The fifty states of the United States should
States solve – energy infrastructure
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- Fed fails – jurisdiction of the two branches, but states solve Keystone Pipeline
- States should be more active in regulating energy pipelines
- Midwestern states agree to the construction of oil pipelines
States solve – energy infrastructureStates solve for energy infrastructureMyers ’09 (Doug Myers, The Council of State Governments, “Energy Infrastructure in the States: Pathways to Reliability,” The Book of the States 2009, pp. 496-499, http://knowledgecenter.csg.org/drupal/system/files/myers_1.pdf, SSR) States may undertake several efforts to improve energy reliability. Below are five policy options viable for state policymakers to consider. 1) States should require utilities to institute efficiency measures. Because utilities profit by increasing sales of electricity, states should incentivize efficiency programs by decoupling profits from sales to ensure utilities are appropriately compensated. Efficiency will offset the need for some new generation and is a low-cost option. 2) States should promote demand-side management and distributed generation. Programs such as advanced metering will allow customers to see the real-time rates of electricity and control their energy usage accordingly. And promoting distributed generation – electricity generation from a non-centralized source such as mini windmills and rooftop solar panels that supplement centralized power – through interconnection standards that ensure favorable rates of return will incentivize homeowners and businesses owners to adopt distributed generation. These programs which are shaping up to be a part of the nation’s Smart Grid – an effort to digitize and network all components of the transmission system to improve efficiency – have the potential to save consumers and utilities tens of billions of dollars annually in energy expenditures and forfeited economic activity resulting from power outages by offsetting the need for peak generation, repairing outages rapidly and remotely, and allowing consumers to monitor and control power consumption through pricing signals. 3) States should work collaboratively to identify potential routes for transmission lines. This will allow utilities and transmission companies to fast-track development of new transmission. States should also map out acceptable sites for new generation facilities. Buy-in will be much easier to achieve by taking into consideration citizen, environmental and business concerns ahead of time. 4) States should diversify their electricity generation and liquid fuel sources. An over-reliance on one type of fuel, such as natural fas, can pose problems when supply is heavily curtailed. For example, as a result of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which struck in the Gulf Coast in 200, 75 percent of processing capacity was shut down. This may require taking a closer look at nuclear power, instituting renewable portfolio standards and exploring alternative fuels such as coal-to-liquids with carbon capture and sequestration. 5) States should stimulate investment through tax credits favorable to all the above. This will ensure investors find it profitable to undertake new infrastructure projects and will help ensure stable and reliable service. Fed fails – jurisdiction of the two branches, but states solve Keystone PipelineVann et al ’12 (Adam Vann, Legislative Attorney, Kristina Alexander, Legislative Attorney, Vanessa K. Burrows, Legislative Attorney, Kenneth R. Thomas, Legislative Attorney, Congressional Research Service, “Proposed Keystone XL Pipeline: Legal Issues,” http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42124.pdf, SSR) Pursuant to the requirements of Title V, on January 18, 2012, the State Department recommended¶ that “the presidential permit for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline be denied and, that at this¶ time, the TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline be determined not to serve the national interest.”¶ The same day, the President stated his determination that the Keystone XL pipeline project¶ “would not serve the national interest.” New legislative activity with respect to the permitting of border-crossing facilities, a subject previously handled exclusively by the executive branch, has triggered inquiries as to whether this raises constitutional issues related to the jurisdiction of the two branches over such facilities.¶ Additionally, as states have begun to contemplate taking action with respect to the pipeline siting,¶ some have questioned whether state siting of a pipeline is preempted by federal law. Others argue¶ that states dictating the route of the pipeline violates the dormant Commerce Clause of the Constitution which, among other things, prohibits one state from acting to protect its own interests to the detriment of other states. States should be more active in regulating energy pipelinesMasson ’12 (John Masson, University of Michigan Law School, “MLaw students contribute to a report about oil pipelines in the Great Lakes region,” Citing "After the Marshall Spill: Oil Pipelines in the Great Lakes Region," http://www.law.umich.edu/newsandinfo/features/Pages/gosmanpipelines.aspx, SSR) Among the key findings: the federal government doesn't review the long-term risks of pipeline routing decisions, a federal program requiring pipeline operators to assess the condition of existing pipelines protects only some of the region's environmentally sensitive areas, and the responsibility for reviewing spill contingency plans may be inadequate because review responsibility is divided between federal agencies.¶ "One of the things that came out of the study that was most surprising to me was that there's no federal oversight of the routing of oil pipelines, unlike natural gas pipelines," Gosman said. "So we looked at the Great Lakes states" to see whether the states tried to provide that oversight.¶ The analysis recommended several policy changes at the state and federal level designed to help regulators do a better job protecting a region that contains 20 percent of the world's fresh water. (Although the work was conducted under the Law School's Environmental Law & Policy Program, the findings and policy recommendations are the authors'.)¶ Among the policy recommendations: First, laws governing pipelines should take into account the Great Lakes basin as a whole, paying particular attention to all of its environmentally sensitive areas. Second, information about pipelines should be much more available to the public, while protecting national security interests. And third, states should take a more aggressive role in regulating the intrastate pipelines that fall within their jurisdictions, at the same time as they help the federal government oversee pipelines that run between states.¶ Midwestern states agree to the construction of oil pipelinesGrossman ’11 (Ilene Grossman, The Midwestern office of the council of state governments, Vol. 20, No.12, December 2011“Decisions on oil pipeline run through Midwest,” Stateline Midwest, http://www.csgmidwest.org/policyresearch/documents/1211.pdf, SSR) In Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, the states’ public utilities commissions have the authority to approve or deny applications to construct crude oil pipelines. (South Dakota granted a permit¶ for Keystone XL in 2010, contingent on TransCanada¶ meeting 50 different conditions; the pipeline route¶ did not run through Minnesota and North Dakota.)¶ Nebraska, though, had no such processes in place¶ — until November.¶ The new laws approved during the special session¶ will establish a siting permit process for the state¶ while also authorizing and funding an environmental¶ impact study of TransCanada’s proposed pipeline.¶ “From the beginning, I sought a process similar to¶ what neighboring states have to determine the route of¶ oil pipelines,” says Nebraska Sen. Annette Dubas, who¶ helped push for the special session and served as the¶ sponsor of the Major Oil Pipeline Siting Act, LB 1.¶ Under this new law, the Nebraska Public Service Commission has the authority to evaluate and approve applications to site major oil pipelines in the state. The¶ applicant will have to pay any costs associated with¶ public hearings and state investigations. 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