High Speed Rail Affirmative 1ac – Energy Module (1/4)
Oil Dependence – Internal Links
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- Oil Dependence – Internal Links
- Competitiveness – Internal Link: Hegemony
Oil Dependence – Internal LinksHSR reduces oil dependence TODOROVICH, SCHNED, & LANE 11 1. director of America 2050, a national urban planning initiative, assistant visiting professor at the Pratt Institute Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment and a member of the Board of Advisors of the Eno Transportation Foundation, Masters in City and Regional Planning from the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University 2. associate planner for America 2050 at Regional Plan Association part-time lecturer at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public 3. senior fellow for urban design at Regional Plan Association and a founding principal of Plan & Process LLP. Loeb Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Design [Petra Todorovich, Daniel Schned, and Robert Lane, High-Speed Rail: International Lessons for U.S. Policy Makers, September 2011, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Policy Focus Report] Energy mix: High-speed rail is the only available mode of long-distance travel that currently is not dependent on motor fuels. High-speed rail is powered by electricity, which is not without environmental problems depending on its source (see table 2). If it is powered by electricity generated from fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas that discharge harmful greenhouse gas emissions, then its environmental benefits are limited. However, electricity is generally considered an improvement over petroleumgenerated power and provides a crucial advantage as the United States aims to reduce its dependence on foreign oil. Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor and parts of the Keystone Corridor (connecting Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Philadelphia) are electrified. Most other conventional passenger trains in America operate on freight rail lines and are powered by diesel fuel. HSR solves oil dependence WOOD 2 – 8 – 11 CSM Staff Writer [GOP critic calls Joe Biden's $53 billion high-speed rail plan 'insanity'. By: Wood, Daniel B., Christian Science Monitor, 08827729, 2/8/2011] Critics agree. Only two rail corridors in the world – France's Paris to Lyon line and Japan's Tokyo to Osaka line – cover their costs, says Ken Button, director of the Center for Transportation Policy at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.
The transportation system in the United States is highly dependent on oil. Fully 95 percent of all energy used for the nation’s transportation comes from petroleum.58 That dependence on oil—not only for cars but also for airplanes, trucks and trains— leaves Americans and U.S. businesses at the mercy of volatile world oil markets, erodes our energy independence, and hurts our economy. By building high-speed rail, the United States will reduce its dependence on oil for transportation—a sound, long- term investment in the nation’s economic future. Rail travel—particularly on electric trains—has some inherent energy-sav- ing advantages compared with cars or airplanes. Both cars and airplanes are, at the moment, completely reliant on oil, whereas trains can be powered by electricity generated from a variety of fuels, including renewable energy. Electric motors are also inherently more energy efficient than the internal combustion engines used in cars and trucks, which dissipate much of the energy in their fuel as heat. High-speed rail also competes favorably in terms of energy consumption with short-haul air- craft, which expend much of their energy on takeoff. (See page 9.) High-speed rail may also have secondary energy-saving impacts by encouraging pat- terns of development—including greater concentration of residential or business activity near high-speed rail stations—that reduce the distance of trips made in day- to-day travel. Competitiveness – Internal Link: HegemonyCompetitiveness is key to hegemony—science and technology innovation is vital to sustain leadership. Segal 4 — Adam Segal, Maurice R. Greenberg Senior Fellow in China Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, 2004 (“Is America Losing Its Edge?; Innovation in a Globalized World,” Foreign Affairs, January-February, Available Online to Subscribing Institutions via Lexis-Nexis) The United States' global primacy depends in large part on its ability to develop new technologies and industries faster than anyone else. For the last five decades, U.S. scientific innovation and technological entrepreneurship have ensured the country's economic prosperity and military power. It was Americans who invented and commercialized the semiconductor, the personal computer, and the Internet; other countries merely followed the U.S. lead. Today, however, this technological edge—so long taken for granted—may be slipping, and the most serious challenge is coming from Asia. Through competitive tax policies, increased investment in research and development(R&D), and preferential policies for science and technology (S&T) personnel, Asian governments are improving the quality of their science and ensuring the exploitation of future innovations. The percentage of patents issued to and science journal articles published by scientists in China, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan is rising. Indian companies are quickly becoming the second-largest producers of application services in the world, developing, supplying, and managing database and other types of software for clients around the world. South Korea has rapidly eaten away at the U.S. advantage in the manufacture of computer chips and telecommunications software. And even China has made impressive gains in advanced technologies such as lasers, biotechnology, and advanced materials used in semiconductors, aerospace, and many other types of manufacturing. Although the United States' technical dominance remains solid, the globalization of research and development is exerting considerable pressures on the American system. Indeed, as the United States is learning, globalization cuts both ways: it is both a potent catalyst of U.S. technological innovation and a significant threat to it. The United States will never be able to prevent rivals from developing new technologies; it can remain dominant only by continuing to innovate faster than everyone else. But this won't be easy; to keep its privileged position in the world, the United States must get better at fostering Directory: file -> view view -> Western Europe after wwii view -> Author study: paul fleischman view -> Qpa1 7ela study Guide view -> Arctic Oil/Gas Neg view -> November 1970 Approximately 150,000-500,000 deaths Bhola Cyclone Bangladesh view -> Grade Level: 6 Unit of Study: Caribbean glce view -> Citation: Duffield, Katy view -> Table of Contents Lesson # view -> Chinese Wind Energy Disad Download 0.59 Mb. Share with your friends:
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