Oceans Affirmatives

Exploration Cases

We Know Very Little About the Ocean Most of the ocean is unexplored—frequent claim is that we

know more about the surface of Mars than we do about most of the abyssal plain

Knowledge gaps exacerbate the disruptive effects of human activity

We also have little knowledge about (have under-theorized) how we are connected to the oceans

Monitoring Cases Acidification Bioindicators Climate Tsunami Weather / Storms

Other Exploration Affs Arctic Mapping Coastal Mappling Expeditions—Deep Sea, for example Explorations of Key Issues and Theories as they relate to the

Oceans (Migrations, Radical Ecologies) Exploration of How We Are Connected to the Oceans Find Flight 370 (Georgetown) Wide array of critical affs

Environmental Protection Cases

Ocean Environments Are in Trouble Populations of fish and other animals are WAY down in many

areas Critical marine ecosystems are under serious stress

Coral reefs Estuaries Mangroves

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) Create zones where particular (or even all) exploitive

activities are prohibited Claim to stabilize stressed ecosystems and provide positive

spillover effects to adjacent non-protected areas Very popular case on the old oceans topic Strong uniqueness angle because of the recent Obama

executive order creating a massive new MPA in the Pacific Robust literature support

Whales Whaling is governed by the International Whaling

Commission (IWC) Most countries have stopped killing whales Japan (1000+), Norway (1000+) and Iceland (200+) continue

to kill whales Most affirmative teams will try to use different inducement

mechanisms to decrease the killing of whales There is solvency evidence for transferrable whaling quotas

—ugh. Whaling!!!!

Other Environment AffsProhibit / Regulate Bad Practices

Ballast WaterCoastal DevelopmentCruise ShipsOil Transportation

Food Affirmatives

Oceans Are a Critical Food Source Somewhere around 1 billion people depend on marine

animals as their primary source of protein Fishing is a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States

and other countries

Potential CasesAquaculture

Fund it (R&D)Regulation--consistency

FisheriesAdjust existing TAC (total allowable catch)

systemsShift to individual quota systems (IQ, ITQ)Regulate destructive activities Bycatch Protections for specific species Trawling

Fish-specific management plans

Energy Affirmatives

Why Energy? Energy production (development) is really important—

transportation, food production, manufacturing, etc. There are major concerns about our energy supply:

Depletion—peak oil, etc. Pollution, esp. climate change Equity—the negative effects of energy production are not evenly

distributed There is a very large and well-developed literature base Cases can take a number of directions and claim a wide

variety of impacts

How Expand Energy Production? Exploration: Assess the ocean for particular energy

resources Fund: Provide resources for the development of energy

resources Research and development of new technology (R&D) Incentives—direct payments, tax preferences, etc. Direct government development—especially demonstration

projects Permit: Remove existing barriers that preclude non-

governmental entities from using the ocean to produce energy

Renewable Energy Sources Include many different technologies—will discuss these individually

in a few minutes Cases will typically argue that our current reliance on fossil fuels is

bad and that we need to develop alternative energy resources Oil / gas scarcity—peak oil/gas Oil / gas prices—expensive oil / gas is bad Oil / gas dependence is bad Climate change Pollution—air, water, etc. Energy equity

There are many other potential advantages relating to economic competitiveness, boosting particular industries, etc.

Wind Energy This is the packet aff—you are hopefully (somewhat) familiar

with it Solvency advocates typically identify at least two major to

wind energy expansion Cost—wind energy’s capital costs are high, and wind energy

remains more expensive that fossil fuels Regulations—both federal and state regulatory barriers make it

difficult to get new projects approved. Regulatory overlap between the states and federal government make things even more complicated

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) Capitalizes on the difference in temperature between surface

water (warm) and deep waters (cold) If you want to see diagrams, let me know and we can talk

about it another time—fairly involved tech Ridiculous impact claims…. Just…. Ridiculous A lot of the best lit is pretty old (late 70s/early 80s)

Other Renewables Hydrothermal Vent Energy Tidal Energy Wave Energy

Hydrocarbons Oil, natural gas, methane hydrates The oceans produce a LOT of oil and gas already—production

is centered in the Gulf of Mexico and the Alaska and California coasts

Most coastal areas and most of the OCS are *not* open to oil/gas exploration and development in the status quo

The EIA and other groups believe that there is a LOT of oil and gas in the OCS

Affirmative cases will likely allow for oil/gas exploration and/or open new areas to leasing and development. There is also solvency evidence for streamlining the permitting process

Hydrocarbons [cont’d] Two main avenues to access impacts

Production—more oil is good Prices—OCS development makes oil / gas cheaper, and that’s good

Advantage ground is very broad Economy

Domestic—jobs, competitiveness, specific industry, trade deficit, etc. internals International consumer—lower oil prices / higher production benefits the

economies of major oil importers, like China, the EU, India, etc. International producer—lower oil prices / higher production hurts the economies

of major oil exporters, like Russia, Venezuela, and Iran Leadership (oil dependence) Oil Wars / Geopolitics—mitigates competition over oil resources—lots of

scenarios, China is particularly good

Other Affirmatives Desalination Geoengineering (Iron Fertilization) Law of the Sea (LOST / UNCLOS) Pop Culture + Oceans + Social Problems = Aff Magick