West Coast Publishing Ocean 2014 affirmative page

Offshore Wind Aff Description

Thesis and Description:

Offshore wind energy offers huge potential for the generation of electricity in the United States. The massive amount of U.S. coastline provides an excellent opportunity to reduce harmful emissions from fossil fuels, while increasing jobs and economic growth. Moreover, establishing large wind farms can bolster biodiversity by creating artificial habitats. Most surprisingly, new studies show that large offshore wind farms can significantly reduce the strength of hurricanes and the resulting damage. Currently, the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) was supported by the Senate Finance Committee, but later blocked by Senate Republicans. This means there is a clear inherent barrier, as well as a link to politics.

Offshore Wind 1AC

Observation One: Inherency

The Senate Finance vote supporting the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) added momentum, but Congress has not extended credits essential to significant offshore wind expansion

Daniel Hess, Staff Writer, April 4, 2014, “Senate Finance Committee Votes to Extend the ITC for Offshore Wind,” Oceana,

http://oceana.org/en/blog/2014/04/senate-finance-committee-votes-to-extend-the-itc-for-offshore-wind, Accessed 5/14/2014

The Senate Finance committee gave a strong bipartisan show of support for domestic offshore wind energy yesterday by voting to extend the critical investment tax credit. This vote resurrects a crucial incentive for this nascent clean energy industry and offers a great chance to catapult the industry into the mainstream and allow companies to plan successful projects that take advantage of the nation’s vast offshore wind potential. The vote also shows that the United States is finally getting serious about transitioning to a clean and domestically produced energy future that mitigates the effects of global climate change and creates thousands of good-paying American jobs in the process. Today’s action adds to the momentum being felt by the offshore wind industry. The federal government is now holding multiple competitive lease sales along the Atlantic Coast, the Cape Wind and Block Island projects are moving forward, and an Oregon floating wind project recently received approval to develop its offshore wind resources. While this is a great victory, the fight to extend the ITC is far from over. Now is not the time to let up our efforts. Contact your Representatives and Senators and make sure they know how important an extension of the ITC is for the future of offshore wind, and of clean and domestic energy in the United States!

PLAN: The United States federal government should permanently extend the Investment Tax Credit for offshore wind energy in the United States

Advantage One: Economic Growth

A. Superstorm Sandy caused $50 billion in damage, but a $500 billion hurricane is inevitable

Anthony R. Wood and Sandy Bauers, Staff Writers, October 29, 2013, “Experts Hope to Use Lessons of Sandy to Deal with Bigger Storms,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, reposted on Emergency Management, http://www.emergencymgmt.com/disaster/Experts-Use-Lessons-Sandy.html, Accessed 5/14/2014
The historic cyclone that made landfall on this date last year was so powerful and devastating that it was designated a "superstorm," had its name retired, and entered the tropical storm hall of fame. But hurricane experts fear that something far worse than Sandy, blamed for $50 billion in damage, is brewing. In the next two decades, the nation could experience a $500 billion storm. The sea level is rising, and global warming might affect future storms. But even if the world's temperature stops rising before you finish this paragraph, hurricanes far more damaging than Sandy are all but a certainty, they say.

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B. Extending the Investment Tax Credit for offshore wind creates over 200,000 jobs and can drive investments over $70 billion by 2030

Oceana, the largest international organization focused solely on ocean conservation, 2014, “Petition: Give Clean Offshore Wind a Chance,” https://takeaction.takepart.com/actions/give-clean-offshore-wind-a-chance, Accessed 5/14/2014

The Investment Tax Credit for offshore wind is the single most important incentive for stimulating investment in this clean energy industry and must be included in any tax extenders package the U.S. Senate votes on. According to the Department of Energy’s estimates, the U.S. has more than 4,000 gigawatts of offshore wind power potential, which is enough to power the U.S. four times over. The DOE also estimates that the offshore wind industry could support up to 200,000 manufacturing, construction, operation, and supply chain jobs across the country and drive more than $70 billion in annual investments by 2030. If the U.S. wants to take advantage of this incredible potential, we must extend the ITC and create a more certain regulatory environment so the industry can plan successful projects that operate efficiently and bring clean energy and good-paying jobs to our shores.

C. Continued decline of the manufacturing sector eliminates the chance for robust economic growth

Walter Musial, Principal Engineer, National Wind Technology Center at NREL and Bonnie Ram, Ram Power, L.L.C., September 2010, “Large-Scale Offshore Wind Power in the United States, Assessment of Opportunities and Barriers, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NERL), http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy10osti/40745.pdf, Accessed 5/10/2014

The nation is also recovering from the most significant economic downturn since the Great Depression. Economists are raising concerns about a return to economic slowdown (gross domestic product [GDP] growth fell from 3.7% in the first quarter of 2010 to 2.4% in the second quarter of 2010) and the prospect of a jobless recovery (as of this writing, the unemployment rate is at 9.5%, down just 0.6 percentage points from its high of 10.1% in October 2009; see Bureau of Economic Analysis 2010; Bureau of Labor Statistics 2010). In addition, the U.S. manufacturing sector, traditionally a source of economic strength, has been buffeted by the outsourcing of production operations overseas and, more recently, the recession. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the manufacturing industry as a whole lost more than 4.1 million jobs between 1998 and 2008 and suggest that the sector will lose an additional 1.2 million jobs by 2018. A continued decline in manufacturing activity will likely increase our nation’s trade deficit; eliminate stable, high-wage jobs for skilled domestic workers; and generally reduce the potential for robust economic growth.

D. The U.S. is key to global economic growth in 2015. That growth will be moderate and prone to short-term instabilities

Nicholas J. Mangee, an assistant professor of economics at Armstrong Atlantic State University, April 24, 2014, “Our economic times: IMF reports U.S. economy to drive global growth,” Business in Savannah, http://businessinsavannah.com/bis/2014-04-24/our-economic-times-imf-reports-us-economy-drive-global-growth#.U3jaf_k8CSo, Accessed 5/18/2014

The fact that the U.S. has emerged from the global recession with a stronger recovery than most advanced nations is an auspicious sign for economic prospects through 2015. One potential area catalyzing the continued, albeit moderate, expansion may involve domestic oil production. In fact, recent data from the Energy Information Administration show that the U.S. is importing the least amount of oil since 1996, while domestic production continues to expand. With fiscal drag finally dissipating in the U.S., there appears to be reason for founded economic optimism. There does, however, remain the very real threat of short-term — and often unproductive — political business cycles, which so commonly accompany midterm and general elections.

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E. Economic collapse causes global nuclear war

Cesare Merlini, nonresident senior fellow at the Center on the United States and Europe and The Brookings Institute, April 2011, “A Post-Secular World?,” Survival, Volume 53, Issue 2, pp. 117 – 130.

Two neatly opposed scenarios for the future of the world order illustrate the range of possibilities, albeit at the risk of oversimplification. The first scenario entails the premature crumbling of the post-Westphalian system. One or more of the acute tensions apparent today evolves into an open and traditional conflict between states, perhaps even involving the use of nuclear weapons. The crisis might be triggered by a collapse of the global economic and financial system, the vulnerability of which we have just experienced, and the prospect of a second Great Depression, with consequences for peace and democracy similar to those of the first. Whatever the trigger, the unlimited exercise of national sovereignty, exclusive self-interest and rejection of outside interference would likely be amplified, emptying, perhaps entirely, the half-full glass of multilateralism, including the UN and the European Union. Many of the more likely conflicts, such as between Israel and Iran or India and Pakistan, have potential religious dimensions. Short of war, tensions such as those related to immigration might become unbearable. Familiar issues of creed and identity could be exacerbated. One way or another, the secular rational approach would be sidestepped by a return to theocratic absolutes, competing or converging with secular absolutes such as unbridled nationalism.

Advantage Two: Hurricanes

A. The status quo approach involves expensive sea walls that offer little to no protection from inevitable hurricanes. Substantially expanding offshore wind can prevent billions in damage and needless deaths by mitigating hurricane intensity

Mark Z. Jacobson, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Cristina L. Archer, College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, University of Delaware, and Willett Kempton, College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Delaware, March 2014, “Taming hurricanes with arrays of offshore wind turbines,” Nature Climate Change, vol. 4, pp. 195-200, http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v4/n3/full/nclimate2120.html, Accessed 5/11/2014

Hurricane damage is increasing with expanding coastal development and rising sea levels. Increasing temperatures may also increase hurricane intensity, but it is uncertain whether hurricane intensity changes so far have exceeded natural variability. Continuing a long-term problem of hurricane damage, Hurricane Sandy in 2012 caused ~$82 billion in damage to three US states and 253 fatalities in seven countries. Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of New Orleans, Louisiana. Following Hurricane Sandy, sea walls were proposed to protect cities from hurricane storm surge. Such walls might cost $10-$29 billion for one city, protect the areas only right behind the walls, and limit the access of populations to coastal zones. Large arrays of wind-wave pumps, which bring deep, cool water to the surface have also been proposed to reduce hurricane intensity. This technology also serves one purpose. This study quantitatively tests whether large arrays of wind turbines installed offshore in front of major cities and along key coastal areas can extract sufficient kinetic energy from hurricane winds to reduce wind speed and storm surge, thus preventing damage to coastal structures as well as to the offshore turbines themselves. Unlike sea walls, offshore wind turbines would reduce both wind speed and storm surge and would generate electricity year-round.

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B. Ocean wind farms substantially lower the wind speed of approaching hurricanes creating a dissipating feedback

Anthony Watts, Staff Writer, February 27, 2014, “Claim: Offshore Wind Turbines for ‘Taming Hurricanes’,” WUWT,

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/02/27/claim-offshore-wind-turbines-for-taming-hurricanes/, Accessed 5/10/2014

In the new study, the researchers took a closer look at how the turbines’ wind extraction might affect hurricanes. Unlike normal weather patterns that make up global climate over the long term, hurricanes are unusual, isolated events that behave very differently. Thus, the authors hypothesized that a hurricane might be more affected by wind turbines than are normal winds. “Hurricanes are a different animal,” Archer said. Using their sophisticated climate-weather model, the researchers simulated hurricanes Katrina, Isaac and Sandy to examine what would happen if large wind farms, with tens of thousands of turbines, had been in the storms’ paths. They found that, as the hurricane approached, the wind farm would remove energy from the storm’s edge and slow down the fast-moving winds. The lower wind speeds at the hurricane’s perimeter would gradually trickle inwards toward the eye of the storm. “There is a feedback into the hurricane that is really fascinating to examine,” said Archer, an expert in both meteorology and engineering. The highest reductions in wind speed were by up to 87 mph for Hurricane Sandy and 92 mph for Hurricane Katrina.

C. Even smaller arrays in the interim can reduce the impact of hurricanes

Wendy Koch, Staff Writer, February 26, 2014, “Offshore wind farms can tame hurricanes, study finds,” USA Today, http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/02/26/offshore-wind-farms-tame-hurricanes/5813425/, Accessed 5/10/2014

An array of 78,000 wind turbines — each 50 feet tall — off New Orleans could have slowed Katrina's wind speeds up to 78 mph and cut its storm surge up to 79%. An even larger phalanx off the East Coast could have reduced Sandy's winds up to 87 mph and its storm surge up to 34%. These farms minimize a city's storm surge most when located directly upwind. Jacobson says smaller offshore wind farms also reduce a hurricane's wrath but at a lesser rate. Overall, "turbines cost much less than sea walls to protect a city given that the turbines also generate electricity," says the study, co-authored by Cristina Archer and Willett Kempton of the University of Delaware.

D. Hurricanes cause long-term ecological damage to species and habitats that cascade across ecosystems

Gail Scowcroft, Project Director of the Hurricanes: Science and Society project at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography, et al., 2013, “Ecosystem Perspective: What can a hurricane do to the environment?,” http://www.hurricanescience.org/ society/impacts/environmentalimpacts/, Accessed 5/17/2014

In addition to impacting individuals, homes, and communities, hurricanes also have a profound effect on the environment, especially estuarine and coastal habitats. Hurricanes generate strong winds that can completely defoliate forest canopies and cause dramatic structural changes in wooded ecosystems. Animals can either be killed by hurricanes or impacted indirectly through changes in habitat and food availability caused by high winds, storm surge, and intense rainfall. Endangered species can be dramatically impacted, such as the Puerto Rican Parrot (Amazona vittata), whose population was reduced to half its original size after the passage of Hurricane Hugo in 1989.Hurricane Gilbert pushed the Cozumel Thrasher (Toxostoma guttatum), found only on Mexico’s Isla Cozumel, to the edge of extinction in 1988. In addition to impacting animals, storm surge and dangerous waves can move large amounts of sand and ultimately reshape the coastal landscape. Hurricanes such asIvan (2004), Katrina and Rita (2005), and Gustav and Ike (2008) have led to shoreline position changes of about 100 m (328 ft) in some regions. The loss of land from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita alone was estimated to be about 73 square miles. By changing environmental conditions in coastal habitats, hurricanes cause a cascade of direct and indirect ecological responses that range from immediate to long-term. In terms of environmental effects, no two hurricanes are alike. Individual characteristics, such as the storm’s forward speed, size, intensity, and amount of precipitation, play a large role in the type and temporal extent of a hurricane’s impact. Depending on many of these factors, even tropical storms can cause severe damage to property and natural resources.

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E. Protecting every ecosystem possible is essential to human survival

Reese Halter, PhD, Biology, December 13, 2013, “Why Biodiversity Matters,” Malibu Times, http://www.malibutimes.com/blogs/ article_4fe268e4-6365-11e3-bf88-001a4bcf887a.html, Accessed 5/14/2014

In order for 7.1 billion people (and growing to 8 billion by 2023) to exist on Earth, we require old growth forests and tropical jungles to provide fresh water, white clouds to reflect incoming solar radiation at the tropics, oxygen and habitats for all the critters.  Scientists must be allowed to study these magnificent ancient forests to understand how they work. Accordingly, a moratorium on logging any ancient forests on Earth is requisite. Wild forests contain untold cancer fighting and pain-relieving medicines. In addition, big trees are the most remarkable carbon warehouses to have ever evolved on our planet! If we deprive a species of what it needs to live, it becomes extinct. Globally, over the past 50 years, thousands of species have gone extinct due to human population pressures and destruction of habitat from mining and logging. Conservation biology is a relatively new, exciting and challenging branch of science. The discipline is charged with the responsibility of maintaining biological diversity or the tapestry of life on our planet.  Protecting all remaining wild ecosystems brimming with biodiversity -- in face of rapid human-induced climate change -- is our salvation.

Contention One: Solvency

A. Extending the ITC for offshore wind will reduce U.S. dependence on fossil fuels, create jobs, and combat climate change

Oceana, the largest international organization focused solely on ocean conservation, 2014, “Petition: Give Clean Offshore Wind a Chance,” https://takeaction.takepart.com/actions/give-clean-offshore-wind-a-chance, Accessed 5/14/2014

Momentum is steadily building in the U.S. offshore wind industry. Even with promising developments, the U.S. still lags far behind the rest of the world in developing this clean, safe, and abundant technology. Not only is Europe well on its way to having more than nine gigawatts of offshore wind energy spinning off its shores, but China is also rapidly getting in on the game. The long-term availability of the ITC is crucial to continuing this strong momentum and will give the industry a much needed boost so that the U.S. can finally realize all of the environmental and economic benefits of this clean, domestic industry and become a leader on the global clean energy stage. Do not let the offshore wind industry get phased out before it ever gets phased in. I urge you to capitalize on the offshore wind industry’s momentum and spearhead the nation’s transition to a clean and renewable energy source that will reduce our dependence on dirty fossil fuels, create long-term domestic jobs, combat global climate change, and save our oceans. Please vote to extend the Investment Tax Credit for offshore wind.

B. Offshore wind will compete with fossil fuels and meets electricity demand

Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Wind & Water Power Program and Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement, February 2011, A National Offshore Wind Strategy: Creating an Offshore Wind Energy Industry in the United States, http://www1.eere.energy.gov/wind/pdfs/ national_offshore_wind_strategy.pdf, Accessed 4/13/2014

High electricity costs in coastal regions, more energetic wind regimes offshore, and close proximity of offshore wind resources to major electricity demand centers could allow offshore wind to compete relatively quickly with fossil fuel‐based electricity generation in many coastal areas. The 28 coastal and Great Lakes states in the continental United States use 78% of the nation’s electricity while facing higher retail electricity rates than their inland neighbors (Figure 3). Mid‐Atlantic and Northeastern coastal states in particular face a dual problem: high electricity costs and dependence on high‐carbon, price‐volatile supplies of fossil fuel for generation. In states without substantial land‐based renewable resources, offshore wind deployment will be critical to meet their renewable energy standards or goals. In states with high electricity rates, offshore wind energy may quickly become cost‐competitive. Finally, the proximity of offshore wind resources to major electrical load centers minimizes the need to build new transmission capacity to serve those centers.

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C. The new DOE projects are insignificant. Congress must immediately renew the ITC for offshore wind to jumpstart the industry

Daniel Hess, Staff Writer, May 8, 2014, “DOE Gives Huge Boost to Clean Energy by Awarding Nearly $150 Million to Three Offshore Wind Projects,” Oceana, http://oceana.org/en/blog/2014/05/doe-gives-huge-boost-to-clean-energy-by-awarding-nearly-150-million-to-three-offshore-wind-projects, Accessed 5/14/2014

Oceana ocean advocate Nancy Sopko lauded the news: "We applaud the Department of Energy’s announcement awarding nearly $150 million to three regionally and technologically diverse offshore wind projects, an announcement which represents the continued forward motion of U.S. offshore wind.  These awards provide much-needed support to a growing and promising industry that will provide clean, renewable energy, while helping to slow the effects of global climate change, creating thousands of good-paying domestic jobs, and making us leaders in the global clean energy market." This announcement continues the growing momentum we’ve seen in the U.S. offshore wind industry over the past few years.  However, the continued uncertainty surrounding the availability of the critically-important Investment Tax Credit for offshore wind puts a promising clean energy future in jeopardy. "This announcement sends a clear signal that the administration is committed to developing this clean energy, job-creating industry.  But the administration cannot do this alone.  Congress must renew the Investment Tax Credit for offshore wind immediately to stimulate private investment and jumpstart a thriving domestic offshore wind industry so that we can finally begin to reap all of the environmental and economic benefits of this domestic clean energy resource," said Sopko.

D. Extending the ITC is essential to galvanize the offshore wind industry

Zack Colman, Staff Writer, March 7, 2014, “Offshore wind lobbies for credit to keep industry from blowing away,” Washington Examiner, http://washingtonexaminer.com/offshore-wind-lobbies-for-credit-to-keep-industry-from-blowing-away/article/2545151, Accessed 5/14/2014

Companies looking to build an offshore wind industry are lobbying lawmakers to extend a key tax incentive as a larger onshore wind credit faces congressional headwinds. No wind power is currently generated off U.S. coasts, though the Obama administration is hoping to change that. It already has proposed three commercial leases in Maryland, Virginia and Rhode Island. More are likely on the way — the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory says U.S. coasts could yield 429,000 megawatts of offshore wind electricity. Electricity capacity totaled roughly 1.1 million megawatts in 2011, according to the Energy Information Administration. Locking up financing is another story. Without the tax credit, one industry source said, projects might never come to fruition. That's why the industry is pounding the marbled pavement of Capitol Hill in hopes of including a one-year extension of an investment tax credit in a possible tax extenders package. The credit, which gives developers up to 30 percent of the project cost in cash up front, expired last year. The industry's boosters say they are being realistic. While they want a long-term extension, they know the GOP is even reluctant to renew an onshore production tax credit. Companies are trying to convince Republicans that the offshore credit, like the onshore one, is a jobs issue.