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