Dr.

Bill English Baylor Briefs Debate Lectureship 2012-2013 Topic Brief T will be a sig issue 25-30 different Aff cases; will be categorized by BE Neg arguments Things to know: 1. He really does have evidence. 2. While hes normally allowing of questions, hes going to suspend it. Ask during break or after the lectureship 3. This is probably the biggest topic EVER Natl HS Debate topic Transportation Infrastructure is important to us, our employment, our health, our safety, national security, our recreation, national competitiveness, world economy, environment, so nearly every time you turn around, there will be something that relates in a sig way to trans infrastructure that will be in the realm of the Aff. But, Trans Infrastructure is the equivalent of 5 trillion dollars of economic activity in the US, giving us reasons to pause. Were not an old country, but there have been two major revolutions in transportation infrastructure in this country since our incession. Both are very important, and both will be subject to concern on this topic: 1800s- US opens up with a coast-to-coast railroad service. We expanded the country and opened up all of the resources that were in the western part of the country. This was incredible and, oddly, the expansion came about as a result of the free enterprise system. The PRIVATE SECTOR developed the trans-continental railroad system, not the USFG. Mid-to-late 1900s- Interstate Hwy System. Comprised of 47,000 miles; 55,000 bridges. Was built for national security purposes. In 1919, a lieutenant in the US army was involved in a military convoy from Washington, D.C. to San Francisco, California. Took 62 days to move cross-country. In WWII, that lieutenant was a general (Dwight D. Eisenhower), whose mission was to win the war, particularly in Europe. When he observed the Autobahn system in Germany, he had to destroy it but following WWII he tried to recreate it in America when he achieved the Presidency. He established the Natl Hwy Trust Fund in 1956 (HTF) was funded by a gasoline tax: 4c/gallon. Was to pay 90% of the construction costs of the Interstate Hwy System. State governments were tagged with a 10% cost for this system.

So one was done by private sector and the other was done by the USFG and state governments, paid by a gas tax. How do we fund trans infrastructure? Federal Hwy Act of 1956 (still in effect)- funds major hwys and roads across the country. The current gas tax is 18.4c/gallon of gas, 24.4c/diesel. Not only has it grown since mid20th century, but has been unchanged since 1993. *research+ We havent had an update on the gas tax in almost 20 years. Pays for 3 different accounts: 1. Mass transit Account (MTA)- gets 2.86c/gallon of the tax, which is 15% of HTF. Doesnt go to hwys. 2. Leaking Underground Storage Tank Fund- gets 1c/gallon of the tax. 3. Roads, Bridges, over/underpasses, etc.- Within this category (84-85% of federal gas tax) is another subcategory: Transportation Enhancements, which gets 10% of the allotment for this section. Examples are bikes and public transportation facilities, visitor centers, transportation museums, scenic beautification, conversion of abandoned railways to trails for recreational use, wildlife connectivity (allows wildlife to move from one area of habitat to another area of habitat divided by a road without becoming roadkill), removing outdoor ad signs. In 2008, for the first time, we had shortfalls in the HTF. In other words, it required money to come from general federal revenues because the gas and diesel tax didnt raise enough money to pay for things. In 2009, we spent 56.3 billion dollars, but we only took in 49.6 billion in the gas tax. The rest came from the general federal revenues. This is a sig concern. The main issue with this years election is deficits from general federal revenues. We added over a trillion dollars in just one year. Were spending more money than we have. Its easier to want something than it is to pay for something. The govt has never had a dollar that it doesnt want to spend. So $ comes out of the general revenues, called deficit financing. The wants far surpass the ability to pay for this. In addition to the USFG taxing the gas, so do the states and even the localities. Every state has its own gas tax (i.e., Alaska with 8c/gallon is cheapest. New York has 49c/gallon and is most expensive). Inland Waterways Trust fund (1978)- designed to provide for 50% of upkeep on lochs and dams on the Interstate System. Is a 20c/gallon diesel tax on tugs and barge operators. US Core of Engineers does maintenance of 25,000 miles of inland waterways. 8,500 miles of levees and seawalls, about 200 locks, and more than 600 dams. Other 50% comes from GENERAL FEDERAL REVENUES. This fund was created with the expectation of not having any charge taken from users of the system. Highway maintenance trustfund (1986) (HMTF)- to fund operations on federal ports and harbors. Funded by a tax on imports (0.125% of value of goods). Currently carries a surplus of $6 billion.

Airport and Airway Trust Fund (1970)- to fund airport infrastructure improvements in the US. Is paid by excised taxes on passenger tickets, aviation fuel, and cargo. Theres a 7.5% tax. Funds air traffic control and other functions of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Funds Transportation Security Agency (TSA). TSA gets 80% of funding from AATF. The other 20% comes from GENERAL FEDERAL REVENUES. Transportation Legislature 1. DONT try to read the bill. Theyre humongous. 2. Just because something is in a piece of legislation doesnt mean that Congress will also provide funding for that. Sometimes Congress will say this the law and we must do this and push it on to the State for funding and put no federal funding (i.e., education reform). Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA)(1992-1998)- Passed under Bush administration. It gave more flexibility to the states to allow the states to charge user fees on roads that had been constructed with federal funding, meaning the states could have user fees for roads (TOLL ROADS). Federal government never pays 100% of anything. The states, sometimes localities, sometimes the lions share, but the USFG is always taxing and sometimes charging user fees, but basically said states, if you want to charge tolls, you can. Gives the states some authority. Natl Highway System Designation Act (NHSDA) (1995)- allowed 10 states to set up, on an experimental basis, state transportation infrastructure banks using federal funds. Infrastructure Banks will be important this year. Theyre designed to give people loans for the purpose of building infrastructure. Could be a local govt that has it or state govt. They finance the projects over a long period of time. Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) (1998-2003)- Federal Government guaranteed that each state would receive 90% of $ that the residents from taxes charged in-state from HTF. Expanded Transportation Enhancements to include wildlife crossings over new and existing roads. Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act (SAFETEA-TLU)(20032009)- wasnt approved from 2005 (ha!). It established loan programs for railroad owners to repair tracks and build new ones. Was little change from the previous legislation. Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) (June 29,2012)- is a 2year expansion of SAFETEA-TLU. Has very few revisions, but something interesting happened in this act: 1) put screeching halt on federal funding for California Hi-Speed Rail project (was a compromise; Democrats didnt want to put it in the legislature but Republicans did. Republicans gave up the Keystone Pipeline project [private enterprise project that involves a pipeline running all the way from the shale sand areas of Canada

to Texas oil refineries to turn it into gasoline. Obama said NO to this project until we allow for adequate study by the EPA to determine whether or not we are in violation of EPA standards with this project.] in order to get Democrats to get rid of California HSR project. Gives us a tiny, tiny glimmer of hope that Congress can agree on SOMETHNG before January 2013, when we hit the fiscal cliff, where we either have to cut funding or raise taxes. TERMS OF RESOLUTION USFG- easy to define. Is Agent of Action in this resolution. It has to do the plan. Central govt of the US (unanimous). But in so agreeing with that, its the prevue of the Aff. The USFG is NOT (for Neg args): o State infrastructure funding. o Private Infrastructure Investment Substantially- adverb modifying the word increase. Increase must be in Trans Infrastructure investment and must be substantial. Is used in a variety of contextual phrases. WORDS AND PHRASES Dictionary gives us 500 definitions of substantial, and they all involve a courts decision on what substantial is in context of a case. When one side defines this with a legal dictionary, it is in the context of the court case (so wed have to be sure the context of the court case is similar to the resolution). In essence, it means less than the totality of something, but more than the imaginary. If they use WORDS AND PHRASES, ask what the context of the case that the definition was used in. You can substantially increase qualitatively or quantitatively. Qualitative: an important amount (important to whom? The eye of the beholder) Qualititative: gives a specific percentage (WORDS AND PHRASES- courts do this at different levels, from 18%, to 20%, to 25% in the context of different court cases) Even one percent of 1.7 Trillion dollars is $17,000,000 (Aff). Most of the funding that is spent on Trans Infrastructure is not paid by the Federal Government, who in some cases only pays for 10% of the project. Is 25% of 10% a lot of money? No. (Neg Argument). Increase- to make greater in some respect. When we increase something, does that something have to pre-exist, or can it be an entirely different program? Corpus Juris Secundum- pre-existence required. (look up) but CJS also says its derived from cresco (to grow), and implies that it can be something that pre-exists or is planned to be made. Example is timeframe increase. USFG is very slow to act and complete things. (June 2012 Act was just an extenstion and gridlock always slows things down). Look for this to come into play in that sort of case. Another way it comes into play is if the Aff increases one area by decreasing in another claiming a Net Increase. Its- of or belonging to it or itself as possessor. Is possessor pronoun, referring back to subject of sentence, USFG. But its also tied to investments, indicating that the investments must belong to the USFG. Not that the infrastructure should belong to the USFG (it really doesnt; most of it is states/localities property) (i.e., most airports and

mass transportation systems are owned by the cities. Most hwys are owned by the state. Most railroads are owned by private investors) Instead, Its means the USFG has to make investments regardless of who owns the road. The Aff team has fiat power, so it can fiat that the USFG will offer investment anywhere and to anyone they so choose, but they cannot fiat the acceptance of the investment that is offered if it belongs to someone else. You can lead a state to water, but you cant make them accept the money. The Aff will be burdened to prove that the State will accept the investments or there is no Solvency. (i.e., Obamacare was rejected avidly by certain state governments). In 2009, federal government passed the American Recovery and Re-investment Act that said were going to fund various things to get jobs (the jobs report came out and we didnt create ANY jobs). Part of the re-investment act included High-Speed Rail Acts in Ohio, between Columbus and Cincinatti and Cleveland. The govt gave them $400 million to build it, but the governors of Ohio and also Wisconsin, offered $810 million to build a HSR, said stick it in your ass. So we need to know who owns what. Transportation Infrastructure Investment- Transportation- flow of people and goods between geographically separated locations. Infrastructure- that which lies below to build (contrasted to superstructure, that which rises above the ground). Sewage lines, and pipelines will be run into this year. Investment- To put money or effort into something to make a profit or achieve a result. Embraces the concept of support and approval of something; doesnt necessarily mean the investment has to be money. Examples: Keystone Pipeline Project (if Obama/Romney could embrace it, since the President is the only one stopping it from happening), Transportation Enhancements [Irene Gallion, Transportation Improvement Project manager says yes, but others say no.], oil and hazardous materials, space (launchpads are, but rockets are superstructure), military bases. In the United States- projects must be done in the US. AFF CASES 5 potential problem (advantage) areas: 1. Hegemony 2. Economy of United States 3. Deaths 4. Environmental Concerns (Peak Oil) 5. Global Warming Affs will do a lot of dumping this resolution. 1. Economy: A. International Competitiveness- transportation Infrastructure is critically important to US competitiveness. We must move people and goods quickly and efficiently at low cost. Cheaper energy is, the more competitive we are.

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Energy is key to transportation. People pick the cheapest but most effective policies. 23 other nations on the globe are investing billions more than the US to create state-of-the-art transportation infrastructure. Were lagging behind China, Russia, and many other European nations who are taking aspects of transportation infrastructure and spending boatloads of money in order to be faster and cheaper and take our business away. Anytime we lose business because we cant keep up with our infrastructure, then we erode away our heg. Economy- were $17 trillion in debt. Our economy is in the toilet. We have the worst economic depression since the Great Depression. Unemployment is still very high (8.1%) and that has never happened to us before for this long of a period of time since the Great Depression. The economy is barely creeping along and job creation is at an all-time low. People just stop looking for jobs. We have the lowest number EVER of people in the global market. The stock market is super slow and crashed AGAIN. Home values are plummeting. People have to declare bankruptcy. All economists agree that the key to the economy is JOBS. This is the main issue of the Presidential election. Deaths- road conditions are a major cause of traffic accidents and deaths. The cost to the US for cleaning up accidents goes into the economy negatively as lost productivity, medical care, etc. The costs are high in lives lost but also in hundreds of billions of dollars financially. These will play a major role in many Aff cases Peak Oil- the economy is addicted to oil, particularly in the transportation sector. Oil is not an infinite source, so well run out sometime. New supplies of oil are discovered less than we are taking oil out of the ground. This concept was developed years ago by a Shell economist named M. King Hubert, saying that as long as youre dealing with something thats unlimited, the more you use of it without discovering more thats available, ultimately you hit the peak, and everything after the peak is BAD, BAD, BAD. Weve found new oil, but its deeper or in hostile environments. Theory says weve reached the peak and are on the downhill decline. And that will cost us more in heg and economy. And is an issue of international security, because others may have a supply of oil (Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran). Oil is a driving force in our presence in the Middle East. Global Warming- We burn fossil fuels in our energy sector and transportation sector. Creates CO2 that is pushed into the atmosphere, creating a greenhouse effect. 700ppm (parts per million) of CO2 is in the atmosphere. Weve increased the temperature of the globe since the Industrial Revolution by 9 degrees Fahrenheit. As Earth becomes higher, we have an increase in life-threatening natural events (tornadoes, hurricanes, etc.). Eventually we melt the polar ice caps, leading to sea level rising. By the end of the century, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Boston, New York, Houston, Los Angeles, and every other big sea port globally will be underwater. Food supplies will drastly decrease because breadbaskets of the world (the Midwest) will suffer famines, there will be wars between the haves and the have-nots because people will

starve. Ultimately, we have Runaway Global Warming. The warmer it gets, the more warming occurs because of a compound effect, and eventually the biosphere becomes destroyed.

Category One: Funding/Financing Transportation Infrastructure Investments In overview of cases, we need to ask: how bad is transportation infrasatructure? US Transportation Infrastructure is crumbling (ASCS, who evalutated aspects of infrastructure in 2009, who graded us as a D, D- on waterways, railroads C-, hwys D-, rail systems D). the Aff doesnt have to defend any specific area, not just specific areas. 1.) National Infrastructure Bank- we should raise gas taxes because gas prices increased in order to keep the same percentage. We went from a 17% tax in 1993 to a 5% tax in 2012. Theres a cumulative inflation thats occurred since 1990. The cost of doing something has risen 81% since 1990. What once cost $100 in 1990 now costs $181. Weve increased gas prices but not the gas tax. Plus, fuel efficiency of vehicles cuts down on gallons of gas purchased. We have to pull from GENERAL REVENUES to pay for part of our roadways. Theres high demand for road travel, and that increases need for maintenance on the road. By 2020, all vehicles must have 35mpg. We need more funding. 1982 was the first year Congress earmarked infrastructure funding with 10 earmarks. Now in 2005, we had 7,000 infrastructure earmarks, though some didnt deal with infrastructure. Earmarks by definition ARENT efficient. Bridge to Nowhere (between Ketchikan, Alaska and Grapevine Island) is an example of inefficient earmarks. We built that bridge to the middle of nowhere (Grapevine Island) and proved that the earmarks are awful. Congress also has all kinds of ways of being completely under the table about things. Natl Infrastructure Banks are run by USFG but not owned by it. So youre not getting politicized funding. Initial costs differ, but the basis of the case is that its need-based, not politicized. a. Harms Economic Stagnation, Infrastructure Decay b. Inherency Congressional Refusal c. Solvency Obamas Bank: Financing a Durable New Deal by Michael Likosky, Senior Fellow, Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University 2010 Spending $60B ($9B/year) can operate the bank. This is used to multiply investment. Banks make loans. With that amount of federal capitalization it facilitates public/private relationships. This is something Obama really wants to do, but Congress isnt as enthused. Enables up to Trillion $$$ in infrastructure investments (other advocates say more). 2 Million Jobs created. Making loans that attracts private investment. Avoids the federalism and states CP as well as the privatization CP. Beats the most common negative strategies. Affirmative doesnt have to commit to exactly what type of infrastructure will be invested in. Quasi-independent transportation board not based on politics. Made up of civil engineers.

Job Market growth Heg Gas Tax will be the most effective method. Increase it by 10c/gallon and then index to inflation, and we could raise $20 billion/year. Is unpopular, but represents $9/month 2. VMT Tax hybrid cars dont need gas tax, so the gas tax isnt very effective. Research Category Two: Highway Infrastructure Investment - got lowest score (D-) of Transportation infrastructure areas. - More than 1/3 of Americas roadways is in need of repairs. We have $70billion but need $180 million. Fix-It First- there are two. 1 from Brookings Institution (Take $ from HTF for rehabilitation and Repair of infrastructure). 1 from Sierra Club concerns about the environment. New roads hurt wildlife and promote more driving (creating a car culture). Lets make existing roads better. Dont scrap it and start over but fix what were doing. Not spending new money, but re-spending the money we currently have. Is that an increase? It is if you defend it as qualitative. HUGE DEBATE! The vast majority of monies are spent on new roads. States had 23,000 new miles of hwys between 2005 and 2008, but makes up for only 1.3% of all hwy miles, but accounted for 57% of all road expenditures for the period. The Federal Govt grants money to the states and dictates how its to be used, and the USFG wants more new hwys, focusing on peak traffic and travel. Increases need for maintenance. Most roads in America are local and they dont get any maintenance dollars AT ALL. Bridge Repair - of bridges need repair. Most of our bridges are approaching 50 years in service. In 08, 12% of national bridges were seriously deficient. 13% didnt meet current standards for excellence. 5 years ago we had a famous bridge in Minneapolis on 1-35 W that collapsed. In the past 20 years, almost 600 US bridges have failed. - Inherency: Politicalization of decisions Alternative Fuels: 1. Hydrogen- more efficient system (50-70% efficiency to energy conversion while gas has 15-17%.) HEG ADV. The ultimate clean-burning fuel when we use electrolysis to make it. The only byproduct for H2 is water vapor. We could ELIMINATE all greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector. Is it commercially viable? We already have prototypes of those so its not high-

in-the-sky. Every big company has a prototype H2 that can go 300 miles before needing a fill-up. Its great, but we dont have a H2 refueling structure. Obama and the DOE dont support H2, but they support Solar Power, Battery technologies, wind energy, but they cut funding for H2 by $70 million. Cost of the refueling structure is feasible. Wed need 12,000 fill-up stations and would put 70% of US within 2 miles of a station. Costs $2 billion/station. Wed cut Pentagon budget. 2. Electric Car- Produce clean energy with no greenhouse emissions. We have technology for this (Nissan Leaf, etc.) Range is between 20 and 140 miles on a single charge. Over 75% of our nation commutes just 40 miles a day or less. Wed need federally funded recharging stations in order to encourage everyone to buy electric vehicles. A 20 kW fast charger station costs $45,000 each and can recharge you to 80% in less than 30 minutes. For these cases, wed need to prove that these fuel types are best. Were also likely to see other alternative fuel vehicles (E-85, compressed natural gas, propane, methanol M-85, natural gas, etc.). theyre dealing with greenhouse and peak oil. Walking and Biking Cases In many places in the US, theres a complete lack of sidewalks and bicycle lanes. One problem is deaths on the parts of pedestrians and bike riders. In the past decade, 47,000 pedestrians were killed by just walking. This is the equivalent of a jumbo jet crashing every single month. We have over 688 pedestrians hit every 7 minutes. Another problem is obesity; if theres no room for people to walk or bike, they will have to be in a car. 40 to 50 years ago, 50% of people walked to school, compared to 13% today. Because of obesity, asthma rates went up 70% in the past 5 years. How do we get kids to school if they cant walk or bike? We DRIVE THEM. 6.5 billion trips, or 30 billion miles are done around the nation daily to get kids to school. We need to create SRTS (Safe Routes to School) and was in the Safe Streets Act of 2011, House Bill #1780. Senate Version is expected very soon. Requires all federally funded road projects to take into the account the needs of ALL users of the road, including pedestrians as well as bikers. Inherency- never funded by Congress. Indian Country Reservations for Native Americans. Note that the USFG has numerous treaty obligations to provide for Native Americans. Indians agreed to cede millions of acres of their land in exchange for guarantees by the USFG that theyd be taken care of by USFG. These treaties are the supreme law of the land and ARE BEING IGNORED. Whats wrong with reservation roads? 1) Debt. Indian Country has the highest fatality rates in the country. Motor injury death rates are the biggest cause of death (twice as large as of other nations) for ages 1-34. 2) Funding- Indians get 3% of money used for hwys and less than 0.1% of total hwy funding. They get $8,800/ tribe. This could be a Critical Aff. Call a moral obligation.

Wildlife Crossings Harm: Species Extinction. Is a legal and moral imperative. US Law requires (Endangered Species Act, ESA, has been ruled by Supreme Court, that we reverse the trend of species extinction regardless of cost) that we preserve species. International Biodiversity Convention (that weve signed) says the same thing. We should also do it for our own good. For every species that dies, another one will die also because it affects the food chain or the habitat. The effect compounds. The biological literature says we never know when one species is going to trigger the compound effect of one species going extinct ruining the biosphere. USFG study identifies 21 threatened or endangered species at risk due to motor vehicles. This plan is underfunding. Republicans want to eliminate it totally. Look to Canada for examples of Wildlife Crossings. They have Canada 1 (east west highway) bridges over roads for animals to cross. Also they have fences to prevent animals from walking over to the walks in the Rockies. Warning Signs or horns flash to warn drivers of approaching animals. Smart Roads 10% of all delays are caused by roads. We lose 4.8 billion dollars sitting in traffic. We spend $115 annually on roads. There is no timing device on red lights in many places. We just sit at red lights churning fuel. Smart roads says we have the technology to do this and its proven. It works at a cost-benefit ratio of 9:1. We get 9 times the benefits out of it, as opposed to building a new regular road ratio of 2:1. Military Bases US military bases are undergoing dramatic changes due to Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRACC or BRAC). Base personnel increases rapidly. 18 MBs were increased by almost 200,000 military personnel in recent years. Only one federal program works in this area: The Defense Access Roads policy (DAR). Theyre severely underfunded ($22 million/year as opposed to the DOTs $30 billion/year). Harm: Traffic congestion around military bases is bad for economy, if they cant get out its a security liability. They cant get the personnel out of the bases when theres an emergency. Rural Transportation We have 1.1 million miles or 80% of our roads, or 40% of vehicle miles traveled, are rural. 90% of rural roads are 2 lanes or less. Rural roads account for 57% of deaths due to a failure to invest in rural roads. Aviation Infrastructure Investment 1. Airport Traffic Control- FAA has responsibility for air traffic control system. Costs us $8.3 billion/year. Threatens passenger safety with planes colliding on ground, on tarmac, in air, on runway, etc. Wastes fuel due to congestion. Its not uncommon for a plane to load and sit there running while air traffic control is backed up because of the system. Planes run out of fuel before they even take off. The FAA system hasnt been updated since the 1930s. It uses radar. We should replace it with a system called Next Gen, using

satellites to track. We have the tech NOW but theres no funding. Next Gen is 15 years behind schedule with no plans or guaranteed funds to speed up system. This aff gives Next Gen Priority 2. Airport Screening- TSA is now using full body scanners that cause mutations that cause cancer. EU bans these because of this. The US should do the same. Aff says that we should be using wand scanners, which are the exact same but not dangerous 3. Airport infrastructure- airports are a joke and need upgrades. Theres an AIF (Airport Infrastructure Fund) raises money by fees at ticket purchase. They give grants to airports, which are terrible. US doesnt use a cost-benefit guideline. Largest airports in America handle 84% of ALL passengers. Thats only 100 airports. They only get 37% of federal funding. 28% of federal grants go to small airports because someones trying to get re-elected. Waco Regional Airport got bookoos of money to get 2 actual gates for one carrier thats used 5 times a day. Why did we need 2 gates? We only have 1 carrier. Category Four: Rail Infrastructure HiSpeed Rail Once the US was the top infrastructure. We are no longer. Infrastructure is very slow and is not getting better. Now the fastest trains move at 150mph as a world standard. The train from Boston to New York moves at 67mph. trains have declined 80% since 1980. Less than 1% of travel is by trains. We invest $53 billion for passenger rails. China has six times this amount in the budget. We should put 60% for this case. We can claim increased job creation, less death, less greenhouse gas (trains are 60% less CO2 emitting than cars) Urban Transit The right to travel is guaranteed by the 14th amendment and the Supreme Court. If you cant travel, you cant get food, healthcare, education, etc. Poor Inner city areas dont have access for these things. Massive discrimination for the urban poor and racial minorities, who tend to live in inner city areas. The feds pick up 80% of funding for new roads and 50% for urban transit. 1/3 of the 7 largest rail transit operations are marginal or in poor condition. They need another $5.9 billion/year just to repair them. They only get .18c/gallon gass sold. Freight Rail More fuel efficient and is better for environment and trucks. More infrastructure funding needs to be done to handle freight rail. DOT study says to expect these railroads by 88% by 2035. We need $88 billion over the next 20 years to just meet demand. 30% of all rail miles will be over-capacity, resulting in a necessity to transport by truck. When we shift to trucks, we tear up highways, start increasing greenhouse gas emissions, drive up costs of transportation and become less competitive. Category 5: Port and Waterway Infrastructure Investment Port Security

We upped port security to protect against terrorist attacks. Biggest fear is WHEN terrorists get availability of nuclear weapons, that theyd send in through a port. Dirtier the bomb, the more radiation it gives, so better for the terrorists. Economic costs would be horrendous, and psychological costs would be even worse. Leads to world and US econ collapse. 100% of all cargo containers are not inspected by the Coast Guard, even though they have the mandates and tech, but no funds. Port Widening /Deepening To be finished in 2014 to accommodate mega-ships (14-football fields long, 1.5 football fields wide, and they need 50ft to just dock. They have to go through Panama Canal. Cranes to load these things have to be twice as big as the ones weve got. States are breaking their backs but the federal government isnt. USFG has to take some responsibility Inland Waterways/Dams Graded D-. 60% of all food exports go through these waterways. We have 25,000 miles of US waterways in lochs and dams. Ohio River Waterway system is an example. Theyve had so many outages due to the small size of waterways that congestion has tripled. Artic Ports Northern slope of Alaska has no ports, but lots of resources: fisheries, oil, natural gas, rare minerals, and great interest by competing countries in that area of the world. Theres a need for economic development to build a federal port there. Ecology We know that eventually itll be developed with or without a port, => massive oil spills, biosphere destruction, etc. Pipeline Infrastructure 1. Pipeline Inspection- hazardous material pipelines safety. The administration for these pipelines arent all inspected. Only 49% are and only 44% of oil pipelines. They dont provide enough money to investigate these properly 2. Keystone Pipeline- All we need is for Obama to say Come on, Jack! Increase is defined as power or influence. 3. Carbon Sequestration/Capture- Many of our electric power plants are powered by coal because its cheap energy. Its cheap, but coal is very dirty about emissions. But now we can capture the CO2 in the atmosphere, but dont know where to put it when we got it. The solution: pump it with pipelines into the ground to CO2 reserves where itll never see the light of day in sealed caverns.

Negative Please dont forget your strongest position in the debate: They have the burden of proof. They must prove every element in the case. Think in terms of re-occuring themes on the Negative scope: 1) The States can do it better than the federal government. No justification for federal action. When federal government does things better than states, we fall into federalism. 2) Private is better than public- this country was built on capitalism and free enterprise, not the USFG providing anything (that they pay for by taxing us). The very first revolution of infrastructure came from the PRIVATE SECTOR. 3) Increased federal spending is stupid when were on the edge of a financial cliff and are about to fall off. Run a Deficits DA, if this doesnt come into play, then theyre not Topical. Listen for the denial that theres no problem at all with status quo infrastructure. Five Big Areas: 1) International Competitiveness- were the 1,000 pound gorilla on the porch. We have the best military ever. Were #1 on such a big margin its not funny. Our economy dwarfs all other economies. The doomsayers have been saying that forever (Japan, Red Scare, China, etc.). The Aff has the burden of proof. They have to say that they really will, and on a timeline. We are, undoubtedly, the biggest country. Some countries may spend more on areas than do we, but we are the leaders in the WORLD; and who gives a rats ass? Oooooh, Chinas built the biggest dam of the world? Well, damn. Am I worried? No. Its all useless because in reality we know were the best and dont have to keep up with the Joneses and dont have to spend more than any country in the world on our infrastructure. And no one will overtake us. 2) Economy- its hard times. It fluctuates. Right now, were going up; not as fast as we want, but were doing nicely. The stock market is back, weve got higher figures today than we have in 2008 (before recession really started). Job numbers are increasing, albeit slowly. There are no job shortages. We never promised that every corner would have a job waiting. If you want a job bad enough, youll get one (look at literature). The reason we dont have more jobs, its Congress that cant agree on ANYTHING. Business and industry in American is sitting on loads of cash. Theyre doing that because they dont know what the government is going to do. Maybe after the election Congress can agree. But business says, dont keep trying to surprise us. Productivity is up, and profits are up. Education is key to employment opportunities. Infrastructure spending does NOT create jobs. USFG cant create jobs. But Private industry can. The economy is fine and the USFG cant do anything to fix it save to give businesses some direction about the future. Then theyll churn at a bigger rate. 3) Deaths- this is the safest time in American history for travel. 1950- we had 33,186 who died on US roads and they were only driving 50 million vehicles with 62 million drivers, compared to today: 250 million vehicles and 210 million

drivers, and we have the lowest fatality and injury rate on Americas highways than has ever been recorded. Does that sound like a problem? 113 deaths per 100,000,000 miles traveled. In recent years weve had a 25% of injury and death. We have the lowest death rate EVER. The Aff is trying to say its all crumbling, but how is it possible that we dont have all of these deaths? You never told us the whole story. 4) Peak Oil- it is finite. It will eventually run out. Its nothing but a fibbie. We havent reached the peak. What Hubert didnt realize was that we are going to continue to find more oil than we can shake a stick at and will make technologies to let us go deeper into the earth and in unusual places. So far, the world has used 1 trillion barrels of oil. Conservative estimates say we have 4 trillion barrels remaining, so were not at the peak. We have oil reserves of 11 trillion barrels. Huberts peak is bogus. Its another example of the doomsday scenarios. Bring up Burden of Proof. Right now, Canadas oil reserves are 4 times that of Saudi Arabia. Why do you think we want the Keystone Pipeline? US oil reserves are increasing dramatically, not decreasing. Look at the shale in the NW states and the Eagle Forge land oil reserve in South Texas (largest reserve discovered in the world in the last 50 years). North Dakota is the 2nd most oil-producing state behind Texas. Texas is completely self-sufficient. Were a oil exporter. We only buy oil from other people because its cheaper. But if we wanted to never buy ANY oil in the US, we easily could. All oil experts agree upon this. We have more natural gas than we have anything to do with. 5) Global warming- you can argue that its not happening, that peak oil doesnt contribute, and that its good. Theres always fluctuations in Earths temperature and it takes a lot of time, and there hasnt been any significant global warming since the 1930s. Were entering a cooling trend that we should be worrying more about than warming. Again, doomsday scenarios. The ice is not melting. Every time doomsayers make a claim, they eat their words. If the ice caps are melting, the oceans would already be rising a bit. Run BURDEN OF PROOF. Hockey stick curve in An Inconvenient Truth is a blatant lie (they got a Nobel Prize but admitted lying). The Himalayas never melted and flooded India. Experts on Global Warming have sent emails wondering why the opposite of what they expected is happening. Theres 1 small peninsula off of Antarctica is losing ice due to an underwater volcano, but the rest of Antarctica is GAINING ice. If we are warming, its not due to CO2 emissions. Historically, the CO2 levels were so high during the Ice Age as opposed to warming issues. Scientists blame sunspots for warming, some blame ocean currents, and theres a lot more theories. IPCC, however, is trying to hide the truth by keeping people off the reports. BURDEN OF PROOF. Lets burn more CO2 argument: Warming is good. In all the fossil history, the most prosperous times happen when earth is warmer, producing more plant growth, leading to lower CO2 levels. Thats more food levels, habitats, etc., as well. Cases:

Overview: US Trans Network unmatched by any in the world (US House Committee on Trans and Infra). ASCE is highly biased (civil engineers are biased because thats how they make their living). Trans spending in all levels of govt has increased at least 70% (Statement from only unpolitical entity, Government Accounting Office says that the physical condition of road hasnt depreciated in the past 2 decades). When ASCE says we have crumbling infrastructure. But does deficient mean that its an immediate hazard? It means that it may not be able to carry the original established load. All we have to do is change load restrictions. US Spending on trans infra is higher than any other competitor by two ways: 1) we may spend less on some parts, but we may not want those trans infra. The US spends higher GDP than any other country in the world and our GDP is bigger than any country in the world.

Natl Infra Bank: Why USFG? States are better. USFG fucks everything up. Trans infra is not a top-down area; should be a bottom-up area. Areas within states (even same-states) are similar. Should be left to states first, then USFG last. Things that are endemic in one state is not necessary in another. Nebraska doesnt need a Seawall. States know their problems better than the USFG. When the USFG makes a decision for one-size-fits-all, its like a meat axe to the states. The states become the labs for experimentation. When they screw up one state, they screw it up across the board. Whenever the USFG has a grant to be given, whenever they have any kind of involvement (even just 1% of the cost), you have to report to the USFG, which requires 24 alternative ways of conducting a project which must be researched by the state or private business. Its time that is sucked out of the lifeblood of the entity thats trying to get something done. These USFG requirements apply even when the state govt requirements even when states requirements are higher. California environmental standards are more strict than the USFGs. California approved a request for a loan, and the USFG required 24 NEW studies for their studies. Federal requirements delay by 50 years from the time that the application starts until it can be completed. Increases cost by 20-40%. We dont want a USFG infra bank, we want a state one if its even needed at all. Timeframe of Aff harm area doesnt solve for harms. USFG infra bank doesnt create jobs. American Recovery Act, designed to create jobs, spent billions for trans infra. The GAO said this: jobs were short-term in duration. The job had only moved from one place to another. Each job cost $1 million in federal spending to get just ONE job. If they would have given $1 million to a business, they can make much more jobs. The ARA will push us over the cliff. Theyre spending more out of deficits and general revenue. Increase Gas Tax- VMT more effective. BUT: why dont states do it? Theyre better than USFG at taking care of infrastructure.

VMT- use neg on gas tax and states arg Fix-It-First- theres no federal resonsiblity for maintenance. 98% bridges are state local govt. 77% of hwys are owned by locals. Its a bottom-up strategy. Right now, states provide 90% of public funding for service transportation. Right now, states provide 90% of maintenance funds. That means the federal government is only spending 10%. If Aff wants to sig increase this, and they give you a percentage of 10%, its not a qualitative or quantitative impact on anything. If theyre topical, they get the Deficits DA or no impact. Bridge Repair- 1-35 Bridge fell. 13 people were killed. But why did it fall? Did it fall because of lack of maintenance? No. It fell because of faulty construction materials that were originally used to build the bridge. It had nothing to do with maintenance or repair, so if we had the Affs system then, it would have done nothing to solve. Make fun of it! 1) no bridge collapses in last 20 years due to lack of maintenance. Only 20 bridges collapsed in the last 50 years, and over half were because of collisions with vehicles or car fires. They assume that the only reason a bridge collapses is because of lack of bridge maintenance. Narrow lanes make you slow down, but they dont make the bridge fall. 80% of structurally deficient bridges are rural and rarely used. A total of no bridges in the last 50 years have collapsed due to lack of maintenance. Alt Fuels: 1) Hydrogen- Weve heard about it for a long time. Its ALWAYS 10 or 15 years away and will be in 10 or 15 years. If its made from natural gas, it does nothing but fuel global warming problem. If made from electrolysis, it uses electricity (produced by burning fossil fuels). You still link in to Global Warming. Net energy is LOST because we have to make Hydrogen. One of the least efficient things in the world. Refuel costs are astronomical and many cant afford to put them there. When hydrogen gets hot, it explodes. Its unsafe. 2) Electric Cars- Have you seen an electric car? Theyre tiny and made of plastic and unable to see or feel you on interstates. Theyre unsafe. And morning commutes will cause some delays. And you have to sit and wait as electricity goes down. And then road rage will increase. Walking and Biking: Its already in legislature. State issue (studies show that BMI in people who walked to school were higher. And fewer accidents and deaths were recorded in the test study than in actual real world application). Its a State Issue. Indian country: Having the USFG take care of Indians destroys all incentive for them to take initiative. Reservations are their own soverign nations. They can tax. Habitats: #1 killer of species is disease. These wont work anyway. Why are you spending money to not solve the problem. You could just have the STATES lower the speed limit. Its a States Issue, not USFG issue.

Smart Roads: We dont need smart roads. We need Smart CARS like the Google Car which drives itself. Theyre proven to be safer than regular cars. Theyre running them in Vegas with no accidents. And theyre much cheaper. Air Traffic Control: 1) Next Gen- the worst thing to do is to push technology but it has to be installed EVERYWHERE IN THE WORLD. As we install them, we find out kinks and can work them out. When you push tech, it always fails. Refer to oil strike in the 70s with OPEC. Carter picked a form of tech to push that wasnt ready. Its still not ready and cant compete. It will fall apart. In 3 out of the past 4 years, no airplane deaths were EVER recorded. Mile per mile, its the safest way to travel EVER. The economy, not the FAA, is the reason for congestion. 2) X RAY-Johns Hopkins University has studied that you get about the same radiation from flying in an airplane or talking on your cell phone. Private enterprise: When private enterprise is given an opportunity, theyll take care of their business. Let PS charge user fees for railroads and freight rails and everything else.