Contention 1 is Inherency – The National Ocean Policy is a failure. Budget and coordination efforts hamstring holistic strategy for exploration

US should take the lead on ocean exploration.

Already a world leader in ocean research, the United States should lead a new exploration endeavor by example. "Given the limited resources in many other countries, it would be prudent to begin with a U.S. exploration program that would include foreign representatives and serve as a model for other countries," said John Orcutt, the committee chair for one of the reports and deputy director, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego. "Once programs are established elsewhere, groups of nations could then collaborate on research and pool their resources under international agreements." Using new and existing facilities, technologies, and vehicles, proposed efforts to understand the oceans would follow two different approaches. One component dedicated to exploration would utilize ships, submersibles, and satellites in new ways to uncover the ocean's biodiversity, such as the ecosystems associated with deep-sea hydrothermal vents, coral reefs, and volcanic, underwater mountains. A second component -- a network of ocean "observatories" composed of moored buoys and a system of telecommunication cables and nodes on the seafloor -- would complement the existing fleet of research ships and satellites. The buoys would provide information on weather and climate as well as ocean biology, and the cables would be used to transmit information from sensors on fixed nodes about volcanic and tectonic activity of the seafloor, earthquakes, and life on or below the seafloor. Also, a fleet of new manned and unmanned deep-diving vehicles would round out this research infrastructure. Education and outreach should be an integral part of new ocean science efforts by bringing discoveries to the public, informing government officials, and fostering collaborations between educators and the program's scientists, the reports say.

A centralized organization is key to better and more efficient ocean co’op

Barnes and McFadden, 07 (Cassandra, Program Analyst at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) with a Ph.D., and Katherine W., Assistant Professor, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology at Columbia University, “Marine ecosystem approaches to management: challenges and lessons in the United States”. Science Direct. 1 November 2007. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X07000954

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An institutional feeling of “protectiveness” or overlapping jurisdictions within a geographic area has been a traditional problem for resource management. In addition, the dynamic nature of ecosystems makes it difficult for rigid guidelines on either ecosystem classification or boundary delineation. While scientists may define boundaries based on ecological criteria, the geopolitical or management boundaries must also be taken into account in EAM [14]. An important component in solving the problem of integrating social and natural science includes promoting collaborations between internal and external partners. Survey respondents noted that collaboration has been difficult to implement in an atmosphere of limited funding and time, and within an organizational structure of employees spanning the United States. Adding to this problem is the fact that multiple divisions within NOAA overlap(s) on research projects without full exchange or dialogue. For example, harmful algal blooms (HABs) may be studied by external researchers who are granted research funding from NOAA, while there is currently no formal structure for communicating these results directly to NOAA's own internal HAB research. Internal cooperation might be improved with greater level of centralized coordination amongst management. Additionally, a better application of matrix management may help streamline some of the barriers to organizational challenges. Strategic planning and matrix management cross traditional organizational boundaries by the assembly of teams to look at complex crosscutting issues for a more integrated organization.

US Tech Key

US has the best tech for ocean exploration

Manley 4 | At the time of publication, Justin Manley worked on the NOAA’s Ocean Explorer program. He is currently a senior member at the IEEE and is a member of the US IOOS Advisory Committee. <“Technology Development for Ocean Exploration,” November 2004. MTTS/IEEE TECHNO-OCEAN Vol 3, No. 9-12. TG.>

A. OE Technology Program Principles Some early examples of OE's technology program included the use of laser line scan imaging for habitat assessment, [4] and supporting the development of the Global Explorer ROV for arctic deployment from an ice-breaker. [5] As OE has matured and refined its programs and vision a set of principles have evolved which guide the technology development program. Technical excellence is a core value in the OE program. Strong ties to technology development labs keep OE's technology program at the cutting edge of ocean engineering. OE works with engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), Institute for Exploration (IFE), the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) and many other leading institutions. Defining a role for industry is an important opportunity for NOM. Ongoing significant commercial investments in marine technology must be leveraged for ocean exploration. In its science programs, OE works to apply the latest industrial technology to exploration. One example is the deployment of a commercially provided ROV, Sonsubs INNOVATOR, on the NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown during the 2003 field season, Fig 1. [6] During 2004, OE contracted with C&C Technology to use their AUV, Hugin, for exploratory geophysical surveys in the Gulf of Mexico and Straits of Florida. This project, planned for late 2004, will provide scientists with the same high quality data used by offshore industry. The OE technology program works to keep industry's best tools in the hands of ocean explorers.

Note: OE refers to the NOAA’s Ocean Explorer program.

Plan => Intl Coop

A revamped US ocean exploration program spills over to international coop

Committee on Exploration of the Seas, 03 (National Research Council, “Major Ocean Exploration Effort Would Reveal Secrets of the Deep”. The National Academies Press. Nov. 4 2003 http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=10844. Nyy)

A new large-scale, multidisciplinary ocean exploration program would increase the pace of discovery of new species, ecosystems, energy sources, seafloor features, pharmaceutical products, and artifacts, as well as improve understanding of the role oceans play in climate change, says a new congressionally mandated report from the National Academies' National Research Council. Such a program should be run by a nonfederal organization and should encourage international participation, added the committee that wrote the report. Congress, interested in the possibility of an international ocean exploration program, asked the Research Council to examine the feasibility of such an effort. The committee concluded, however, that given the limited resources in many other countries, it would be prudent to begin with a U.S. program that would include foreign representatives and serve as a model for other countries. Once programs are established elsewhere, groups of nations could then collaborate on research and pool their resources under international agreements. "The United States should lead by example," said committee chair John Orcutt, professor of geophysics and deputy director, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego. Vast portions of the ocean remain unexplored. In fact, while a dozen men have walked on the moon, just two have traveled to the farthest reaches of the ocean, and only for about 30 minutes each time, the report notes. "The bottom of the ocean is the Earth's least explored frontier, and currently available submersibles -- whether manned, remotely operated, or autonomous -- cannot reach the deepest parts of the sea," said committee vice chair Shirley A. Pomponi, vice president and director of research at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Fort Pierce, Fla. Nonetheless, recent discoveries of previously unknown species and deep-sea biological and chemical processes have heightened interest in ocean exploration. For example, researchers working off the coast of California revealed how some organisms consume methane seeping through the sea floor, converting it to energy for themselves and leaving hydrogen and carbon dioxide as byproducts. The hydrogen could perhaps someday be harnessed for fuel cells, leaving the carbon dioxide – which contributes to global warming in the atmosphere – in the sea. Likewise, a recent one-month expedition off Australia and New Zealand that explored deep-sea volcanic mountains and abyssal plains collected 100 previously unidentified fish species and up to 300 new species of invertebrates. Most current U.S. funding for ocean research, however, goes to projects that plan to revisit earlier sites or for improving understanding of known processes, rather than to support truly exploratory oceanography, the report says. And because the funding bureaucracy is discipline-based, grants are usually allocated to chemists, biologists, or physical scientists, rather than to teams of researchers representing a variety of scientific fields.

Concentrated Effort Key

A well organized, funded, and professional organization has been proven to allow quantum leaps in ocean development.

NRC 03 (National Research Council, The National Research Council is a private, nonprofit institution that provides expert advice on some of the most pressing challenges facing the nation and the world. Their work helps shape sound policies, inform public opinion, and advance the pursuit of science, engineering, and medicine.; “Exploration of the Seas: Interim Report”; The National Academies Press, 2003, http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10630&page=20, p. 20; RJ)

To develop and foster collaborations among explorers and educators in ocean exploration, it is critical that educators be an integral part of the planning and conduct of exploration activities, whether ship- or shore-based. Development of these partnerships should be a crucial responsibility of each nation’s ocean exploration program, and could be accomplished through national scientific and educational professional organizations. Examples in the United States include the National Science Teachers Association, the National Marine Educators Association, the American Geophysical Union, the Centers for Ocean Science Education Excellence, and others. CONCLUSION: The global ocean is teeming with undiscovered species and resources in vast under-explored areas. Yet even as our dependence on healthy, functioning marine ecosystems grows, our knowledge about the ocean and its role in keeping Earth’s systems in balance remains constrained. Given the importance of the global ocean in guaranteeing food security, providing resources, enabling worldwide commerce, and reminding us of our history, it is shocking that we still know so little about the ocean and the life it supports. While steady progress in understanding of the ocean has been made possible by traditional hypothesis-driven research, a new program of exploration will permit us to make quantum leaps in new discoveries. A well-organized, adequately funded program in ocean exploration will allow us to plumb the depths of Earth’s last frontier and provide the foundation for better understanding, and better stewardship, of Earth’s ocean.

Collaboration key to a strong ocean exploration program

NOAA 13 | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. < “The Report of Ocean Exploration 2020,” September 2013. TG>

These characteristics of a national program of ocean exploration imply a network of universities, nongovernmental organizations, the private sector, and government agencies working together in pursuit of shared goals. Federal—and in particular, NOAA—leadership is essential to help design and maintain what might be called an “architecture for collaboration” that convenes national and international ocean exploration stakeholders regularly to review and set priorities, to match potential expedition partners, to facilitate sharing of assets, and to help test and evaluate new technologies. The program should facilitate the review and analysis of new and historical data and the synthesis and transformation of data into a variety of informa- tional products. In this leadership role, NOAA would promote public engagement, and guide and strengthen the national ocean exploration enterprise. A conventional federal government approach won’t work. In describing character- istics of the national ocean exploration program in 2020, participants used words including: nimble, flexible, creative, innovative, and responsive. A program with these qualities just might ignite the ocean exploration movement envisioned by the participants in the first gathering of the community of ocean explorers.

Ocean Exploration solves Lots

It is time for the US to explore the Ocean, has potential to revitalize industries

Diamandis 13 (Peter, Chairman, XPRIZE / Exec. Chairman & Co-Founder, Singularity University / Co-Founder & Co-Chairman, Planetary Resources, “A New Age of Ocean Exploration May Just Save Us”, LinkedIn Influencer, October 23, http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20131023220148-994365-a-new-age-of-ocean-exploration-may-just-save-us) NN

A renewed golden age of exploration in the 21 century might just be the key to a healthy and valued planet. Although we have already ignited unprecedented advances into space, there is still so much of our planet left unexplored. For starters, we know remarkably little about the ocean covering the majority of our planet’s surface: almost 95% of our ocean remains undiscovered. The time is right to reignite the discovery of new places and new knowledge here on Earth, as individuals are now empowered more than ever to do what was once only possible for governments and large corporations.¶ The history of ocean exploration reminds us that we have always longed to explore the unknown, and that innovative and ambitious explorers will push those horizons no matter what. Yet with reduced government spending, especially in comparison to space exploration, and the fact that the ocean is not owned by one specific entity, there is a void. What will catalyze ocean exploration? Who will steward the ocean and dive to its depths to uncover its mysteries?¶ There was a long-held notion that audacious exploration needed primary support from the government. When we launched the Ansari XPRIZE in 1996, many scoffed at the idea that private citizens, using private financing, could build innovative spacecraft that successfully launch into space. Their response to what we were attempting to achieve often makes me think of a quote, “Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were and ask why not.” ― George Bernard Shaw. Our proof is the new market that developed with the Ansari XPRIZE; private space transport is now a $1.5 billion industry. It’s clear that exploration in the 21 century is not just for government-supported programs anymore.¶ With the challenges we currently face, environmentally and economically, we cannot leave exploration of our blue planet up to governments alone. Instead, quite the opposite: We need to crowdsource innovators from around the globe to take up the charge of discovering the secrets our ocean holds, while working to preserve it.¶ Consider the challenges facing the ocean: carbon dioxide absorbed from the atmosphere has made the ocean 30% more acidic than it was just 200 years ago, with devastating consequences for corals, mollusks, fish, and entire ecosystems. Pollution from plastics to fertilizers creates massive “dead zones” and swirling gyres of garbage that further sicken the seas upon which the health of the planet depends. Unabated overfishing has shown that 90% of the big fish in the sea are now gone.¶ How can we turn back this tide of challenges affecting the health of our ocean unless we first value the ocean? And valuing it means not just taking a personal interest, but taking the time to understand the challenges and creating real incentives, particularly financial incentives, behind the sustainable use of our ocean.¶ By building industries that have a vested interest in the ocean, we stand a much better chance of protecting the health of the planet. This is the model of XPRIZE: to catalyze industries that not only build economies based on new frontiers, but industries that become the leaders in serving humanity’s needs now and in the future.¶ There is a very real opportunity with our ocean to build these industries. Because they remain unexplored, there is tremendous value still ready to be discovered. Indeed, the opportunities for things like pharmaceuticals from deep-sea creatures bring us new biochemical discoveries from nearly every deep-sea mission. And with an estimated 91% of sea life still unknown, this gives us a literal ocean of opportunity to discover more.¶ By properly measuring and documenting the chemical and physical characteristics of our seas, we can initiate whole new industries in ocean services – the type of data-driven information and forecasting that can be used by every company dependent on the ocean, from tourism to trade to weather services.¶ I believe now is the critical time to ignite a new age of ocean exploration. At XPRIZE we recently launched our second ocean prize, the Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE, to spur development of breakthroughs in pH measuring tools that explore the chemistry of our seas. And we are, for the first time, committing to launch three additional ocean prizes by 2020. Because we trust that by harnessing the power of innovation, and the dreams of explorers around the world, valuable new discoveries can help us achieve a healthy ocean.

AT: Nations Say No

Countries open to S&T coop ─ China proves

Colglazier 13 | William Colgazier is the Science and Tech advisor to the secretary of state. He holds a PhD in theoretical physics from CalTech. < “The Imperatives of Innovation and Cooperation,” October 23, 2013. http://www.state.gov/e/stas/2013/218703.htm?goMobile=0. TG>

Lastly, I would like to briefly review current collaborations between the governments of the U.S. and China regarding innovation. Our governments participate in multiple discussions and support concrete collaborations in innovation. A government to government dialogue -- the annual high-level session of the U.S.-China Innovation Dialogue -- is a strategic science and technology and economic policy conversation between the world’s two largest economies. The Dialogue was established in 2010, and has served as an important mechanism for our continued discussions about the proper role of government in the innovation process. We had productive discussions in July 2013 on the role of government in financing innovation, and we hope to continue to use this mechanism to make tangible progress on areas of mutual concern in the future. In addition, our governments engage with representatives from think tanks, universities, companies at events like the Dialogue on Comparing U.S. and Chinese Approaches to Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy Decision-Making, which the University of California, San Diego hosted in August. Speakers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) joined U.S. government officials and experts from outside government for discussions of how innovation policy is formulated in our two countries, the roles of the major players in that formulation, and the similarities and differences in our approaches to the role of government in encouraging innovation.

Intl Coop Solve Oceans

International ocean cooperation vital to preserve ocean ecosystems.

Howard 14 (Brian, Writer, Editor, and Producer of National Geographic, Managing Editor of the Environmental Magazine, "Global Ocean Commission Calls for Sweeping International Reforms", National Geographic, June 24, 2014, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/06/140624-global-ocean-commission-report-high-seas-fishing-environment/) jml

An international panel of former heads of state, government ministers, and prominent business leaders is calling for world leaders to protect the ocean by adopting a sweeping "five-year rescue package."The report released Tuesday by the Global Ocean Commission recommends that the United Nations and national governments restrict fishing in international waters, eliminate fishing subsidies, step up the fight against illegal fishing, reduce pollution, and establish greater international cooperation on marine issues. Nations must "intervene to reduce degradation of the ocean, and it must be forceful," commission co-chair Trevor Manuel tells National Geographic. The independent, 17-member commission—launched in February 2013 by the Pew Charitable Trusts, the University of Oxford, Adessium Foundation, and Oceans 5—spent 18 months researching and drafting the report. The commission's conclusions have been widely anticipated by policymakers at the UN and in many nations, in part due to the political clout of the commissioners. Members include Carol Browner, the former head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; David Miliband, the former foreign secretary of the United Kingdom; and Paul Martin, a former prime minister of Canada. Without swift action to combat overfishing, pollution, and other problems, the commission argues, the world's food supply and biodiversity are at great risk. The ocean, the commission notes, provides half of the planet's oxygen, absorbs half of man-made carbon emissions, and is the beginning of the food chain. "It's clearly important that nations raise the bar on international cooperation around the ocean," says Manuel, a veteran politician from South Africa who served as the country's minister of finance for 13 years.

Exploration K/T Development

Exploration is vital to development policy.

McNutt 13 (Marcia, Ocean Exploration 2020 Executive Chair and editor-in-chief of Science, “Accelerating Ocean Exploration”. Science. August 30, 2013. http://people.stfx.ca/rscrosat/trs14.pdf. Nyy)

Last month, a distinguished group of ocean researchers and explorers convened in Long Beach, California, at the Aquarium of the Pacific to assess progress and future prospects in ocean exploration. Thirteen years ago, U.S. President Clinton challenged a similar group to provide a blueprint for ocean exploration and discovery. Since then, the fundamental rationale has not changed: to collect high-quality data on the physics, chemistry biology, and geology of the oceans that can be used to answer known questions as well as those we do not yet know enough to pose, to develop new instruments and systems to explore the ocean in new dimensions, and to engage a new generation of youth in science and technology. Recently, however, exploration has taken on a more urgent imperative: to record the substantial changes occurring in largely undocumented regions of the ocean. With half of the ocean more than 10 kilometers from the nearest depth surrounding, ecosystem function in the deep sea still a mystery an no first-order baseline for many globally important ocean processes, the current pace of exploration is woefully inadequate to address this daunting task, especially as the planet responds to changes in climate. To meet this challenge, future ocean exploration must depart dramatically from the classical ship-based expeditions of the past devoted to mapping and sampling. As a first step, future exploration should make better use of autonomous platforms that are equipped with a broader array of in situ sensors, for lower-cost data gathering. Fortunately, new, more nimble, and easily deployed platforms are available, ranging from $200 kits for build-your-own remotely operated vehicles to long-range autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), solar-powered autonomous platforms, autonomous boats, AUVs that operate cooperatively in swarming behavior through the use of artificial intelligence, and gliders that can cross entire oceans. New in situ chemical and biological sensors allow the probing of ocean processes in real time in ways not possible if samples are processed later in laboratories. Exploration also would greatly benefit from improvements in telepresence. For expeditions that require ships (very distant from shore and requiring the return of complex samples), experts on shore can now "join" through satellite links, enlarging the pool of talent available to comment on the importance of discoveries as they happen and to participate in real-time decisions that affect expedition planning. This type of communication can enrich the critical human interactions that guide the discovery process on such expeditions. Words such as "crowd sourcing," "crowd funded," and "citizen scientist" are nowhere to be found in the President's Ocean Exploration Panel report of 2000, but at the Long Beach meeting, intense excitement revolved around growing public engagement in many aspects of ocean exploration through mechanisms that did not exist 13 years ago. However, there is not yet a body of experience on how to take advantage of this new paradigm on the scale of a problem as large as ocean exploration. For example, what tasks are most suitable for citizen scientists, and how can they be trained efficiently? Can the quality control of their work be automated? Can crowd-sources tasks be scheduled to avoid duplication and gaps? Should any region of the ocean receive priority? Although the southern oceans are still largely unexplored, and coral reef hot spots for biodiversity are gravely imperiled by ocean warming and acidification, there was much support by Long Beach participants for prioritizing the Arctic, a region likely to experience some of the most extreme climate change impacts. An ice-free ocean could affect weather patterns, sea conditions, and ecosystem dynamics and invite increases in shipping, tourism, energy extraction, and mining. Good decisions by Arctic nations on Arctic stewardship, emergency preparedness, economic development, and climate change adaptation will need to be informed by good science. Exploration of this frontier needs to provide a useful informational baseline for future decisions.

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