Tournament: Damus Invitational | Round: 2 | Opponent: Harker KM | Judge: Chris Thiele
*PLAN TEXT*
Plan: The United States federal government should substantially increase its investment toward cross-border electrical grid, transmission, and distribution infrastructure for renewable energy in Mexico.
1AC SHELL—ECONOMY
Advantage one is the economy.
The US economy is in decline—bringing back the manufacturing sector creates growth through jobs and research
Hendrickson 10/16
(John Hendrickson, 10/16/13, Town Crier News, “Why manufacturing has gone overseas,” http://www.towncriernews.com/opinion/why-manufacturing-has-gone-overseas/, Accessed 10/20/13, JC)

With the lackluster economic recovery from the Great Recession…is the reversal of trade policy.
We solve—three internal links:
A) Cheap energy—Mexican integration drives a competitive manufacturing sector in the US
Wood 10
(Duncan, director of Mexico Institute, researcher at Centro de Derecho Economico Internacional at ITAM, PhD in Political Studies, 2010, Wilson Center, p.38, “Growing Potential for U.S.-Mexico Energy
Cooperation,” http://wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/wood_energy.pdf, Accessed 10/20/13, JC)

Underlying all three of these areas …such as ¶ pricing, regulation and industry best practices.
B) Renewable energy development helps the US and Mexico—jobs, manufacturing, infrastructure spending
Wood 12
(Duncan Wood, professor and director of the International Relations Program and the Canadian Studies Program and the Instituto Technologico Autonomo de Mexico, head researcher for the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholors in Mexico, “RE-ENERGIZING THE BORDER: RENEWABLE ENERGY, GREEN JOBS AND BORDER INFRASTRUCTURE,” May 2012, http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/RE_Energizing_Border_Wood.pdf)

Economic spillover: It is clear that the development of … also implies a potential obstacle due to financing limitations.
C) Manufacturing growth via renewables creates a multiplier effect, jobs, and sustainable growth
James and Gordon 6/28
(Adam James is a Research Assistant at the Center for American Progress and Kate Gordon is a Senior Fellow at the Center, 6/28/13, Center for American Progress, “Clean Energy Manufacturing Fights Climate Change, Increases U.S. Competitiveness, and Creates Jobs,” http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/report/2013/06/28/68401/clean-energy-manufacturing-fights-climate-change-increases-u-s-competitiveness-and-creates-jobs/, Accessed 9/1/13, JC)

There is no doubt that the manufacturing sector was hit hard … domestic content go into building new, sustainable markets and infrastructure.
Our first scenario is competitiveness.
Economic strength key to American hegemony—most reliable indicator of influence
Hubbard 10 (Hegemonic Stability Theory: An Empirical Analysis By: Jesse Hubbard Jesse Hubbard Program Assistant at Open Society Foundations Washington, District Of Columbia International Affairs Previous National Democratic Institute (NDI), National Defense University, Office of Congressman Jim Himes Education PPE at University of Oxford, 2010

Regression analysis of this data shows that … A weak state with a strong military is a paper tiger – it may appear fearsome, but it is vulnerable to even a short blast of wind.
U.S. Failure on the competitiveness question results in retrenchment and  great power conflict—economic growth is vital to prevent the collapse of U.S. hegemony.
Khalilzad 11
(Zalmay Khalilzad, Counselor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, served as the United States ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq, and the United Nations during the presidency of George W. Bush, served as the director of policy planning at the Defense Department during the Presidency of George H.W. Bush, holds a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, 2011 (“The Economy and National Security,” National Review, February 8th, Available Online at http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/print/259024, Accessed 02-08-2011)

Today, economic and fiscal trends pose the most severe long-term threat to the United States’ position as global leader. …Regional hegemons in Asia could seize the moment, leading the world toward a new, dangerous era of multi-polarity.
Our second scenario is US lashout.

Economic decline causes war—studies prove
Royal 10
(Jedediah, Director Cooperative Threat Reduction DOD, 2010,“Economic Integration, Economic Signaling and the Problem of Economic Crises” in ‘Economics of War and Peace: Economic, Legal and Political Perspectives’ ed. Goldsmith and Brauer, p. 213-215, Accessed: 6/30/13, LPS)

Less intuitive is how periods of economic decline may increase the likelihood of external conflict…This implied connection between integration, crises and armed conflict has not featured prominently in the economic-security debate and deserves more attention.
1AC CLIMATE CHANGE
Advantage two is Climate Change.
We need to act within the decade to avoid the tipping point for runaway warming—39 independent studies prove it causes four degree Celsius warming
Ross 10/9
(Philip Ross, B.A. in International Development Studies from UCLA, 10/9/13, International Business Times, “Climate Change Will Affect Tropics First, Long Before Arctic Sees Shift,” http://www.ibtimes.com/climate-change-will-affect-tropics-first-long-arctic-sees-shift-1419618, Accessed 10/27/13, JC)

That’s according to a team of researchers from the University of Hawaii who … highlighting the scale of the challenge still to be tackled just in this decade," the agency said in June.

Even two degree Celsius warming triggers our impact—9,200 studies prove
Varma 9/30
(Subodh, 9/30/13, Times of India, “Planet racing towards 2°C temperature rise: UN report,” http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/global-warming/Planet-racing-towards-2C-temperature-rise-UN-report/articleshow/23277151.cms, Accessed 10/27/13, JC)

The first is that the carbon accumulation in the atmosphere and resulting global …
in order to start the consultation process.
Tipping points prevent adaptation – significant emission cuts are key
Hansen 8 – Professor of Earth and Environmental Science
James E. Hanson, head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City and adjunct professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science at Columbia University, Al Gore’s science advisor, “Briefing before the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming,” US House of Representatives, 6-23-2008, “Twenty years later: tipping points near on global warming,” http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/2008/TwentyYearsLater_20080623.pdf

Fast feedbacks—changes that occur quickly in response to temperature change—…Large populations in Asia and South America would lose their primary dry season freshwater source as glaciers disappear. A major
casualty in all this will be wildlife.
We solve—three internal links:
A) US-Mexico cooperation—without action warming will cause extinction
Wood 10
(Duncan, Director of the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, “Environment, Development and Growth: U.S.-Mexico Cooperation in Renewable Energies,” Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (Mexico Institute), May, http://www.statealliancepartnership.org/resources_files/USMexico_Cooperation_Renewable_Energies.pdf)

As the world debates the future of climate change in international forums, most countries are implementing their own mitigation strategies at the national and local levels …
Given that 86 of all global energy comes from fossil fuels, and that these fossil fuels produce 27,000,000,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually, finding alternative sources of energy is a crucial component of climate change mitigation strategies.
B) Technology—US-Mexico grid expansion is key – the plan creates pilot projects that spill over to developing countries and make renewable energy successful
Bruns 11 (Adam, Managing Editor – Site Selection (Magazine about Real Estate Strategy and Economic Development, “Crossing Boundaries,” Site Selection, August, http://www.siteselection.com/theEnergyReport/2011/aug/energy-storage.cfm) 

Founded by a man from Denmark, currently based in the UAE, and with offices in such locations as Moscow and Johannesburg…even more so for rural areas earmarked for growth in sectors such as technology parks, economic free zones, agriculture or mineral exploration."
C) Modeling—renewable energy cuts emissions by 50 globally and 70 in the US—only federal action solves
Renewable Energy World 7 (started in 1998 by a group of Renewable Energy professionals, source of Renewable Energy News and Information on the Internet, “Increasing Renewable Energy in U.S. Can Solve Global Warming”, Renewable Energy World.com, 01/24/07, http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2007/01/increasing-renewable-energy-in-u-s-can-solve-global-warming-47208)
Landmark analysis released by Greenpeace USA, European Renewable Energy Council (EREC) and other climate and energy advocates shows that the United States can indeed address global warming …Arthouros Zervos, European Renewable Energy Council (EREC) John Coequyt, Climate and Energy Unit, Greenpeace USA January 2007
Our scenario is global warming.
Ocean acidification causes mass extinctions
Ward 10 (Peter, PhD, professor of Biology and Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Washington, paleontologist and NASA astrobiologist, Fellow at the California Academy of Sciences, The Flooded Earth: Our Future in a World Without Ice Caps, June 29, 2010)

In the rest of this chapter I will support a contention that within several millennia (or less) the planet will see a changeover of the oceans from their current “mixed” states to something much different and dire. …contemplate that they could happen again, and soon. Let us hope that a new generation will quickly decide to open their ears and listen.

1AC SOLVENCY
Contention Two is Solvency.
The US key to Mexican solar and wind energy—that reverses damage from fossil fuel dependence
Center for American Progress 9
(April 2009, Center for American Progress, “Transcending the Rio Grande
U.S.-Mexico relations need to reach beyond the border,” http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/04/pdf/mexico.pdf, Accessed 11/2/13, JC)

Government cooperation through varied and small renewable energy projects, however, has not given way to a robust partnership in alternative energy exploration and develop- ment …Therefore, plenty of opportunity exists for foreign and domestic private investment in Mexican solar and wind energy industries.54

Mexico has vast jatropha biofuel resources but only US technology allows utilization—current advances are insufficient
Wood 10
(Duncan, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, "Environment, Development and Growth: US-Mexico Cooperation in Renewable Energies," http://www.statealliancepartnership.org/resources_files/USMexico_Cooperation_Renewable_Energies.pdf

Mexico is a country with vast natural resources for the production of biofuels, resulting from its¶ agricultural diversity… requires relatively little water, can be used to produce a wide variety of products, such as paper, textiles, and rope, and is common across Mexico.

US expertise solves smart grids—allows efficient renewable energy
Bennett 11 (Nicholas, “Smart Grid Technology – Mexico’s Upcoming Market Boon,” University of Arizona, http://next.eller.arizona.edu/courses/BusinessInternationalEnvironments/Fall2011/student_papers/finalnicholasbennett.pdf)

Smart grids …provides an unprecedented opportunity for Mexico to improve both functionally and economically.

Federal action is necessary—states lack the jurisdiction to negotiate international agreements
Dukert 7
(Joseph, "Energy Cooperation in the Western Hemisphere. Ch 5: North America." Center for Strategic and International Studies, p. 157-158)

Some of the important remaining barriers …will first have to become more open and more activist, especially in fulfilling its obligation to reach out to stakeholders. 

Focusing on the details and inner-workings of government policy-making is productive – critical approaches can’t resolve real world problems like poverty, racism and war
McClean 1
David E., Adjunct Professor of Philosophy, Molloy College, New York, 2001 “The Cultural Left and the Limits of Social Hope,” Presented at the 2001 Annual Conference of the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy, Available Online at www.american-philosophy.org/archives/past_conference_programs/pc2001/Discussion20papers/david_mcclean.htm, JMP, Accessed on July 5, 2013)SP

Yet for some reason, at least partially explicated in Richard Rorty's Achieving Our Country… philosophers and culture critics with their snobish disrespect for the so-called "managerial class."