrated during the next decade “to allow for their widespread
deployment starting around 2020.’’

Impact: Without renewable, carbon emissions won’t be reduced. The air pollution from
carbon emissions can lead to severe health problems and even death.
Louis Bergeron(The Stanford Report), January 3rd 2008 “Study links carbon dioxide emissions
to increased deaths” Stanford University,
http://newsservice.stanford.edu/news/2008/january9/co-010908.html
While it has long been known that carbon dioxide emissions contribute to climate change, the
new study details how for each increase of 1 degree Celsius caused by carbon dioxide, the
resulting air pollution would lead annually to about a thousand additional deaths and many more
cases of respiratory illness and asthma in the United States, according to the paper by Mark
Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford. Worldwide, upward of
20,000 air-pollution-related deaths per year per degree Celsius may be due to this greenhouse
gas.

Increased Oil Dependence

Link: Aff. Plan ends federal alternative energy incentives

Internal link: alternative energy industries need federal incentives (refer to ev. in DA. 1).

Internal link: US imports over 60% of its oil, and 30% of it comes from unstable areas.
The Center for American Progress, May 2008
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/05/oil_imports.html
The United States imports approximately 62 percent of its oil. Canada supplies approximately 20
percent of these imports, and Mexico contributes 10 percent. But over 30 percent come from
regimes that are less friendly or stable, including Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Nigeria, Angola,
Iraq, and Algeria (respectively the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th largest oil importers to the
United States)

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Impact: Renewable forms of energy reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Without them,
we’ll be even more dependent on unstable areas.
US Department of Energy, access date: April 18th, 2010, “Renewables”
http://www.energy.gov/energysources/renewables.htm
Renewable energy sources, including wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, and water power play an
important – and increasing – role in our nation’s energy mix. The Department of Energy is
committed to the development of renewable energy technologies and their rapid adoption by the
marketplace. The growth of clean and domestic renewable energy is an important part of
addressing climate change and increasing our energy security. The Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy (EERE) invests in clean energy technologies that strengthen the economy, protect the environment, and
reduce dependence on foreign oil.

Nuclear energy is key to reducing dependence on foreign oil.

Jack Spencer (Research Fellow in Nuclear Energy at The Heritage Foundation's Roe Institute
for Economic Policy Studies; earned his bachelor's degree in international politics from
Frostburg State University and his master's degree from the University of Limerick in Ireland)
November 15th, 2007 “Competitive Nuclear Energy Investment: Avoiding Past Policy Mistakes”
The Heritage Foundation,
http://www.heritage.org/Research/EnergyandEnvironment/bg2086.cfm
Nuclear power is a proven, safe, affordable, and environmentally friendly alternative to fossil
fuels. It can generate massive quantities of electricity with almost no atmospheric emissions and
can offset America's growing dependence on foreign energy sources. The French have used it to
minimize their dependence on foreign energy, and at one time the United States was on the path
to do the same.

Job Loss
Link: aff. Plan is implemented
Internal link: government incentives have stopped job loss in the clean energy industry.
Jim Tankersley, (journalist) February 2nd, 2010, “Wind energy job growth isn't blowing anyone
away” The Los Angeles Times, http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/02/business/la-fi-green-
jobs2-2010feb02/3 (brackets added)
Several factors accounted for the slow start [in growth of
clean energy jobs], some of them linked to weakness in the overall economy. Electric power demand fell
nationwide last year. Electricity from coal and natural gas is still by and large cheaper than wind or solar power. Renewable energy companies,
faced with limited demand, often used parts and equipment in stock or imported renewable technology instead of building turbines or solar cells
domestically. Industry analysts and energy company executives said job growth is also hampered by lingering uncertainties in federal energy
policy. Those include questions about when or whether existing tax breaks will expire and whether the Senate will pass a climate bill that would
The federal stimulus bill spared the wind and
make fossil fuels more expensive -- and renewable energy more competitive.
solar industries steep job losses last year, executives said.
Impact: Without government incentives, there will be job loss in wind and solar industries.

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