Chicago Debate League 2013/14 Core Files
NC Extensions: A/t - #3 “Regulations Won’t Solve” [1/2] 287
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- 2NC Extensions: A/t - 3 “Regulations Won’t Solve” [2/2] 288
- 2NC Extensions: A/t - 4 “Republicans Will Win” [1/2] 289
2NC Extensions: A/t - #3 “Regulations Won’t Solve” [1/2] 2871) The new regulations are a comprehensive approach to global warming that tackles the biggest emission source, power plants. Extend our GUARDIAN evidence. 2) Obama’s rules target power plants, which are the most important contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL, 13 [Grace Gill; “Presidential Leadership: President Obama Announces Landmark Climate Action Plan”, 6/28, http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/ggill/presidential_leadership_presid.html] This week, President Obama took a big step towards combating climate change and reducing carbon pollution. In a speech at Georgetown University, the President unveiled his plan to limit greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants. It was an historic moment in moving the national agenda forward on climate and protecting communities and our natural environment. Power plants are the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, accounting for 40 percent of our carbon footprint in the atmosphere. With the atmospheric content of carbon dioxide reaching an unprecedented 400 parts per million last month, the time to act to curb emissions is now. 3) Power plants and infrastructure last the longest and are comparatively key to battling global warming. FIELD, 13 [Chris, director of the Department of Global Ecology of the Carnegie Institution for Science and co-chair of a working group tasked with assessing climate change impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; “Obama is right on climate change”, 6/29, http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/28/opinion/field-obama-climate-change] The first step? Address the root of the issue, and this is why the action Obama outlined is smart. The plan recognizes the breadth of the problem and focuses on a wide range of emissions sources. It also recognizes that not all the damages can be avoided and that building resilience needs to be a part of the package. Taking action now is also cost-effective. Slowing and eventually stopping emissions will take time. The global energy system producing most of the carbon dioxide emissions is massive, and includes thousands of power plants and more than a billion vehicles. The components of the energy system are long-lasting: Cars are driven for one to two decades. Power plants are designed to run for up to a half-century. Buildings, which use energy for heating, cooling, lighting, and running equipment, can stand for a century or more. 2NC Extensions: A/t - #3 “Regulations Won’t Solve” [2/2] 2884) It’s try or die: the longer emissions are allowed to grow, the more damage is done to the atmosphere and the less reversible changes become. FIELD, 13 [Chris, director of the Department of Global Ecology of the Carnegie Institution for Science and co-chair of a working group tasked with assessing climate change impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; “Obama is right on climate change”, 6/29, http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/28/opinion/field-obama-climate-change] Why the rush? Climate change is driven by emissions of a range of heat-trapping gases, especially the total emissions of carbon dioxide, which have been pumping out since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. How much? Through 2012, that total is about 1,700 billion tons of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel combustion and cutting down forests. In 2012, carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. were 19.4 tons per person or about 750 pounds per person per week. Per capita carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. may be lower now than they were in 1990, but the average American still emits three times the global average. Global annual carbon dioxide emissions continue to grow rapidly, with emissions in 2012 more than 50% above 1990 levels. Recently, and for the first time in more than 2 million years, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere climbed above 400 parts per million, 37% higher than in 1800. The resulting global warming, about 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit, will persist for at least 1,000 years. With every passing year, the pool of total carbon dioxide emissions grows bigger, causing more warming -- and more warming leads to greater damages from climate, weather extremes like heat waves, heavy rainfall, and coastal storm surge, as well as altered crop yields, threats to human health, and increased risks of wildfire. 2NC Extensions: A/t - #4 “Republicans Will Win” [1/2] 2891) Obama is in a unique position to win on climate change because public support and economic evidence is with him. Their evidence is generic and not about the actual regulations. Extend our NATIONAL JOURNAL evidence. 2) Cheap natural gas has made critics less afraid of electricity price spikes, so Obama can push through new policies. NATIONAL JOURNAL, 13 [Ronald Brownstein; “Time Is Ticking for Obama’s Climate Agenda”, 6/28, http://www.nationaljournal.com/columns/political-connections/time-is-ticking-for-obama-s-climate-agenda-20130627] The economic climate for action has also improved. Regulations that discourage coal by limiting carbon would follow the market’s existing current. In 2008, coal generated almost half of U.S. electricity and natural gas just one-fifth. But with low-cost domestic gas production booming through use of hydraulic fracturing (or “fracking”), utilities in 2012 relied nearly as much on natural gas (30 percent) as coal (37 percent). Although coal has slightly reopened its advantage as gas prices have inched up, the prospect of stable, affordable natural gas to replace coal is diminishing fear that emission limits would spike electricity prices; utility executives also find a transition to gas less jarring than the generational leap to solar or wind many envisaged in 2009. Because of low natural-gas prices, says Jerry Taylor, a senior fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute, “economically the table is set ... [for] a major move against coal.” 3) Current opposition to EPA regulations comes from politically weak states and critics that Democrats can overcome. NATIONAL JOURNAL, 13 [Ronald Brownstein; “Time Is Ticking for Obama’s Climate Agenda”, 6/28, http://www.nationaljournal.com/columns/political-connections/time-is-ticking-for-obama-s-climate-agenda-20130627] Politically Obama is better positioned for the fight, too. That’s not so much because public opinion has shifted. Comparing 2009 to 2013, Pew Research Center polls show that slightly more adults believe human activity is changing the climate, with gains heaviest among independents, the college-educated, and those under 50. Polls, however, show that most Americans don’t prioritize carbon reductions and remain leery of price rises. In terms of overall opinion, one senior White House official acknowledges, “this is a tough slog.” What’s changed politically since 2009 is that Obama’s reelection demonstrated Democrats could sustain a presidential majority despite unprecedented energy-industry spending against them. Resource-dependent states that generate the most carbon per dollar of economic output will probably erupt most over further EPA regulation. But in presidential races, Democrats can survive that hit: 17 of the 20 most carbon-intensive states (according to federal figures) voted for Mitt Romney in 2012, while 18 of the 20 least carbon-intensive backed Obama. The 14 Democratic senators from the most carbon-intensive states will face greater risk, but some would reduce their exposure by opposing any EPA regulation. Directory: wp-content -> uploads -> 2011 2011 -> Voices of the Old Sea Norman Lewis 2011 -> Malevil Robert Merle 2011 -> The Elephant Keeper’s Children Peter Hoeg 2011 -> Jv packet •Mars Colonization Affirmative •Mars Colonization Negative 2011 -> Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) omb no. 1024-0018 2011 -> All America Looks Up to Virginia;” Virginia and the Declaration of Independence 2011 -> Rao bulletin 2011 -> Christopher Columbus was born between 25 August and 31 October 1451 in 2011 -> The Battle of Frenchtown (1855), Washington Territory: the Political and Demographic Context rev 9/4/11 2011 -> Seti aff •seti neg •Asteroids Aff Download 3.16 Mb. Share with your friends:
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