Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Lundberg,
Abelkop
*****Methane Hydrates
Neg*****
Cross-ex
Env/Warming
Duarte and huertas six of the 14 climate tipping points of the earth system are
located in the arctic region what about the other 8?
high risk of extinction from climate change impacts possibly within this century as
global mean temperatures exceed 2C to 3C relative to pre-industrial levels (this
chapter). The uncertainties remain large, however, since for about 2C temperature
increase the percentage may be as low as 10% or for about 3C as high as 40%
and, depending on biota, the range is between 1% and 80% (Table 4.1; Thomas et
al., 2004a; Malcolm et al., temperatures exceeding 2 degrees Celsius or 3
degrees Celsius causes extinction right?
Duarte and huertas Models suggest that global warming of 3C could release
between 35 and 94 Gt C of methane, which could add up to an additional 0.5C of
global warming. when we reach 3 degrees Celsius it would have already causes
extinction by global warming why is methane unique?
Helgeland says you need to stay above the collapse pressure, below the fracture
pressure, and at the same time manage the dissociation temperature and pressure
of the hydrates [15]. Failure to do this can lead to a gas kick it seems like we
already know how to avoid bad methane drilling so why is additional research
needed? A single line of WHAT that additional research would do?
Presence
Your RT evidence about arctic conflict due to climate change says Last week, US
Defense Department Secretary Chuck Hagel acknowledged that the opening of sea
lanes in the Arctic could very well lead to friction among competing nations. "
friction seems different from war how do you access war?
Sullivan evidence about arctic precedents talk about setting the bar for Arctic
development but the reason countries like Russia dont do environmentally-friendly
drilling is because its expensive how would the plans setting the bar cause
Russia to adopt policies about drilling?
in 2015, the W'hite House released its Implementation Plan for the National
Strategy for the Arctic Region in January 2014. To further advance its earlieroutlined themes. The Plan singles out two key objectives: promoting oil pollution
preparedness. prevention, and response and developing a robust agenda for the
U.S. chairmanship US has already got a plan by 2015 which is fast approaching
for Arctic council leadership why is plan key?
Your Wallace and staples evidence says The current geo-political threat level is
nebulous and low for now, according to Rob Huebert of the University of Calgary
are you okay with a low probability arctic conflict?
Conditionality Good
2NCConditionality Good
C/I we get what we did and will not cross applythe 1AR and 2AR
have to prove
Inherency
Not Inherent the government is already working on methane
hydrate research
Pollution Solutions 13
Research programs focused on methane hydrate detection and extraction can be found
in numerous nations, including Japan, South Korea, India, China, Norway, the United
Kingdom, Germany, the United States, Canada, Russia, New Zealand, Brazil and Chile.
Much of the initial research has been highly collaborative, with the government and private
companies from the United States playing a prominent role.
Most of these research programs are in the exploratory, experimental and laboratory phases, with
expeditions seeking samples to determine the extent of deposits so as to direct further research. Last
year, however, Japan completed a successful field test in Alaska in collaboration with Norway and
ConocoPhillips, successfully producing natural gas through controlled dissociation via carbon dioxide
injections. In recent weeks, Japan has also begun offshore production tests in the Nankai Trough off the
coast of central Honshu.
Environment
Adv
You know how NASA scientist James Hansen has characterized continuing to tap Alberta's tar sands as being game over for
the climate, thanks to the massive amount of carbon that'd be released in burning them? Well, if that's the case, then the
recent news from Japan that a team has
methane hydrates from the seafloor isn't good. In fact, if Japan is able to
exploit the
gas hydrates around the world contain "between 10,000 trillion cubic
feet to more than
Survey stats, all the
and economically
recoverable,
that's over twelve times more natural gas than in all the US shale gas
game over part: The Post, again citing USGS estimates, says there's " more
in all known reserves of fossil fuels. " (Another widely-cited estimate puts the total amount of carbon
trapped in methane hydrates at between 500-2500 gigatons, which is less than all fossil fuels, but still significantly more
than natural gas reserves.) Regardlessand this point
shrinking hopes of curbing climate change are gone . The discovery is being hailed in Japan as a
potential huge boost for domestic energy supplies. There's an estimated 39 trillion cubic meters of gas from methane
hydrates in Japanese watersenough for 10 years of gas consumption. Remember that Japan imports about 84 percent of
its energy, a figure that's higher after Fukushima and the nuclear power soul searching that has resulted. All told it is
clearly a climate disaster in the making, on top of, well, you know, the catastrophic climate disaster already proceeding full
steam ahead. Let's compare all these estimates to the "terrifying new math" that 350.org's Bill McKibben sketched out last
summer in Rolling Stone. To keep global temperature rise below 2Cwhich, it's worth remembering, is both the
internationally agreed upon aspirational target for limiting temperature rise, as well as 0.5C too high according to
scientists to totally avoid dangerous climate changeMcKibben says we can emit another 565 gigatons of carbon into the
atmosphere. And we've got 2,795 gigatons of carbon in proven fossil fuels reserves. In other words, McKibben writes, "We
have five times as much oil and coal and gas on the books as climate scientists think is safe to burn. We'd have to keep 80
percent of those reserves locked away underground to avoid that fate"as in, to not cook the planet.
Even adding another 500 gigatons of carbon to the pile, let along nearly doubling it,
is simply suicide
*methane extraction destroys planet theyre not clean and natural gas from it is
not clean in the context of GHG; pollutants from leakage contaminates the
environment
Morningstar 14
global ecological collapse and political analysis of the non-profit industrial complex, Part III:The Real Weapons of Mass
Destruction: Methane, Propaganda & the Architects of Genocide, 6/17/14, http://netteandme.blogspot.com/2014/06/partiiithe-real-weapons-of-mass.html)//WL
It is now beyond obvious that those who control the worlds economy are hell-bent on burning all of our planets
remaining fossil fuels including those that not long ago, were considered impractical to exploit. Corporatecolluded states, corporate-controlled media and
corporate-funded scientists will be red-lining the well-oiled engine of the propaganda machine as it works overtime.
convince you the methane hydrates in the worlds oceans are deep enough that the
inevitable increased
temperature will not affect them. (Think again. Take a look at the map the methane hydrates, even outside
of the Arctic, are almost all located on shallow continental shelves.) And if that doesnt work they will try to convince you
that mysterious bacteria will rapaciously devour all methane gas. In the following paragraphs, the danger that this
misinformation presents is outlined. Layered upon the
(because governments have done nothing for decades to halt global warming),
but to extract the methane and burn it for the safety of humanity
. If the
itself is of little to no importance as long as the key message is allowed to weave itself into the collective subconscious.
The key message being: There is no emergency. Methane risks are non-threatening. Corporatized states, media and
scientists who have pledged allegiance to protect the current economic system will try to convince us that methane
hydrates will provide society with a clean, sustainable fossil fuel.
January 2001, Dr. Gideon Polya explains that a further phony approach that is now being implemented on a massive
scale around the world is a
coal-to-gas transition on the basis that natural gas is clean. He states, The
seriously threatens
the Planet because (a) humanity should be urgently decreasing and certainly not
increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution; (b) Natural Gas (mainly methane, CH4)
is not a clean energy greenhouse gas-wise; and (c) pollutants from gas leakage and
gas burning pose a chemical risk to residents, agriculture and
the environment. The asserted clean-er status of gas as a fossil fuel is contradicted in the recent analysis by
Professor Robert Howarth of Cornell University, who has concluded that A complete consideration of all emissions from
using natural gas seems likely to make natural
gas far less attractive than oil and not significantly better than coal in terms of the consequences for global
warming.
It is grossly
negligent to spend billions of tax dollars on a dangerous scheme that will lock
humanity into what is
current damaging 392 parts per million (ppm) to a safe and sustainable 300 ppm for a safe and sustainable planet for all
peoples and all species. This is absolutely true. It is also true that onlyzero carbon can achieve any reduction in
atmospheric CO2; only zero carbon can reduce
*methane will be extracted even more with an increasing energy demand and
increase CO2, destroying oceans and making planet unlivable with high
temperatures
Owens 13
(Matt, Executive director at Fairfax Climate Watch - Matt studied environmental science and focuses his
In the biting satire and anti-nuclear war movie "Dr. Strangelove," it turns out that the Soviets have built a doomsday device
that will automatically explode and shower the Earth with very long-lasting radiation so powerful that it will kill all surface
life - that is if the Soviet Union is attacked first. It was meant as a fail-safe to deter any attack. Unfortunately, before the
Soviets publicly announce their completion of this device, a paranoid and war-mongering American Air Force general
manages to instigate a nuclear war by faking orders and sending a few of his
bombers to drop nukes on the Soviet Union. One bomb makes it through and the world ends in a blaze of nuclear
explosions.
The tar
sands and oil shale are the widely considered to be akin to such a doomsday device.
James Hansen famously said burning tar sands would be game over. But an even larger
fossil reserve is out there -
much larger. I'm talking about methane hydrates. However, these have generally been presumed
non-recoverable - at least before now. Earth Cooked As recently reported in the Journal Science, a Japanese firm, Japan Oil,
Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC), working about 80 km from the Japanese coast, in 1,000 meter water, drilled
through 330 meters of sediment and reached a 60 meter thick layer of sand containing methane hydrates. Then, using a
relatively simple method of pumping water out of that 60 meter thick formation, they lowered the pressure sufficiently to
cause the icy methane hydrate to dissociate into gaseous methane and water - the methane then freely flowed through
their pipe to the surface ship. JOGMEC estimates that in this one reserve alone, there exists 11 years' supply of natural gas
imports (for Japan) that they can recover. They plan to continue to develop the recovery process for another 3 to 5 years
before starting to extract the fossil fuel. In 2010, Japan imported about 3,500 billion cubic feet of natural gas and produced
less than 200 billion
cubic feet itself. Doing some basic math shows that means this reserve is close to 40,000 billion cubic feet in size.
To put that in
perspective, that's close to double the current annual methane emissions directly
caused by human
activity.
This one reserve, if there were to be some kind of accident that allowed the whole thing to release quickly,
would have an impact on climate, but not one so large that it would be immediately noticeable. So it alone isn't an instant
doomsday device.
What's truly
alarming however, is that this simple new method of extraction could be used to exploit
global methane hydrates - leading to unrelenting carbon emissions - probably until
human life is exterminated, along with the rest of the life on this planet . Many climate
scientists had assumed that either we would stop using fossil fuels of our own accord
(sometime around now), or that we would run into physical recovery limitations
sometime in the middle to end of this century - and thus be forced to stop using fossil
fuels. But those fantasies are now shattered. With this new extraction method, it looks very likely
that vast stores methane could be burned for energy, fueling an ever increasing global
energy demand (rising at a fairly steady 2.1% per year over at least the past 30+ years). This is a doomsday
discovery. CO2 levels could soar high enough to
exterminate almost all global life. What's more, natural gas releases less CO2 per energy unit produced by
its use - so some people
think it's a better alternative to coal and oil - but this justification would enable widespread exploitation of the
there
are way more methane hydrates than all other forms of fossil fuel . It's no longer
reasonable to just
assume humans will stop using fossil fuels by choice . We are placed in a strange position now,
where some people persist in disbelief and ignorance, and this is increasingly a threat to the very existence of our own
lives and life itself on this planet. Of the few scientists who have considered what emissions so high as to lead to 3,000 ppm
CO2 or higher (the levels we'd be faced with) would do, there is a general
The oceans would mostly die for one thing - turning into a
scientists however, can't agree on one key point. Would the oceans
with temperatures so hot that all multicellular life would be sterilized ? Those who oppose
climate action now may
soon change their mind however. Public opinion on a number of things has seen complete reversal. Drugs once
were legal, then mostly made illegal, and then alcohol was added, only to be legalized again. Women were denied
the right to vote. Slavery was legal. And so on. So there is hope. There is always hope. Let's hope the Climate
Movement is successful and let's hope a war isn't required - and let's also hope that some of the unexpected
consequences of climate change don't come about first and cause a knee-jerk response that's just as damaging as
climate change itself. Although, that last worry is increasingly becoming moot. Below: video interview with David
Wasdell in 2007, saying some things about climate change and the IPCC reports that are true to this day - and must
be carefully considered. In brief, he highlights the delayed nature of climate change/global warming response to
carbon pollution; and also explains how the bureaucratic process of making the IPCC cuts out a lot of important
information, making climate change seem less threatening than it really is.
Lying hundreds of metres below the sea and deeper still below sediments,
*Melting permafrost and venting hydrates just burn hydrocarbons in the earth and
destroy the planet GVC 12 [GVConsulting, comprehensive consulting firm,
Indigenous Solidarity for Arctic Protection, Alaska Inter-Tribal Council Statement of
Indigenous Solidarity for Arctic Protection, September 14, 2012,
http://gregoryvickrey.com/tag/drilling/]
There was a reason why the Cancn set of agreements was nothing more than an agreement to do nothing.
venting methane hydrates the greatest accelerating threat to all life on Earth
are
stupidity, greed and psychopathic tendencies as nothing less than the ultimate climate wealth jackpot with global
warming having opened up
Keep raping and pillaging our Earth to burn ever more earth-locked
hydrocarbons as we apparently have not suffered enough to learn. And as we continue
to burn the fossil fuels, burn with them the dreams of the children of those most
vulnerable whose lives will be annihilated for short-term
the Arctic. Burn baby burn.
frozen methane gas is exceedingly difficult and extremely dangerous to extract as the pressure is enormous. If
Japan succeeds,
it will have
a massive impact, equivalent to the use of shale gas now being witnessed in the
United States.
Archer 12
(David, PhD, computational ocean chemist at the University of Chicago, Much ado about methane, 1/4/12,
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2012/01/much-ado-about-methane)//WL
Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, but it also has an awesome power to really get people worked up,
compared to other equally frightening pieces of the climate story. What methane are we talking about? The largest
methane pools that people are talking about are in
sediments of the ocean, frozen into hydrate or clathrate deposits (Archer, 2007).
methane as ocean
hydrates is poorly constrained but could rival the rest of the fossil fuels combined. Most
of this is unattractive to extract for fuel, and mostly so deep in the sediment column that it
would take thousands of
years for anthropogenic warming to reach them . The Arctic is special in that the water column is
colder than the global average, and so hydrate can be found as shallow as 200 meters water depth. On land, there is lots
of methane in the thawing Arctic, exploding lakes and what not. This methane is probably produced by decomposition of
thawing organic matter. Methane could only freeze into hydrate at depths below a few hundred meters in the soil, and then
only at lithostatic pressure rather than hydrostatic, meaning that the hydrate would have to be sealed from the
atmosphere by some impermeable layer. The great gas reservoirs in Siberia are thought to be in part frozen, but evidence
for hydrate within the permafrost soils is pretty thin (Dallimore and Collett,1995) Russian gas well Is methane escaping due
to global warming? There have been observations of bubbles emanating from the sea floor in the Arctic (Shakhova, 2010;
Shakhova et al., 2005) and off Norway (Westbrook, 2009). The Norwegian bubble plume coincides with the edge of the
hydrate stability zone, where a bit of warming could push the surface sediments from stable to unstable. A model of the
hydrates (Reagan, 2009) produces a bubble plume similar to whats observed, in response to the observed rate of ocean
water warming over the past 30 years, but with this warming rate extrapolated further back in time over the past 100
years. The response time of their model is several centuries, so pre-loading the early warming like they did makes it
difficult to even guess how much of the response they model could be attributed to human-induced climate change, even if
we knew how much of the last 30 years of ocean warming in that location came from human activity. Sonar images of
methane plumes, from Westbrook Lakes provide an escape path for the methane by creating thaw bulbs in the
underlying soil, and lakes are everywhere appearing and disappearing in the Arctic as the permafrost melts. (Whether you
get CO2 or a mixture of CO2 plus methane depends critically on water, so
lakes are important for that reason also.) Methane bubbles captured in freezing lake ice in Alaska So
far there
certainly believable for the coming century however, which brings us to the next question:
a methane release
lines are from a simulation of a fossil fuel CO2 release, and the solid lines are the same model but with an added
methane hydrate feedback. The radiative forcing from the methane combines the CH4 itself which only persists
during the time of the methane release, plus the added CO2 in the atmosphere, which persists throughout the
simulation of 100,000 years. response of carbon cycle / hydrate model to fossil fuel CO2
humankind as a species. What could happen to methane in the Arctic? The methane bubbles
coming from the Siberian shelf are part of a system that takes centuries to respond
to changes in temperature. The methane
from the Arctic lakes is also potentially part of a new, enhanced, chronic methane release to the atmosphere.
(hundreds of Gtons)
(a
There isnt some huge bubble of methane waiting to erupt as soon as its roof melts .
And so far, the sources of
methane from high latitudes are small, relative to the big player, which is wetlands in warmer climes. It is very difficult to
know whether the bubbles are a brand-new methane source caused by global warming, or a response to warming that has
happened over the past 100 years, or
would be recorded in the carbon isotopic record, but so would changes in the size of the living biosphere, soil carbon pools
such as peat, and dissolved organic carbon in the ocean. The end-Permean extinction is particularly mysterious, and my
impression is that the killing mechanism for that is still up for grabs. Methane is also one of the usual suspects for the
PETM, which consisted of about 100,000 years of isotopically light carbon, which is thought to be due to release of some
biologically-produced carbon source, similar to the way that fossil fuel CO2 is lightening the carbon isotopes of the
atmosphere today, in concert with really warm temperatures. I personally believe that the combination of the carbon
isotopes and the paleotemperatures pretty much rules out methane as the original carbon source (Pagani et al., 2006),
although Gavin draws an opposite conclusion, which we may hash out in some future post. In any case, the 100,000-year
duration of the warming means that
the greenhouse agent through most of the event was CO2, not methane. Could there be a methane runaway
feedback?.
The runaway
greenhouse effect that planetary scientists and climatologists usually call by that
name involves water vapor. A runaway greenhouse effect involving methane release
release as CO2 to the atmosphere. This sounds like semantics, but it puts the methane system into the
context of the CO2 system, where it belongs and where we can scale it. So maybe by the end of the century in some
reasonable scenario, perhaps 2000 Gton C could be released by human activity under some sort of business-as-usual
scenario, and another 1000 Gton C could come from soil and methane hydrate release, as a worst case. We set up a model
of the methane runaway greenhouse effect scenario, in which the methane hydrate inventory in the ocean responds to
changing ocean temperature on some time scale, and the temperature responds to greenhouse gas concentrations in the
air with another time scale (of about a millennium) (Archer and Buffett, 2005). If the hydrates released too much carbon,
say two carbons from hydrates for every one carbon from fossil fuels, on a time scale that was too fast (say 1000 years
instead of 10,000 years), the system could run away in the CO2 greenhouse mode described above. It wouldnt matter too
much if the carbon reached the atmosphere as methane or if it just oxidized to CO2 in the ocean and then partially
degassed into the atmosphere a few centuries later. The fact that the ice core records do not seem full of methane spikes
due to high-latitude sources makes it seem like the real world is not as sensitive as we were able to set the model up to be.
This is where my guess about a worst-case 1000 Gton from hydrates after 2000 Gton C from fossil fuels in the last
paragraph comes from. On the other hand, the deep ocean could ultimately (after a thousand years or so) warm up by
several degrees in a business-as-usual scenario, which would make it warmer than it has been in millions of years. Since it
takes millions of years to grow the hydrates, they have had time to grow in response to Earths relative cold of the past 10
million years or so. Also, the climate forcing from CO2 release is stronger now than it was millions of years ago when CO2
levels were higher, because of the band saturation effect of CO2 as a greenhouse gas.
In short, if there was ever a good time to provoke a hydrate meltdown it would be now.
But now in a geological sense, over thousands of years in the future, not really now
in a human sense. The methane
hydrates in the ocean, in cahoots with permafrost peats (which never get enough respect), could be a
significant multiplier
of the long tail of the CO2, but will probably not be a huge player in climate change
in the coming century. Could methane be a point of no return? Actually, releasing CO2 is a point of
no return if anything is. The only way back to a natural climate in anything like our
lifetimes would be to anthropogenically extract CO2 from the atmosphere. The CO2
that has been absorbed into the oceans would degas back to the atmosphere to
some extent, so wed have to clean that up too. And if hydrates or peats contributed
some extra carbon into the mix, that would also have to be part of the bargain, like
paying interest on a loan. Conclusion Its the CO2, friend.
(Carolyn and Diane, U.S. Geological Survey Woods Hole Field Center AND
USGS communications worker, Gas Hydrates and Climate WarmingWhy a Methane Catastrophe Is Unlikely, May/June
2012, http://soundwaves.usgs.gov/2012/06/)//WL
News stories and Web postings have raised concerns that climate warming will release large volumes of methane
from gas hydrates, kicking off
deposits should remain stable for the next few thousand years. Of the gas hydrates likely
to become unstable, few are likely to release methane that could reach the atmosphere
and intensify climate
warming. Gas Hydrates Primer Gas hydrates are an ice-like combination of natural gas and water that can form in
deep-water ocean sediments near the continents and within or beneath continuous permafrost. Specific temperatures and
pressures and an ample supply of natural gas are required for gas hydrates to form and remain stable. An estimated 99
percent of gas hydrates are in ocean sediment and the remaining 1 percent in permafrost areas (see map). Methane
hydrate or methane ice, which is the most common type of gas hydrate, represents a highly concentrated form of
methane: one cubic foot of methane hydrate traps about 164 cubic feet of methane gas. The amount of methane trapped
in the Earths gas hydrate deposits is uncertain, but even the most conservative estimates conclude that about 1,000 times
more methane is trapped in hydrates than is consumed annually worldwide to meet energy needs. The most active area of
gas-hydrate research focuses on gas hydrates potential as an alternative source of natural gas (for example, see
http://web.mit.edu/mitei/research/studies/documents/natural-gas-2011/Supplementary_Paper_SP_2_4_Hydrates.pdf [842 KB
PDF]); the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gas Hydrates Project has several programs addressing this topic (see
researchers are
examining the link between climate change and the stability of methane-hydrate
deposits. Warming climate
could cause gas hydrates to break down (dissociate), releasing the methane that they now trap. Methane is a potent
greenhouse gas. For a given volume, methane causes 15 to 20 times more greenhouse-gas warming than carbon dioxide,
and so the release of large volumes of methane to the atmosphere could, in theory, exacerbate climate warming and cause
more gas hydrates to destabilize. Some research suggests that such large-scale, climate-driven dissociation events have
occurred in the past. For example, extreme warming during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum about 55 million
years ago may have been related to a large-scale release of methane from global methane hydrates. Some scientists have
also advanced the clathrate-gun hypothesis to explain observations that may be consistent with repeated, catastrophic
dissociation of gas hydrates and triggering of submarine landslides during the late Quaternary (400,000 to 10,000 years
ago). Methane As a Greenhouse Gas The atmospheric concentration of methane, like that of carbon dioxide, has increased
since the onset of the Industrial Revolution. Methane in the atmosphere comes from many sources, including wetlands, rice
cultivation, termites, cows and other ruminants, forest fires, and fossil-fuel production. Some researchers have estimated
that as much as 2 percent of atmospheric methane may originate with dissociation of global gas hydrates. Currently,
scientists do not have a tool to say with certainty how much, if any, atmospheric
remain in the
atmosphere for long; within about 10 years, it reacts with other compounds in the
atmosphere to form carbon dioxide and water. Thus, methane that is released to the
atmosphere ultimately adds to the
amount of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas . Climate-Driven Gas Hydrate Dissociation For
the most part, warming at rates documented by the I ntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for
the 20th century should not lead to
system from gas hydrates that dissociate. Although most methane hydrates would have to experience
sustained warming over
thousands of years before dissociation was triggered, gas hydrates in some places are dissociating now in response to
short- and long-term climatic processes. The following discussion refers to the numbered type locales or sectors shown in
the diagram of gas-hydrate deposits
terrestrial permafrost
will remain largely stable even if climate warming lasts hundreds of years . Over
thousands of years, warming could
cause gas hydrates at the top of the stability zone, about 625 feet (190 meters) below the Earths surface, to begin to
dissociate. Sector 2, Shallow Arctic Shelf: The shallow-water continental shelves that circle parts of the Arctic Ocean were
formed when sea-level rise during the
past 10,000 years inundated permafrost that was at the coastline. Subsea permafrost is thawing beneath these
continental shelves, and associated methane hydrates are likely dissociating now. (For example, see related Sound
Waves article "Degradation of Subsea Permafrost and Associated Gas Hydrates Offshore of Alaska in Response to
Climate Change.") If methane from these gas hydrates reaches the seafloor, much of it will likely be emitted to the
atmosphere. Less than 1 percent of the worlds gas hydrates probably occur in this setting, but this estimate could
be revised as scientists learn more. Sector 3, Upper Edge of Stability: Gas hydrates on upper continental slopes,
beneath 1,000 to 1,600 feet (300 to 500 meters) of water, lie at the shallowest water depth for which methane
hydrates are stable. The upper continental slopes, which ring all of the worlds continents, could host gas hydrate in
zones that are roughly 30 feet (10 meters) thick. Warming ocean waters could
dissolve or be oxidized in the water column and is unlikely to reach the atmosphere .
About 3.5 percent of the
Earths gas hydrates occur in this climate-sensitive setting. Sector 4, Deepwater: Most of the Earths gas hydrates,
about 95 percent, occur in water depths greater than 3,000 feet (1,000 meters). They are likely to remain stable
even with a sustained increase in bottom temperatures over thousands of years. Most of the gas hydrates in these
settings occur deep within the sediments. If the gas hydrates do dissociate, the released methane should remain
trapped in the sediments, migrate upward to form new gas hydrates, or be consumed by oxidation in near-seafloor
sediments. Most methane released at the seafloor would likely dissolve or be oxidized in the water column. A recent
article, Methane Hydrates and Contemporary Climate Change, provides more detail.
scientists Gerard Roe and Marcia Baker turned for insight to the distinctly
carbon emissions have the potential to trigger many changes that amplify the warming effectwater absorbs more sunlight than ice,
humidity traps more heat, and so onbut few that would
mitigate it. The odds, they figure, are about one in three that temperatures will rise by 4.5 degrees C (the top of the IPCC's range),
but
there's little
chance at all that they'll rise by less than 2 degrees C. "We've had a hard
time eliminating the
possibility of very large climate changes," says Roe. The answer is still couched in probabilities, but
they've shifted in a worrying direction. What can be done? Can a diplomatic miracle in Copenhagen save the planet from the dreaded
tipping point? Sea ice in the Antarctic was supposed to last for 5,000 years until scientists found that the melting was proceeding at a faster
pace than expected. Now it will all be gone in a mere 850 years.
Bringing it back would require something like 10,000 years of cooler temperatures.
process before it
Administration
most of the
the
National
in Boulder, Colorado. In a recent study in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, she found that
carbon we've already released into the atmosphere will hang around for another
1,000 years.
managed to persuade everybody to stop driving cars and heating their homes
emissions down to zero immediately the Earth would continue to warm for
centuries. The effect
of rising temperatures
on rainfall patterns
is
also
irreversible
be dry (Mexico, north Africa, southern Europe and the western parts of Australia and the United States) will continue to get drier, while wet
areas (the South Pacific islands, the horn of
things back as to keep them from getting a whole lot worsea worthy and important goal, if not a particularly inspiring one.
system,
although the scale of this contribution remains unclear, they said. The evidence comes from cores of sediment
drilled from the bed of the northern Arabian Sea during a research trip by marine scientists in 2007. One of the cores has
now been found to contain methane hydrates -- a solid ice-like crystalline structure of methane and water -- only 1.6
meters (5.2 feet) below the sea floor. Also uncovered were telltale signatures from water between sediment grains, and
concentrations of a mineral called barite. Together, these suggested that methane
had surged up through the sea bed in recent decades. "We started going through the literature and found that a major
earthquake had occurred close by, in 1945," said David Fischer from the MARUM Institute at the University of Bremen.
"Based on several indicators, we postulated that the earthquake led to a fracturing of the sediments, releasing the gas that
had been trapped below the hydrates into the ocean." Their search names the culprit as an 8.1-magnitude quake, the
biggest ever detected in the northern Arabian Sea. It ruptured a shallow gas reservoir at a location called Nascent Ridge,
according to their paper, appearing in the journal Nature Geoscience. Over a likely period of decades, around 7.4 million
cubic meters (261 million cubic feet) of methane -- equivalent roughly to 10 large natural-gas tankers -- belched to the
surface, the authors calculate. This estimate is conservative, they stress, adding that there could well be other sites in the
area that were breached by the quake. Greenhouse gases have both natural and man-made sources. Identified natural
sources include volcanic eruptions, which disgorge heat-trapping carbon dioxide (CO2) as well as cooling sulphur dioxide
particles, and methane from land and thawing permafrost. The biggest human source is CO2, from the burning of coal, gas
and oil, and methane caused by deforestation and agriculture. Methane has become a rising concern in the global warming
equation because it is 25 times more effective than CO2 in trapping solar heat, although it is also
methane from the thawing shoreline of the East Siberian Sea -- part of the Arctic
Ocean, which is one of
the Earth's hot spots for warming -- would inflict costs almost as big as the
world's entire economic
output.
(Joseph and James, president and CEO of The Heartland Institute, a 29-year-old
national nonprofit research center located in Chicago, Illinois and has been recognized many times for his contributions to
public policy research and debate AND managing editor of Environment & Climate News, a national monthly publication
devoted to sound science and free-market environmentalism. He is also senior fellow for The Heartland Institute, focusing
on energy and environment issues. Global Warming: Not a Crisis, 2014, http://heartland.org/ideas/global-warming-notcrisis)//WL
The burning of fossil fuels to generate energy produces carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas which, everything
else being equal, could lead to some warming of the global climate. Most scientists believe the Earth experienced a
small rise in temperatures during the second half of the twentieth century, but they are unsure how large a role
human activities may have played. The important questions from a public policy perspective are: How much of the
warming is natural? How sure are we that it will continue? Would continued warming be beneficial or
to natural causes ;
the warming trend already has stopped and forecasts of future warming are unreliable;
and the benefits of a moderate warming are likely to outweigh the costs . Global
warming, in other words, is not a crisis. Why
Does Heartland Address Global Warming? The Heartland Institute has been studying global warming since 1994,
when it produced Eco-Sanity: A Common-Sense Guide to Environmentalism (Madison Books). Heartland is a national
nonprofit research and education organization that focuses on economics, not science. So why have we become, in
the words of the science journal Nature, a major force among climate sceptics? (Tollefson, 2011) We were made
curious by the fact that every single environmental group in the U.S. says global warming is real
and a crisis, even though there was in 1994, and still is today, considerable debate going on in the scientific
community.
Many of the
worlds most distinguished scientists believe climate processes are too poorly
understood to support
(Solomon, 2008).
consensus among environmentalists is simple: If AGW is true, then stopping or preventing it requires higher taxes, more
income redistribution, more wilderness preservation, more regulations on corporations, smart growth, subsidies for
renewable energy, and on and on. In other words, many of the policies already on the liberal political agenda.
Liberals
global warming scare, to see what the real science says. They believe in global warming because they
feel it justifies their
ideological convictions
according to surveys, but less than 20 percent of journalists and academics dont want to go down the road to
higher taxes and more regulations unless it is necessary. They open the hood of the global warming scare and look
at the real science. They study the issue and come to understand it. Based on that understanding not ideological
conviction or belief 60 percent of them conclude global warming is not a crisis. (Rasmussen 2012) The Heartland
Institute looked under the hood and concluded concern over the possibility of catastrophic global warming was
being manufactured to advance a political agenda. We then took upon ourselves the task of publicizing the
scientific uncertainty behind the global warming scare and documenting the high costs of reducing greenhouse gas
emissions economic costs as well as the loss of freedom. And now you know why an economic think tank is so
prominent in a scientific debate. We do not do this to raise money from oil companies or others with a stake in the
issue oil companies never contributed more than 5 percent of our annual budgets, and they give a trivial amount
today. (See Reply to Our Critics for more about efforts to smear us with false claims about our funding.)
We
challenge
claims that climate change is a crisis because our pursuit of the truth led us to this
position. Isnt There a Consensus? Science doesnt advance by consensus. A single scientist or study
can disprove a theory that is embraced
by the vast majority of scientists. The search for a consensus is actually part
of what philosophers call
cited by those who claim there is a consensus ask questions that are too vague to settle the matter. It is important to
distinguish between the statement that global warming is a crisis and the similar-sounding but very different statements
that the climate is changing and that there is a
emissions and
alterations of the landscape are surely having impacts on climate, though they are often
local or regional (like heat islands) and small relative to natural variation. There is
plenty of evidence that there is no scientific consensus that climate change is manmade and dangerous (Bast and Spencer, 2014). The multi-volume
Climate Change Reconsidered series cites thousands of articles appearing in peer-reviewed journals that challenge
the basic underlying
assumptions of AGW (Climate Change Reconsidered 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014).
petition saying there is no threat that man-made global warming will pose a threat
to humanity or
nature
(Petition Project). Alarmists often cite an essay by Naomi Oreskes claiming to show that virtually all articles about
global warming in peer-reviewed journals support the so-called consensus. But a no-less-rigorous study by Benny Peiser
that attempted to replicate her results searched the abstracts of 1,117 scientific journal articles on global climate change
and found only 13 (1 percent) explicitly endorse the consensus view while 34 reject or cast doubt on the view that human
activity has been the main driver of warming over the past 50 years. A more recent search by Klaus-Martin Schulte of 928
scientific papers published from 2004 to February 2007 found fewer than half explicitly or implicitly endorse the so-called
consensus and only 7 percent do so explicitly (Schulte, 2008). A survey that is frequently cited as showing consensus
actually proves just the opposite. German scientists Dennis Bray and Hans von Storch have surveyed climate scientists
three times, in 1996, 2003, and 2007 (Bray and von Storch, 2010). Their latest survey found most of these scientists say
they believe global warming is man-made and is a serious problem, but most of these same scientists do not believe
climate science is sufficiently advanced to predict future climate conditions. For two-thirds of the science questions asked,
scientific opinion is deeply divided, and in half of those cases, most scientists disagree with positions that are at the
foundation of the alarmist case (Bast, 2011). On August 2, 2011, von Storch posted the following comment on a blog:
From our own observations of discussions among climate scientists we also find hardly consensus [sic] on many other
issues, ranging from changing hurricane statistics to the speed of melting Greenland and Antarctica, spreading of diseases
and causing mass migration and wars (von Storch, 2011). These are not minor issues. Extreme weather events, melting
ice, and the spread of disease are all major talking points for Al Gore and other alarmists in the climate debate. If there is
no consensus on these matters, then skeptics are right to ask why we should believe global warming is a crisis. Cognitive
Dissonance?
warming is a problem, but at the same time not believe there is sufficient scientific
evidence to predict
dissonance
holding
latter, it is probably caused by
it is
the complexity of the issue (we must trust the judgment of scientists working in other fields to form opinions on subjects
we are not ourselves expert about) and its close association with social and economic agendas (we want to believe
something is true even if our own research suggests it is not). This is not an unreasonable claim or an attack on the
integrity of working scientists. It is a standard theme in many books on the history of science, dating back at least as far as
Charles Mackays 1841 classic, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, and as recently as Mike
Hulmes 2009 tome, Why We Disagree About Climate Change. Hulme, not incidentally, is no skeptic: He contributes to the
alarmist IPCC reports and works at the University of East Anglia (home of the Climategate scandal). Even he admits that his
position is based on belief rather than scientific understanding and is inseparable from his partisan political beliefs. Bray
and von Storch, in an essay in 1999 reporting on the results of their first survey, remarked on how a willingness to make
predictions and recommendations about public policy that arent supported by actual science is a sign of post-normal
science, or the willingness to rely on consensus rather than actual scientific knowledge when the risks are perceived as
being great (Bray and von Storch, 1999). Scientists who express beliefs about global warming that they cant support with
real science are sharing opinions shaped by ideology and trust. Their beliefs should be given no more weight than the
beliefs of nonscientists. Natural or Man-Made? The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an agency of the
United Nations, claims the warming that has occurred since the mid-twentieth century is very likely due to the observed
increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas
Many climate scientists disagree with the IPCC on this key issue. As
warming is natural, or how much is caused by the rise in greenhouse gases (GHG). A
comparison of fingerprints from best available observations with the results of
state-of-the-art GHG models leads to the conclusion that the (human-caused) GHG
contribution is minor. This fingerprint evidence, though available, was ignored by the IPCC. The IPCC
continues to undervalue the overwhelming evidence that, on decadal and centurylong time scales, the Sun and associated atmospheric cloud effects are responsible
for much of past climate change. It is therefore highly likely that the Sun is also a major cause
of twentieth-century warming,
(Idso and Singer, 2009). S. Fred Singer and Dennis Avery documented natural
with anthropogenic GHG making only a minor contribution . In addition, the IPCC ignores,
or addresses imperfectly, other science issues that call for discussion and explanation (Idso
and Singer, 2009). Scientists who study the issue say it is impossible to tell if the recent
small warming trend is natural, a continuation of the planets recovery
articles point to natural sources of climate variability that could explain some or even all of the
warming
climate cycles of approximately 1,500 years going back hundreds of thousands of years (Singer and Avery, second
edition 2008).
It is clear
from climate records that the Earth was warmer than it is now in recorded human
history, before man-made greenhouse gas emissions could have been the cause. We
know enough about how the Earths climate works to know that biological and physical processes
remove CO2 from the atmosphere at a faster rate when concentration levels are
higher and release more heat into space when temperatures rise . These
poorly modeled or
make their forecasts. The arguments are complex, but the debate over natural versus man-made climate change is
unquestionably still ongoing.
The more we learn, the less likely it becomes that human greenhouse gas emissions
can explain more than a small amount of the climate change we witness . How Much
Warming? NASA satellite data recorded since 1979 allow us to check the accuracy of
claims that the past three decades have been warming at an alarming rate. The
data show a warming rate of 0.123 degrees C per decade. This is considerably less
than what land-based temperature stations report during the same time period, and
which are relied on by the IPCC (Christy, 2009). If the Earths temperature continues to
rise at the rate of the past three decades, the planet would see only 1.23 degrees C
warming over the course of an entire century. Most climate
scientists, even skeptics, acknowledge that rising CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere would, all other things held
constant, cause some small amount of warming. Alarmists claim that small amount will trigger increases in the amount of
moisture in the atmosphere, which in turn
(Singer, 2011).
1990s, it has not warmed at all since 2000 , and there is some evidence that a
cooling trend has begun (Taylor, 2007). This contradicts the predictions of the IPCC and
poses a challenge to the theory that CO2 concentrations play a major role in global
temperature trends. It confirms the views of many less-politicized climate
scientists who acknowledge that the global climate is always warming or cooling (Michaels, 2005; Christy, 2006).
The scientific
can we claim that continued human emissions of greenhouse gases is harmful ? Global
Warming Benefits as Well
as Harms Alarmists claim global warming will cause massive flooding, more violent weather, famines, and other
catastrophic consequences. If these claims are true, then we should have seen evidence of this trend during the
twentieth century. Idso and Singer (2009) provide extensive evidence that no such trends have been observed.
Even von Storch (2011) admits there is no consensus on these matters. The preponderance of scientific data
suggest sea levels are unlikely to rise by more than several inches, weather may actually become more mild, and
since most warming occurs at night and during the winter season, it has little adverse effect (and some positive
effect) on plants and wildlife. Hurricanes are likely to diminish, not increase, in frequency or severity (Spencer,
2008; Singer and Avery, 2008). Higher levels of CO2 have a well-documented fertilizing effect on plants and make
them more drought-resistant. Warmer temperatures are also likely to be accompanied by higher soil moisture levels
and more frequent rain, leading to a greening of the Earth that is dramatically different from the parched Earth
scenario featured in many biased and agenda-driven documentary films (Idso, 1995). The current best estimate is
that, if left unaddressed, by 2060 global warming is likely to have a small (0.2 percent of GDP) positive effect on the
U.S. economy and a small (1 to 2 percent of GDP) negative effect on the global economy (Mendelsohn and
Neumann, 1999). These estimates are very small and speculative.
warming comes from natural causes trends stopped already and cool trends have
started
their studies are flawed IPCC doesnt apply accepted methods and they ignore
feedback factors and other instances and are interpreted differently because
climate is always changing
*even if warming were real, it is good CO2 makes soil more fertile which leads to
increased food production due to longer growing seasons and bio-diversity due to
northern regions getting warmer to be more habitable for plants and animals
Deming 11
Warming, 10/19/11;
(David, geophysicist and associate professor at the University of Oklahoma, Why I deny Global
<http://www.lewrockwell.com/2011/10/david-deming/why-i-deny-global-warming/>)
fraudulent.
Anyone who is an honest and competent scientist must be a denier. Have you ever considered how
difficult it is to take the temperature of the planet Earth? What temperature will you measure? The air? The surface of the
Earth absorbs more than twice as much incident heat from the Sun than the air. But if you measure the temperature of the
surface, what surface are you going to measure? The solid Earth or the oceans? There is twice as much water as land on
Earth. If you decide to measure water temperature, at what depth will you take the measurements? How will the time scale
on which the deep ocean mixes with the shallow affect your measurements? And how, pray tell, will you determine what
the average water temperature was for the South Pacific Ocean a hundred years ago? How will you combine air, land, and
sea temperature measurements? Even if you use only meteorological measurements of air temperature, how will you
compensate for
straightforward, but
82.5 percent of stations in the U.S. Historical Climatology Network. They have found shockingly that
over
70 percent of these
stations are likely to be contaminated by errors greater than 2 deg C [3.6 deg F]. Of the
remaining stations, 21.5 percent have inherent errors greater than 1 deg C. The alleged
degree of global warming over the past 150 years is less than 1 deg C. Yet even in a
technologically advanced country like the US, the inherent error in over 90 percent of
the surveyed meteorological stations is greater than the putative signal. And these
errors are not random, but systematically reflect a warming bias related to
urbanization.
Watts has documented countless instances of air temperature sensors located next to air
conditioning vents or in the middle of asphalt parking lots. A typical scenario is that a temperature sensor that was in the
middle of a pasture a hundred years ago is now
surrounded by a concrete jungle. Urbanization has been a unidirectional process. It is entirely plausible even
likely that
all of the
temperature rise that has been inferred from the data is an artifact that
reflects the growth of urban
heat islands.
The denier is portrayed as a person who refuses to accept the plain evidence of his senses. But in
fact it is the alarmist who
At the current time, no one knows if the feedback from water vapor will be positive or negative.
doesnt know what they are talking about. The temperature of the Earth and how it has varied over the past 150 years is
poorly constrained. The person who thinks otherwise does so largely because they have no comprehension of the science.
Most of these people have never done science or thought about the inherent difficulties and uncertainties involved. And
what is global warming anyway? As long ago as the fifth century BC, Socrates pointed out that intelligible definitions are
a necessary precursor to meaningful discussions. The definition of the term global warming shifts with the context of the
discussion. If you deny global warming, then you have denied the existence of the greenhouse effect, a reproducible
phenomenon that can be studied analytically in the laboratory. But if you oppose political action, then global warming
metamorphoses into a nightmarish and speculative planetary catastrophe. Coastal cities sink beneath a rising sea, species
suffer from wholesale extinctions, and green pastures are turned into deserts of choking hot sand. In fact, so-called
deniers are not deniers but skeptics. Skeptics do not deny the existence of the greenhouse effect. Holding all other
factors constant, the mean planetary air temperature ought to rise as the atmosphere accumulates more anthropogenic
CO2. Christopher Monckton recently reviewed the pertinent science and
concluded that a doubling of CO2 should result in a temperature increase of about 1 deg C.
If this
those in the geologic past, most of it will occur at high latitudes. These
areas will become more habitable for man, plants, and other animals.
Biodiversity will increase. Growing seasons will
lengthen.
Why is this a bad thing? Any temperature increase over 1 deg C for a doubling of CO2 must come from a
positive feedback from water vapor. Water vapor is the dominant greenhouse gas in Earths atmosphere, and warm air
holds more water than cold air. The theory is that an increased concentration of water vapor in the atmosphere will lead to
a positive feedback that amplifies the warming from CO2 by as much as a factor of three to five. But this is nothing more
that speculation.
or empirically
almost all plants to grow faster. And nearly all of these plants have beneficial
human uses. Carbon dioxide fertilizes hundreds or thousands of human food
sources. More CO2 means trees grow faster. So carbon dioxide promotes
reforestation and biodiversity. Its good for the environment. But none of this
was reported. Instead, the media only reported that global warming makes poison ivy grow faster. And this is but
one example of hundreds or
People living in the future will look back and wonder how we
delusional. For the past few years I have remained silent concerning
they revealed is
what many of us already knew was going on: global warming research has
largely degenerated into
US Senate in 2006, I stated that a major climate researcher told me in 1995 that w e
Medieval Warm
Period. The existence and global nature of the Medieval Warm Period had been
substantiated by literally hundreds of research articles published over decades. But it
had to be erased from history for
ideological reasons.
was a revisionist
attempt to rewrite the temperature history of the last thousand years. It has been
discredited as being deeply flawed. In one Climategate email, a supposed climate scientist
admitted to hiding the decline. In other words, hiding data that tended to disprove
his ideological agenda. Another email described how alarmists would
One of them
try to keep critical manuscripts from being published in the peer-reviewed scientific
literature.
climate science that validates global warming is so unequivocal, why is it necessary to work behind the scenes to
suppress dissent? You doth protest too much. As described in my book, Science and Technology in World History:
The Ancient World and Classical Civilization, systematic science began with the invocation of naturalism by Greek
philosophers and Hippocratic physicians c. 600-400 BC. But the critical attitude adopted by the Greeks was as
important as naturalism. Students were not only allowed to criticize their teachers, but were encouraged to do so.
From its beginnings in Greek natural philosophy, science has been an idealistic and dispassionate search for truth.
As Plato explained, anyone who could point out a mistake shall carry off the palm, not as an enemy, but as a
friend. This is one reason that scientists enjoy so much respect. The public assumes that a scientists pursuit of
truth is unencumbered by political agendas. But science does not come easy to men. Science, George Sarton
reminded us, is a joykiller. The proper conduct of science requires a high degree of intellectual discipline and rigor.
Scientists are supposed to use multiple working hypotheses and sort through these by the processes of
corroboration and falsification. The most valuable evidence is that which tends to falsify or disprove a theory. A
scientist, by the very definition of his activity, must be skeptical. A scientist engaged in a dispassionate search for
truth elevates the critical he does not suppress it. Knowledge begins with skepticism and ends with conceit.
Finally, Im happy to be known as a denier because the label of denier says nothing about me, but everything
about the person making the charge. Scientific theories are never denied or believed, they are only corroborated or
falsified. Scientific knowledge, by its very nature, is provisional and subject to revision. The provisional nature of
scientific knowledge is a necessary consequence of the epistemological basis of science. Science is based on
observation. We never have all the data. As our body of data grows, our theories and ideas must necessarily evolve.
Anyone who thinks scientific knowledge is final and complete must necessarily endorse as a corollary the absurd
proposition that the process of history has stopped. A scientific theory cannot be denied. Only a belief can be
denied. The person who uses the word denier thus reveals that they hold global warming as a belief, not a
scientific theory. Beliefs are the basis of revealed religion. Revelations cannot be corroborated or studied in the
laboratory, so religions are based on dogmatic beliefs conservatively held. Religions tend to be closed systems of
belief that reject criticism. But the sciences are open systems of knowledge that welcome criticism. Im a scientist,
and therefore I must happily confess to being a denier.
Taylor 13
(James, Forbes magazine contributor on energy and environmental issues, citing a survey published by
Organization Studies, a peer-reviewed academic journal Peer-Reviewed Survey Finds Majority of Scientists Skeptical of
Global Warming Crisis, 2/13/13; < http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamestaylor/2013/02/13/peer-reviewed-survey-findsmajority-of-scientists-skeptical-of-global-warming-crisis/>)
It is becoming clear that not only do many scientists dispute the asserted global
warming crisis, but these skeptical scientists may indeed form a scientific
consensus. Dont look now, but maybe a scientific consensus exists concerning global warming after all. Only 36
percent of geoscientists and engineers believe that humans are creating a global
warming crisis, according to a survey reported in the peer-reviewed Organization
cause of recent global warming and/or that future global warming will not be
a very serious problem.
The survey results show geoscientists (also known as earth scientists) and engineers hold similar views as
meteorologists. Two recent
surveys
claims.
According to the newly published survey of geoscientists and engineers, merely 36 percent of respondents fit
the Comply with Kyoto model. The scientists in this group express the strong belief that climate change is happening,
that it is not a normal cycle of nature, and humans are the main or central cause. The authors of the survey report,
however, note that
their diagnostic framing, they believe that changes to the climate are natural,
normal cycles of the Earth. Moreover, they strongly disagree that climate
change poses any significant public risk and see no
impact on their personal lives. Another group of scientists fit the Fatalists model. These scientists,
comprising 17 percent of the
respondents, diagnose climate change as both human- and naturally caused. Fatalists
consider climate
change to be a
smaller public risk with little impact on their personal life. They are skeptical that
the scientific debate is
These scientists are likely to ask, How can anyone take action if
research is biased? The next largest group of scientists, comprising 10 percent of respondents, fit the Economic
Responsibility model. These scientists diagnose climate change as being natural or human caused. More than any other
group, they underscore that
They are also less likely to believe that the scientific debate is settled and that
the IPCC modeling is accurate. In their prognostic framing, they point to the harm the Kyoto Protocol and all regulation will
do to the economy. The final group of scientists, comprising 5 percent of the respondents, fit the Regulation Activists
model. These scientists diagnose climate change as being both human- and naturally caused, posing a moderate public
risk, with only slight impact on their personal life. Moreover, They are also skeptical with regard to the scientific debate
being settled and are the most indecisive whether IPCC modeling is accurate. Taken together,
is human caused and a serious concern. The next largest group of scientists, comprising 10 percent of
respondents, fit the Economic Responsibility model. These scientists diagnose climate change as being natural or
human caused. More than any other group, they underscore that the real cause of climate change is unknown as nature is
forever changing and uncontrollable. Similar to the nature is overwhelming adherents, they disagree that climate change
poses any significant public risk and see no impact on their personal life. They are also less likely to believe that the
scientific debate is settled and that the IPCC modeling is accurate. In their prognostic framing, they point to the harm the
Kyoto Protocol and all regulation will do to the economy. The final group of scientists, comprising 5 percent of the
respondents, fit the Regulation Activists model. These scientists diagnose climate change as being both human- and
naturally caused, posing a moderate public risk, with only slight impact on their personal life. Moreover, They are also
skeptical with regard to the scientific debate being settled and are the most indecisive whether IPCC modeling is accurate.
Taken together, these four skeptical groups numerically blow away the 36
percent of scientists who believe global warming is human caused and a serious concern.
One interesting
survey is the unmistakably alarmist bent of the survey takers. They frequently use
terms such as denier to describe scientists who are skeptical of an asserted global
warming crisis, and they refer to skeptical scientists as speaking against climate
on the beliefs of scientists themselves rather than bureaucrats who often publish alarmist statements without
polling their member scientists.
We now have meteorologists, geoscientists and engineers all reporting that they are
skeptics of an
consensus. Taken
together, these four skeptical groups numerically blow away the 36 percent of
scientists who believe global warming is human caused and a serious concern.
*CO2 is plant food the higher the CO2 levels, the more vibrant the biosphere is
*CO2 makes soil more fertile and increases amount that can be produced
*CO2 makes trees and forests to grow faster and in more places
*Warming makes northern places more habitable and increases overall biodiversity
in places
Hayden 9
(Howard C., geophysicist and associate professor at the University of Oklahoma, Physicist Howard Haydens
that the science is settled on the issue of CO2 and climate. Let
me put this claim to
It has been often said
rest with a simple one-letter proof that it is false . The letter is s, the one that changes model into
models. If the science were settled, there would be precisely one model, and it would be in agreement with measurements.
Alternatively, one may ask which one of the twenty-some models settled the science so that all the rest could be discarded
along with the research funds that have kept those models alive.
the model (singular) would have predicted it. Let me next address
passed) a tipping point. Anybody who has worked with amplifiers knows about
tipping points. The output
goes to the rail. Not only that, but it stays there. Thats the official worry coming from the likes of James Hansen
(of NASAGISS) and Al Gore.
the CO2 concentration was up to 8,000 ppm, and that did not lead to a
tipping point. If it did, we would not
Global-warming alarmists tell us that the rising CO2 concentration is (A) anthropogenic and (B) leading to global
warming. (A)
CO2
concentration has risen and fallen in the past with no help from mankind. The
present rise began in the
answer, what the CO2 level would be today if we had never burned any fuels. They simply assume that it would be
the pre-industrial value.
The solubility of CO2 in water decreases as water warms, and increases as water cools.
Ice Age has thus caused the oceans to emit CO2 into the atmosphere . (B) The first
principle of causality is that the
precede CO2 changes. How, then, can one conclude that CO2 is responsible for the current warming?
Nobody doubts that CO2 has some greenhouse effect, and nobody doubts that CO2 concentration is increasing. But
what would we have to fear if CO2 and temperature actually increased?
A warmer world
is a better world. Look at weather-related death rates in winter and in summer, and
the case is
overwhelming that warmer is better. The higher the CO2 levels, the more
vibrant is the biosphere, as
numerous experiments in greenhouses have shown. But a quick trip to the museum can
make that case in spades. Those
huge dinosaurs could not exist anywhere on the earth today because the land is not productive enough.
CO2 is
simple. CO2 is not pollution by any reasonable definition. A warmer world begets more
precipitation. All computer models predict a smaller temperature gradient between
the poles and the equator. Necessarily, this would mean fewer and less violent
storms. The melting point of ice is 0 C in Antarctica, just as it is everywhere else.
The highest recorded temperature at the South Pole is 14 C, and the lowest is
117 C. How, pray, will a putative few degrees of warming melt all the ice
and inundate Florida, as is
beyond, sea levels will rise (~1 m 0.5 m), and atmospheric CO2 will increase by up to 1000 ppm" -- noting that
"widely
it is
suggested that
the magnitude and rate of these changes will result in many plants and animals
going extinct," citing studies
that suggest that "within the next century, over 35% of some biota will have gone extinct (Thomas et al., 2004;
Solomon et al., 2007) and there will be extensive die-back of the tropical rainforest due to climate change (e.g.
Huntingford et al., 2008)." On the other hand, they indicate
biologists and climatologists have pointed out that "many of the predicted
increases in climate
that some
terms of both
and in
in the 'climate-
change denier' category," although the purpose for pointing out these facts is simply to
present "a sound scientific basis for understanding biotic responses to the
magnitudes and rates of climate change predicted for the future through using the vast
data resource that we can exploit in fossil records." Going on to do
just that, Willis et al. focus on "intervals in time in the fossil record
concentrations increased up to
in mid- to high-latitudes
by up to 3 m higher than present," describing studies of past biotic responses that indicate "the scale and impact of
the magnitude and rate of such climate changes on biodiversity." And
they describe it, "is
to another." And, most importantly in this regard, they report " there
magnitude and rate predicted for the next century," reiterating that "the
to wide
amplitude
fluctuations in climate."
The term global warming is commonly used by the media to mean anthropogenic global warming; that is,
warming caused by human activity. In this article, the writer has chosen to prefix global warming, where
appropriate, by the terms anthropogenic or humancaused in order to
We are led today by our media, governments, schools and some scientific
authorities to believe that, through his CO2 emissions, man is entirely, or almost
entirely, responsible for the modest,
avoid confusion.
of about 0.7 C that has taken place over the past 100 years. We
are told, and many sincere people believe, that if we continue on this path, the planet will experience escalating
temperature and dangerous sealevel rise before the end of this century. Over the past 20 years or so, this has become so
much a part of our belief system, that to challenge it is to be labelled a denier and put in the same category as a member
of the Flat Earth Society. Yet,
scientific literature will show that the popular anthropogenic global warming dogma
is being questioned by hundreds of respected scientists. Furthermore, emerging
evidence points directly to other natural phenomena as probably having greater
effects on global temperatures than can be attributed to human-
caused CO2 emissions. The disproportionate scientific weighting attributed to the anthropogenic warming
interpretation, and the general public perception of its validity, could be a serious problem for society, as the humancaused global warming belief is diverting our attention from other, more serious anthropogenic effects such as pollution
and depletion of our water resources, contamination of our food and living space from chemicals, and diminishing
conventional energy resources.
PROBLEMS WITH THE ANTHROPOGENIC MODEL The fact that the world has undergone cycles of warming and cooling has
been known for a very long time, but the question as to mans influence on climate did not become a hot debate until after
the mid-twentieth century, when Revelle and Seuss (1957) first drew attention to the possible effect of greenhouses gases
(particularly CO2 ) on the earths temperature.
Subsequent studies pointed to the increase in atmospheric CO2 from roughly 0.025% to 0.037%, or 50%, over the
past 100 years.
Much was
made of the apparent but crude covariance of atmospheric CO2 and global
temperature, and the conclusion was drawn that [hu]mans escalating carbon
emissions are responsible for the late 20 th century temperature rise. Anxiety was rapidly
raised among environmentalists, and also attracted many scientists who found
ready funding for studies aimed at better understanding the problem. However, scientists soon
encountered three important difficulties:
explanation is that solar warming, over a long period of time, causes the oceans to outgas CO2 , whereas cooling results in
more CO2 entering solution, as discussed by Stott et al. (2007). Averaged over a still longer period of geological time, it has
been shown (Shaviv and Veizer 2003)
(see Montford 2010 for a thorough discussion) was the publication of the Hockey Stick Curve (Fig. 1), a
1000-year record of past temperature which purported to show that The 20 th century is likely the warmest century in the
Northern Hemisphere, and the 1990s was the warmest decade, with 1998 as the warmest year in the last 1000 years
(Mann et al. 1999). This
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its 2001 report and also by Al Gore in the movie An
Inconvenient Truth.
Subsequently, Mann et al.s work has been challenged by several scientists (though to
be fair, it is also supported by some). For example, McIntyre and McKitrick (2003) amended Manns
graph, using all available data and better quality control (Fig. 1), and showed that the
20 th century is not exceptionally warm when compared with that of the 15 th
century. However, the IPCC has continued to report a steady increase in global
temperature in the face of clear evidence that average temperature has remained
roughly level
globally, positive in the northern hemisphere and negative in the southern hemisphere, since about 2002 (Archibald
2006; Fig. 2).
All of these factors have been discussed by IPCC, but the first two have been dismissed as negligible
in comparison with the greenhouse-gas effect and mans contribution to it through anthropogenic CO2 . It is claimed (e.g.
Revelle and Suess 1957) that the particular infrared absorption bands of CO2 provide it with a special ability to absorb and
reradiate the suns longer wavelength radiation, causing warming of the troposphere and an increase in high-altitude
(cirrus) cloud, further amplifying the heating process. Detailed arguments against this conclusion can be found in Spencer
et al. (2007) and Gerlich and Tscheuschner (2009). These scientists point out (among other arguments, which include the
logarithmic decrease in absorptive power of CO2 at increasing concentrations), that clouds have poor ability to emit
radiation and that the transfer of heat from the atmosphere to a warmer body (the earth) defies the Second Law of Thermodynamics. They argue that the Plank and Stefan-Boltzman equations used in calculations of radiative heat transfer
cannot be applied to gases in the atmosphere because of the highly complex multi-
It is firmly established that the sun is the primary heat source for the global climate system, and that the
atmosphere and oceans modify and redirect the suns heat. According to Veizer (2005), cosmic rays from outer
space cause clouds to form in the troposphere; these clouds shield the earth and provide a cooling effect.
Solar
combined with the solar magnetic field, acts as a shield against cosmic rays and
thereby leads to global
warming.
Figures 3 and 4 illustrate both the cooling by cosmic rays (cosmic ray flux, or CRF) and warming by solar
irradiation (total solar irradiance, or TSI) in the long term (500 Ma) and short term (50 years), respectively. CRF shows an
excellent negative correlation with temperature, apart from a short period around 250 Ma (Fig. 3). In contrast,
the
Other studies have highlighted the overriding effect of solar radiation on global
heating. Soon (2005) studied
solar irradiance as a possible agent for medium-term variations in Arctic temperatures over the past 135 years, and found
a close correlation in both decadal (510 years) and multi-decadal (4080 years) changes (Fig. 5). As to the control on this
variation, the indirect effect of solar irradiance on cloud cover undoubtedly results in modulations of the suns direct
warming of the earth. Veizer (2005) estimated that the heat reflected by cloud cover is about 78 watts/m2 , compared to
an insolation effect of 342 watts/m2 , a modulation of more than 25%. This contrasts with an IPCC estimate of 1.46
watts/m2 , or about 0.5% of TSI, for the radiative effect of anthropogenic CO2 accumulated in the modern industrial era
(IPCC 2001). Veizer concludes: A change of cloud cover of a few percent can therefore have a large impact on the
planetary energy balance. In addition to solar insolation effects,
(which deflects
the charged particles that constitute cosmic rays) and associated sun-spot maxima
are correlated with
such as the Medieval Climate Optimum (Fig. 6), and typically occur midway between ice ages (Veizer 2005). Solar magnetic minima have accompanied global cooling, such as occurred during the
Little Ice Age between 1350 and 1850 A.D. A proxy for sunspot activity prior to the start of telescope observations in 1610
can be reconstructed from the abundance of cosmogenic 10 Be in ice cores from Antarctica and Greenland (Miletsky et al.
2004).
Global temperature oscillations have been evident in both geologic and recent times, with periods varying from a few years
(mostly solar and lunar driven) up to 120 million years (galactic and orbital influences) (Plimer 2009). In addition,
ocean
atmosphere interactions
are implicated in the control of some shorter-period climatic oscillations . For example,
McLean et al. (2009) have
studied the El Nio Southern Oscillation (ENSO), a tropical Pacific oceanatmosphere phenomenon, and compared
the index of intensity (the Southern Oscillation Index, or SOI) with global tropospheric temperature anomalies
(GTTA) for the 19602009 period (Fig. 7). McLean et al. (2009) concluded that Change in SOI accounts for 72% of
the variance in GTTA for the 29-year long record, and 68% for the 50-year record. They found the same or stronger
correlation between SOI and mean global temperature, in which SOI accounted for as much as 81% of the variance
in the tropics (Fig. 8). A delay of 5 to 7 months was deduced between the SOI maximum and the associated
temperature anomaly.
Volcanic influences on temperature are also evident (Figs. 7, 8), probably caused by
the injection of sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere, where it is converted into
sulphate aerosols that reflect incoming
solar radiation
(McLean et al. 2009). The GTTA nearly always falls in the year or two following major eruptions.
Nevertheless, the CO2 hypothesis, the theoretical basis for which is being increasingly challenged,
remains the popular
Al Gores
An Inconvenient Truth.
ii) Fear and concern on the part of environmentalists, who were already aware of many other harmful aspects of industrial,
commercial and other human activities.
Wildlife Fund,
disagreements that existed among scientists as to the scale of the warming and its
impacts, disagreements
that inevitably arose because climate science is complex and empirical data were in short supply until recently.
Akasofu 8
(Syun-Ichi, former director of the Geophysical Institute and the International Arctic Research Center at
the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Former director of International Arctic Research Center says: Global warming has
paused, 9/27/14, Originally published in the Fairbanks Daily News Miner, http://wattsupwiththat.com/2008/09/27/formerdirector-of-international-arctic-research-center-says-global-warming-has-paused/)//WL
-2001. Further,
southern hemisphere has stopped, and that ocean temperatures also have
stopped rising . The global
average temperature had been rising until about 2000-2001. The International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) and many
scientists hypothesize rising temperatures were mostly caused by the greenhouse effect of carbon dioxide (CO2), and they
predicted further temperature increases after 2000. It was natural to assume that CO2 was responsible for the rise,
because CO2 molecules in the atmosphere tend to reflect back the infrared radiation to the ground, preventing cooling (the
greenhouse effect) and also because CO2 concentrations have been rapidly increasing since 1946. But, this hypothesis on
the cause of global warming is just one of several. Unfortunately,
forget that weather and climate also are controlled by nature, as we witness
weather changes every
day and climate changes in longer terms. During the last several years, I have suggested that it is
important to identify the natural effects and subtract them from the temperature
changes. Only then can we be sure of the
man-made contributions. This suggestion brought me the dubious honor of being designated Alaskas most
famous climate change skeptic. The stopping of the rise in global average temperature after 2000-2001 indicates that the
hypothesis and prediction made by the IPCC need serious revision. I have been suggesting during the last several years
that
(namely, warming)
from the
occurred approximately 1800-1850. The other is what we call the multi-decadal oscillation. In
the recent past, this component had a positive gradient (warming) from 1910 to 1940, a negative gradient (cooling
many Fairbanksans remember the very cold winters in the 1960s) from 1940 to 1975, and then again a positive
gradient (warming many Fairbanksans have enjoyed the comfortable winters of the last few decades or so) from
1975 to about 2000.
that natural changes are greater than the CO2 effect , as I have stated during the last several
years. Future changes in global temperature depend on the combination of both the recovery from the Little Ice Age
(positive) and the multi-decadal oscillation (both positive
No impact to warming
Stafford 13
(James, 2013, interviewing Anthony Watts, 25-year broadcast meteorology veteran "Climate Change
Anthony Watts: The premise of the issue for proponents can be summed up very simply: You put CO2 in the atmosphere and it
outcome of a chaotic system over the long term is a very, very big task, one that
weve really only
of.
Dr.
Judith
popularly portrayed as a simple black-and-white problem and few really delve much beyond the headlines and the calls for action to
understand that it is really many shades of grey. Oilprice.com: As a former TV meteorologist and a developer of weather data
dissemination technology, can you tell us more about how your background lends to your pragmatic scepticism on climate
change? Anthony Watts: In TV, if I was wrong on the forecast, or the temperature reported was inaccurate, Id hear about it
immediately. Viewers would complain. That immediate feedback translates very quickly to making sure you get it right. With
climate,
the forecast is open-ended, and we have to wait years for feedback, and so the skill level in forecasting often doesnt improve very
much with time. Also,
Ive
(NOAA) had it right at one time, but theyd dropped their guard, and my recent study (preliminary) shows that not only is the deployment of
weather stations faulty in siting them, but that the adjustments designed to solve those issues actually make the problem worse. Oilprice.com:
Is there any way to remove the camp element from the issue of climate change? How far do disastrous weather eventslike Hurricane
Sandygo towards reshaping the climate change debate? Anthony Watts: The idea that Hurricane Sandy, a minor class 1 storm, was
somehow connected to CO2 driven climate change is ludicrous, especially when far worse storms existed in the same area in the past when
CO2 was much lower. Hurricane Hazel in October 1954 is a case in point. In my view, the only way to null out the camp element is via
Looking at the history of severe weather, there really arent any trends at all .
Both the IPCC and The
education.
change because since temperature increases have paused for about 15 years, it is all they have left. But even that doesnt hold up when you
study the data history: There is also some peer-reviewed analysis which goes into some depth on this subject. This analysis concludes that
"
the
climate change has been controversial among those who believe this issue is the gravest one facing us today. In what way do you think your
message is misunderstood? Anthony Watts: They think and promote that Im categorically a denier in the pay of big oil (for the record,
when you look at the observed data compared to the early predictions.
Mendelsohn 9 (Robert O., the Edwin Weyerhaeuser Davis Professor, Yale School
of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, June 2009, Climate Change
and Economic Growth, online:
http://www.growthcommission.org/storage/cgdev/documents/gcwp060web.pdf)
The heart of the debate about climate change comes from a number of warnings from
scientists and others that give the impression that human-induced climate change is an
immediate threat to society (IPCC 2007a,b; Stern 2006). Millions of people might be
vulnerable to health effects (IPCC 2007b), crop production might fall in the low latitudes
(IPCC 2007b), water supplies might dwindle (IPCC 2007b), precipitation might fall in arid
regions (IPCC 2007b), extreme events will grow exponentially (Stern 2006), and
between 2030 percent of species will risk extinction (IPCC 2007b). Even worse, there
may be catastrophic events such as the melting of Greenland or Antarctic ice sheets
causing severe sea level rise, which would inundate hundreds of millions of people
(Dasgupta et al. 2009). Proponents argue there is no time to waste. Unless greenhouse
gases are cut dramatically today, economic growth and wellbeing may be at risk (Stern
2006). These statements are largely alarmist and misleading . Although climate
change is a serious problem that deserves attention, societys immediate behavior has
an extremely low probability of leading to catastrophic consequences . The
science and economics of
climate change is quite clear that emissions over the next few decades will lead to
only mild consequences . The severe impacts predicted by alarmists require a
century (or two in the case of Stern 2006) of no mitigation . Many of the
predicted impacts assume there will be no or little
adaptation. The net economic impacts from climate change over the next 50 years will
be small regardless. Most of the more severe impacts will take more than a century or
even a millennium to
unfold and many of these potential impacts will never occur because people
will adapt . It is not at
all apparent that immediate and dramatic policies need to be developed to thwart
longrange climate risks. What is needed are longrun balanced responses.
to model validations
in the Thomas paper, and the field in general: Of the modeling papers we have reviewed, only a
few were validated. Commonly, these papers simply correlate present distribution of species with
climate variables, then replot the climate for the future from a climate model and, finally, use
one-to-one mapping to replot the future distribution of the
validated. For example, Hitz and Smith (2004) discuss many possible effects of global warming on the basis of a
review of modeling papers, and
in this kind of analysis the unvalidated assumptions of models would most likely be ignored. The paper observed
that
few mass
suggesting
something
including the propensity of so-called extinct species quite often reappear . Usually they are
small, hard to find and no-one is really looking for them.
iii) The IPCC was formed in 1988 by two organizations of the United Nations, the World Meteorological Organization and
the United Nations Environment Programme, to assess...the scientific, technical and socio-economic information relevant
to understanding the scientific basis of
IPCCs mandate
granted that man is responsible for at least a significant part of the current global
warming. Because of its political nature, the number of subscribing countries
(currently 130), and the fact that it carries out no research of its own, defining a
scientifically meaningful IPCC consensus has become an almost
impossible task.
Nevertheless, IPCC has faithfully followed its guidelines in each of its four Assessment Reports,
concluding in its fourth report (IPCC 2007) that Most of the global average warming over the past 50 years is very likely
due to anthropogenic GHG increases and it is likely that there is a discernible human-induced warming averaged over
each continent (except Antarctica). (authors italics). Hidden behind
this bold statement are many dissenting opinions by scientists whose views do not appear in the reports. In fact,
it is difficult to find
opinions are referred to in this article . This bias has led to serious criticism of
the IPCC process. The
widely known
Nearly half of the claimed warming during the past century did not occur
in the real world but is
presented
Most are outspoken global warming alarmists who accumulate and retain large
budgets, staff, and media attention only so long as a global warming crisis appears to exist. The European Geosciences
Union paper points out the
analysts
*there will be no drilling in the arctic now drop in earnings, court case about
federal government underestimates, and not great from a business perspective
Cockerham 14
(Sean, Anchorage Daily News Reporter, Shell won't drill offshore in Alaska Arctic this year, 1/30/14,
http://www.adn.com/2014/01/30/3298785/shell-abandons-plans-for-alaska.html)//WL
Shell is abandoning hopes of drilling in the Arctic waters off Alaska this
year, the latest blow to
Royal Dutch
the company's effort to exploit huge potential in the petroleum-rich but sensitive region. The decision
came as Shell reported a steep drop in earnings and its new CEO announced plans to restructure
operations to improve the company's cash flow.
CEO Ben van Beurden cited last week's court ruling that threw offshore Arctic oil
leases into question. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with
environmental and Alaska Native groups that the federal government had
underestimated how much oil drilling would happen when it sold the leases in 2008.
Van Beurden told investors that the ruling raised "substantial obstacles" for Shell's
plans in Alaska waters. "This is a disappointing outcome, but the lack of a clear path forward
means that I am not prepared to commit
further resources for drilling in Alaska in 2014 ," he told the investors Thursday. "We will look to
relevant agencies and the court to resolve their open legal issues as quickly as possible." Van Beurden told reporters in
London that, in addition to not drilling the Arctic waters in 2014, "we are reviewing our options there." Shell and others had
explored offshore in the Alaska Arctic in the 1980s and early 1990s. But before Shell's recent push there had been little
activity in the last two decades and none by Shell. A series of mishaps doomed its 2012 effort. Those included the
grounding of a drilling rig, reports of safety and environmental violations, and fines for breaking air pollution limits. Ken
Salazar, the interior secretary at the time, said Shell "screwed up" the historic Arctic effort. The Coast Guard conducted a
full marine casualty investigation into the circumstances of the grounding. But its report has not yet been released. The
problems led Shell to drop plans to drill last year, but it had interest in resuming this year if the federal government agreed
to issue permits.
billion so far on its Arctic offshore effort, the company said Thursday. "We needed more
certainty and didn't get it, making it impossible to justify the commitment of
resources needed to explore safely in 2014," Pete
Slaiby, Shell's vice president for Alaska, said in an email. It has yet to extract oil or even drill a single, complete well. While
Salazar allowed Shell to start wells in both the Chukchi and Beaufort seas in 2012, the company wasn't allowed to drill into
oil-rich geologic zones because its novel oil-spill containment dome failed tests. The entire drilling season was shortened
because of a series of equipment problems. Environmental
offshore drilling in the Arctic is risky, costly and simply not a good bet from a
business perspective," said
Jacqueline Savitz, Oceana's vice president for U.S. oceans. Erik Grafe, the Earthjustice attorney who led the lease
challenge, called on the Obama administration to do a new environmental study. "The Department of the Interior
now needs to take a hard look at whether the Chukchi Sea should be open for oil drilling at all, beginning with a full
and public environmental impact statement process that addresses the Ninth Circuit decision and does not
minimize the risks of oil drilling in this vibrant but vulnerable sea," Grafe said in a statement. Greenpeace urged
other companies that are considering offshore Arctic drilling to learn from Shell's experience and "conclude that this
region is too
remote, too hostile and too iconic to be worth exploring." " The
drilling in 2014 was both sensible and inevitable ," Lois Epstein, an engineer and Arctic program
director for The Wilderness
drilling and
mobilization, and a bottomless pit for investment." Political leaders faulted the federal government
and court rulings and downplayed Shell's own difficulties. Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she was
disappointed that Shell wouldn't be going ahead this year. She said it was understandable given the uncertainty due to the
federal court ruling on its leases. "Companies willing to invest billions of dollars to develop our country's resources must
have confidence that the federal agencies responsible for overseeing their efforts are competent and working in good faith.
I'm not convinced that has been the case for Alaska," Murkowski said in a statement. Alaska Democratic Sen. Mark Begich
blamed "judicial overreach" for the situation. "I'll be talking with Interior Secretary Sally Jewell today, and expect her
agency to move quickly to address the court's questions and concerns and do everything possible to get this process back
on track," Begich said in a
statement. Gov. Sean Parnell said Shell's decision was understandable, given the recent court ruling. " Multiple
years of federal
regulatory delay, litigation delay, and one year of operational issues have created
barriers to Alaskans'
near-term economic prospects," Parnell said in a statement. "Still, offshore energy development will play an
enormous role in Alaska's economic future, and I remain committed to responsibly developing our vast offshore resource
basin." The decision came as the
company told investors that its fourth-quarter profits had plummeted, in part because of expensive exploration projects
around the world. Van Beurden said project delays in several countries and Nigeria's worsening security situation had
contributed to a changing outlook for the Dutch oil company. He said Shell would reduce its capital spending this year by
about $10 billion, increase sales of its assets and attempt to improve
its operational performance. "We are making hard choices in our worldwide portfolio to improve Shell's capital efficiency,"
he said.
Other oil
There will be no drilling in the arctic now drop in earnings, court case about
federal government underestimates, and not great from a business perspective,
thats Cockerham
Smith 14
(Matt, CNN reporter, Shell's Arctic dreams postponed another year, 1/30/14,
http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/30/us/shell-arctic/)//WL
Shell has canceled plans to drill in the Arctic waters off Alaska this year
after a federal court ruling put the company's multibillion-dollar project on hold , the
company said Thursday. It's the second year
Oil giant Royal Dutch
Shell has postponed its push to drill in the Chukchi Sea , where it began exploratory drilling in
2012. The effort caused widespread concern among environmentalists and native Alaskan communities, who
have taken the company and the
U.S. government to court to stop it. "The lack of a clear path forward and an
associated timeline makes it impossible to commit the resources needed to explore
safely in 2014," Shell spokesman Curtis Smith said. A federal appeals court ruled last week that
federal regulators used "an unrealistically low estimate" of the amount of oil Shell
might be able to produce when calculating the project's impact on the Arctic
environment. Environmental groups cheered the company's decision to sit out the year. "Arctic offshore drilling is
fraught with dangers
that defy rational economic development," Margaret Williams, the head of the World Wildlife Fund's Arctic
programs, said in a written
statement. "Shell's
means that Alaskan communities and wildlife will be able to go at least another
year without the added
threat of spills from exploratory drilling." Shell began exploration in summer 2012. But it skipped 2013
after some high-profile
snags, including the grounding of a drill barge that was being towed back to the continental U.S. at the end of the
the company is frustrated by the obstacles it has faced but will continue
working with the Department of the Interior while it reviews its options. "Every year we are delayed from understanding
the oil and gas resources under the Chukchi Sea only further delays the potential creation of tens of thousands of jobs,
billions of dollars in tax revenue and much-needed new oil for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline," he said. The shrinking of Arctic
sea ice, which hit record summer lows in 2012, has created new opportunities for energy exploration in the region. Climate
researchers say that decrease is a symptom of a warming climate, caused largely by the combustion of carbon-rich fossil
fuels like oil -- a
2012 season. Smith said
Deepwater Horizon disaster, which killed 11 rig workers and unleashed an undersea gusher in the Gulf of
Mexico that took three months to cap. The company says it's working at far less depth and lower pressures than those
involved in that accident.
Niiler 13
(Eric, Freelance Writer for Discovery Channel News, Volatile Methane Ice Could Spark More Drilling Disasters,
2/11/13http://news.discovery.com/earth/oil-spill-methane-hydrates.htm)//WL
Energy companies used to avoid methane hydrates no matter what . Now the
industry may be drilling
right into danger. THE GIST BP, Transocean and Halliburton are placing the blame for the disaster on each other.
The rush to
produce more oil has led companies to take more risks , including drilling in
areas with methane
hydrates. Methane hydrates could make the seafloor unstable, or turn into methane gas and ignite the rig. The blamegame has reached hurricane force. On Capitol Hill, executives from BP, Transocean and Halliburton are pointing fingers at
each other, while in Louisiana, Coast Guard officials are grilling lower-level managers from the same companies. But
the
an engineering perspective misses the bigger picture, experts say . The decision by BP
and many other energy companies to drill through areas of unusual ice-like crystals -called methane hydrates -- is a
risky one fraught with huge consequences for failure . "Methane hydrates are a geological hazard,
and it's been well established for decades that they are dangerous," said Richard Charter, head of the Defenders of Wildlife
marine program and member of the Department of Energy's methane hydrates advisory panel. " Until
10 or 15
matter what ." Now, Charter said, the rush to produce more oil for domestic
consumption has forced companies like BP to take bigger risks by drilling in deep
waters that are a breeding ground of
hydrates
. And they worry that a new drilling push into the Arctic Ocean -- which President Barack Obama has
authorized to begin next
month -- could expose a fragile and remote environment to additional risks from catastrophic oil spills. Methane
hydrates only exist in cold water -- just above or below freezing -- and at the undersea pressures found in deep
water off the continental shelf. "It's a lot like ice," said William Dillon, a retired marine geologist with the U.S.
Geological Survey in Woods Hole, Mass. "The conditions that form them exist at the seafloor and in the sediments
below." This slushy mixture of sea water and methane gas makes drilling more complicated. For one, the presence
of methane hydrates in sediment makes the seafloor unstable. That's why BP was using a high-tech drilling rig that
was positioned like a helicopter on the surface. And if hydrates are warmed by oil moving through pipes, they can
turn into methane gas (known as "kicks" to drillers) that can shoot back up the drilling pipe and ignite the rig.
Investigators are already focused on that scenario as a possible cause of the blast aboard the Deepwater Horizon
rig on April 20. Several marine geologists told Discovery News that the location of methane hydrate fields are wellmapped by petroleum companies and the Minerals Management Service, which regulates the industry. Researchers
aboard scientific drilling ships say they avoid methane hydrate fields because of the inherent risks. In 2003, Unocal
abandoned plans to drill in the deep water off Indonesia for the same reason. China has delayed plans for offshore
oil development after finding large hydrate fields, but many industry officials say they can engineer proper
safeguards. Arthur Johnson heads up Hydrate Energy International, a firm dedicated to exploiting the potential
energy source of hydrates based in Kenner, La. He doesn't believe that they caused the blast. "Based on everything
I've seen, there's no way naturally-occurring hydrates had anything to do with loss of the well," Johnson said.
Methane hydrates only exist 3,000 to 5,000 feet below the seafloor, Johnson said. The BP drill went down to 18,000
feet. Robert Bea, a civil engineering professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and oil industry consultant,
disagrees. He's been interviewing workers who were aboard the rig before it blew and said the BP platform shut
down several weeks before the accident because of hydrate problems. "Whether it was either methane hydrate or
gas, it doesn't really make a difference," Bea said. "It has unanticipated, undesirable effects. Based on my
interviews and investigation, (methane) hydrate seeped into the core." Bea and others say the industry's drilling
and spill cleanup technology hasn't caught up with the economic imperative to produce more oil. In June, Shell Oil
plans a series of exploratory wells in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas north of Alaska. That region is remote and
lacks the kind of spill gear that is being deployed in the Gulf of Mexico. While the White House has delayed plans
for oil drilling off the coasts of California and Virginia, the Alaska project is still on for now.
Moscow Correspondent for the Guardian and was previously Moscow Correspondent for The Independent. Arctic oil spill is
certain if drilling goes ahead, says top scientist, 11/13/13, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/19/arctic-oildrilling-russia)//WL
A serious oil spill in the Arctic is a "dead cert" if drilling goes ahead , with potentially
devastating consequences for the
pristine region, according to a leading marine scientist who played a key role in analysis of BP's Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
The warning came as Russia filed court orders this week to have Greenpeace activists and journalists kept in prison for a
further three months in prison before
the region have intensified as the Russian government and others have begun
exploration under the
Arctic seas. In such a cold region, any spill would be much more troublesome, because the oil would not naturally
disperse as it does in warmer waters, and because of the difficulty of mounting a clean-up operation in hostile weather
conditions. The "Arctic 30" comprising 28 activists and two journalists were arrested when Greenpeace's Arctic Sunrise
vessel was boarded by Russian coastguards in September and are facing lengthy jail terms if they are convicted. They have
been kept in harsh conditions in freezing cold jail cells with poor food, and are being moved 800 miles from Murmansk to St
Petersburg. Simon
It is inevitable
a dead cert. I would expect to see a major spill in the not too distant future. I would
be astonished if
you did not see a major spill from this ." The conditions in the Arctic would vastly compound the
problem, he said. "It's a
completely different environment. In temperate climes, oil disperses quickly. Bacteria help [to digest the oil]. In the Arctic
the oil does not break down in this way it can take decades before it breaks down. Nature will not help us." During those
decades, any spilled oil would be a serious
hazard to marine life. No industry is perfect, Boxall said, but the oil industry has behaved poorly in the past.
"There
money is saved in small ways . Then it can go wrong and end up costing a huge
amount of money, like
in the Gulf of Mexico." He added: "Different countries have different levels of health and
safety. Russia does not have an enviable record on this ." Even without a spill,
exploring the region could disrupt the Arctic
environment, warned Jonathan Bamber of the University of Bristol. " You get an increase in shipping,
and ships release their ballast water which contains species from other areas. So
you could get the introduction to the Arctic of entirely foreign species and we don't
know the impact of that. The Arctic ocean is very enclosed, virtually
very big consequences and affect the whole food chain ."
the Arctic is the habitat for "a diverse range of unique wildlife", including 17 species of whale such as the
endangered narwhal, 90% of the remaining population of which lives in Baffin Bay as well as polar bears, Arctic
foxes, seals, hundreds of species of seabirds and millions of migrating birds. There are also 4m people who live in
the Arctic, descendants of indigenous communities who have lived there for thousands of years. "The impact of a
spill on these communities and already vulnerable animal species would be devastating and long-lasting," the
group said. Three Russian nationals among the Arctic 30 Yekaterina Zaspa, Denis Sinyakov and Andrey
Allakhverdov were released on bail on Monday. Gazprom Neft Shelf, the branch of the Russian state energy
behemoth that runs the Prirazlomnaya platform where Greenpeace staged its protest in September, said that after
multiple delays it planned to start drilling in December, and currently the rig is working in test mode. Next year, the
plan is to produce 600,000 tonnes of oil, and the company says output will peak in 2021 when it will be working at
maximum capacity and producing 6m tonnes per year. Gennady Lubin, executive director of Gazprom Neft Shelf,
declined to speak to the Guardian, but in a recent interview with an oil and gas periodical rubbished the claims of
environmentalists that the rig's location makes it a uniquely dangerous operation. He said there were two
icebreakers moored adjacent to the rig which are on permanent standby to deal with any emergency situations,
and additional equipment available in the town of Varandey, about 40 miles from the platform. "Of course, in theory
it is possible to contemplate any script based on the assumption that if you don't do that, environmental safety
might be in danger," said Lyubin. "But that kind of thinking is absurd." He also dismissed concerns about the
durability of the rig itself. The top part of the rig was taken from a decommissioned North Sea oil rig built in 1984,
which has led to further speculation about the reliability of Prirazlomnaya, but the Russians claim that the critics are
again wrong. Lyubin says Prirazlomnaya is a "new facility" that was "built to operate in the specific weather
conditions of the Pechora Sea", and that only small parts of the Hutton rig were used in the structure. "The specially
designed caisson part has allowed us to create a facility that successfully resists the Arctic climate, waves and ice,
to protect all equipment and to ensure safe operation."
Lyubin said that Prirazlomnaya was inherently more secure than, for example, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of
Mexico. "The wells there are drilled from a floating platform, which is at hundreds of meters distance from the seabed," said
Lyubin. "But here, the sea depth in the field area is 19-20 meters, so the Prirazlomnaya is installed directly on the seabed."
"The Arctic has been important for us for centuries," said Roman Khatsevich of the Murmansk Institute of Economics. "It's
not just economics. Our country is a northern country, and the Arctic is one of the foundation blocks of our statehood. In
the 1990s a lot of Arctic financing was stopped due to the economic and political collapse, but since 2000 it has been a
priority again." For now, there is a big question about how economically viable oil extraction in the taxing conditions
region with an eye on both oil extraction and on developing the Northern Sea route
through the Russian
Arctic, as an alternative shipping lane from Europe to Asia . "Especially with the worsening
situation in the Middle East, the Arctic could become more and more important as a shipping route. In an ideal world, the
Arctic can be a forum for international co-operation rather than conflict," said Khatsevich. Just last week, Russian oil giant
Rosneft signed a deal with Korean shipbuilding company Daewoo that should lead to the establishment of a major new
shipbuilding cluster in Russia's far east, that would build icebreakers and marine equipment for offshore energy projects.
a leading German Newspaper, 'The Black Plague': Russia Plays Game of Arctic Roulette in Oil Exploration, 8/24/12,
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/russian-oil-exploration-in-arctic-circle-causes-major-environmental-damage-a851617.html)//WL
The instruments hanging in the Russian city of Severodvinsk -- one by the mayor's office at Victory Square, two more at
buildings belonging to the Disaster Prevention Agency -- look like oversized clocks. But rather than showing the time, they
indicate radioactivity. They're dosimeters, and they're meant to reassure people here on Russia's northwestern coast, in
this city that serves as a home port for Russian nuclear submarines between their trips north into the seas. Less reassuring
is the knowledge that just a year and a half ago, one of the submarines caught fire. For decades, these fleets have been
both a blessing and a curse in this region with little other infrastructure. The boats have provided jobs, but they have also
brought with them the fear of a Chernobyl at sea. Now the region has another cause for hope, as well as a new source of
danger: oil. The shipyards in Severodvinsk, on the White Sea, where nuclear submarines were once built, have turned their
attention to assembling drilling platforms. One was just recently assembled for use at the Prirazlomnoye oilfield in the
Pechora Sea, also along
Russia's northwestern coast. The enormous metal construction, operated by a subsidiary of Russian energy giant
Gazprom, is expected
to start drilling sometime in the coming months . Growing Environmental Threat Although these plans
were made with no
particular fanfare, unexpected resistance has sprung up around the drilling rig. Greenpeace Russia presented an
alarming study last week. "If
an accident were to occur at the platform in the Pechora Sea, it would contaminate
an area twice the
size of Ireland," warns Roman Dolgov, director of Greenpeace Russia's Arctic program. There are protected
natural areas,
the particular conditions of the Arctic, it would only be possible to remove a small portion of that oil.
The
danger of environmental
damage is growing elsewhere in the far north, as well, as the countries that
border the Arctic race to
exploit previously inaccessible resources . Sea ice here is disappearing and may even drop this year
below its previous record low of 4.3 million square kilometers, reached in 2007. "We are witnessing a unique historical
situation," says Rdiger Gerdes, a physicist studying
sea ice at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, in Bremerhaven, Germany. "
As new
." The Last Frontier According to a United States Geological Survey estimate, around
as yet undiscovered, exploitable oil reserves will be found in the Arctic. This is the last frontier for multinational oil
corporations -- and even that border is crumbling, as sea ice melts and energy prices rise: Corporations Statoil and Cairn
are exploring for oil in Baffin Bay, west of Greenland, with the help of a fleet of icebreaker ships capable of dragging
icebergs out of the way. The Dutch-British corporation Shell plans to start test drilling north of Alaska. The oilfield there was
discovered in the 1980s, and its exploitation has American President Barack Obama's support. This spring, American
energy corporation ConocoPhilips, in test drilling performed together with a Japanese oil company, managed for the first
time to extract methane hydrate from natural gas trapped inside ice crystals deep under the earth. Traditionally, though, it
is Russia, with its massive reserves of oil, gas and ore in northern Siberia that has been the pioneer in tapping the Arctic's
resources. Barely noticed by the
machinery and brute force are used to extract natural resources from such a
sensitive region, in what
environmental
who see the energy sector as the instrument Moscow can use
world power. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev introduced a package of laws early this month that establishes tax
incentives for oil extraction. Just to complete extraction projects that have already begun, around 60 drilling
platforms will be built by 2020, at a cost of $60 billion (48 billion). President Vladimir Putin has promised to adhere
to "strict environmental guidelines," but just how little these assurances mean can be seen in the pioneering
project at the Prirazlomnoye oilfield.
be
left completely to its own devices, with the closest rescue team stationed 1,000
kilometers away in the
Barents Sea port city of Murmansk. Gazprom Neft Shelf is the Gazprom subsidiary that holds the license for
the Prirazlomnoye oilfield, and its emergency plan for handling potential environmental damages currently consists of three
axes, 25 buckets, 15 shovels, 15 rakes
amounts to a
time and again. Last December, a mobile drilling platform called Kolskaya sank in the Sea of Okhotsk, 200
kilometers off the coast of Sakhalin island, while being towed by an icebreaker. Gazflot, another Gazprom subsidiary, had
been using the platform outside of the approved season. With 53 of the 67 crew members on the rig declared dead or
missing in the icy sea, it was the largest number of causalities that an accident in the Russian oil sector has seen.
Since the Soviet era, Russia's oil and gas companies have had a
reputation for catastrophe. Few people know this better than Greenpeace activist Dolgov. Together with his
Reputation for Catastrophe
colleague Tatyana Khakhimullina, the bearded, broad-shouldered man is traveling this summer around the Komi Republic,
located at the Arctic Circle in northwestern Russia. Equipped with a GPS device, an old laptop and images from an American
research satellite, the two Greenpeace members are searching the taiga for pipeline leaks. According to state-run
regulatory authorities, pipelines here in the world's largest country burst at over 25,000 locations each year. Greenpeace
estimates this leads to leaks of 5 million tons of oil -- seven times the amount that flowed into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010
after the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform. Snowmelt here in spring and rain in summer wash around
500,000 metric tons of oil into the region's major rivers and then into the Arctic Ocean. Roman Dolgov swings himself down
from the vehicle. The Arctic wind that sweeps across the mountain pines and marshes carries with it a stench like that of a
diesel pump at a gas station, and oil pipes can be seen on the taiga's horizon, glinting silver. In January, temperatures here
drop to minus 50 degrees Celsius (minus 58 degrees Fahrenheit). "When the first snow falls in October, it lays a white
blanket over hundreds of lakes of oil," Dolgov explains. When the snow melts again in May, black-colored ice floes drift
down the Pechora River toward the Arctic Ocean. Dolgov marches out across the marshy land. A few hundred meters on, he
finds two fresh oil spills, spread across an area of 10 hectares (25 acres), where an underground section of pipe has burst.
There are deep wheel tracks in the moss -- the Lukoil corporation that owns this pipeline simply sent an exploratory vehicle
out
When Greenpeace reported 14 oil spills in Komi last year, Russia's environmental
authorities fined
Lukoil, a company with annual sales of 80 billion, a total penalty equivalent to 27,500.
'Black Plague'
A half hour's drive away is the village of Ust-Usa, population 1,300. Wooden huts and a handful of concrete high-rises
hunker here on the bank of the Pechora. Once the villagers drank the water from the river, but to do so now could be fatal.
In between the rainbow-colored streaks of oil, pale foam floats toward the Arctic. One rural doctor here has kept records of
patients' medical histories in Ust-Usa and the surrounding villages. The incidence of cancer is 50 percent higher than it was
in 2000, and children and teenagers suffer from respiratory illnesses twice as often. Few men in these villages ever reach
retirement age. Average life expectancy here is 58, compared to a national average of 70. Residents at a town hall meeting
express their anger at the oil corporations and the Kremlin. One retiree rages against "Putin's regime, exterminating its own
people." Yekaterina Dyakova, a biology teacher here in the village, believes that monitoring is "the only solution." She's
fighting to establish an independent institute that would monitor pipelines, water quality and pollutants. "The government
can't leave that to the oil corporations," she says. "They'll only find what they want to find." Dyakova sent her suggestion
"to the president of the Russian Federation" two years ago, and she's still waiting for an answer. "Everywhere else, oil is
seen as black gold," she adds. "For us, it's the black plague."
Kennedy 13
(Charles, Staff Writer for oilprice.com, Russias Oil Industry Spills 30 Million Barrels a Year,
10/16/13
http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Russias-Oil-Industry-Spills-30-Million-Barrels-a-Year.html)//WL
Last month Greenpeace protestors attempted to board the Prirazlomnove oil platform to hang a protest banner
against Arctic Sea oil drilling. In a report from February this year, titled Point of No Return, Greenpeace identified
new oil drilling in the Arctic seas as one of the biggest threats to the environment that is currently ignored by world
governments. Oil companies plan to take advantage of melting sea ice ... to produce up to 8 million barrels a day
of oil and gas. The drilling would add 520 million tons of CO2 a year to global emissions by 2020. The platform is
the flagship project for Russias multibillion dollar expansion into Arctic waters so it is not surprising that they
reacted strongly to Greenpeaces protest; although the world media has been shocked by the dubious charges of
piracy facing the nearly 30 people arrested, and the potential 15 year sentence that such charges carry. With the
attention of the world media, Greenpeace now has the perfect platform to
polluting Arctic waters, and how it is only likely to get worse if regulation is not
improved. Greenpeace Russia
Russia only produces 12% of the worlds oil, it is responsible for nearly 50% of
the worlds oil spills; as many as 20,000 oil spills a year leaking up to 30 million
barrels. Of these 30 million barrels of spilled oil products, Greenpeace estimates that around 4 million barrels
leak into the Arctic seas via river tributaries each year; as idea of the scale, the 2010 BP
Gulf of Mexico oil spill leaked about 4.9 million barrels . Whilst the exact extent of the spills
has said that whilst
impact on the environment is unknown, Greenpeace claims that it is proof of an inadequate culture of safety within
the Russian oil industry,
creating a lot of concern about the health of the Arctic as the country aggressively pushes to become one of the
first powers to drill in open
after a floating rig sank in the Sea of Okhotsk. Its sustainability report noted that
company suffered 2,626 pipeline leaks, and in 2011 that number was 3,257. Rosneft has
recently been named the countrys worst environmental polluter after 2,727 oil
spills were reported in 2011, in just one province.
Alpert 12
(Emily, LA times reporter, Activists warn of risk of disastrous oil spill in Russian Arctic, 8/14/12,
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/08/russia-arctic-oil-spill-warning.html)//WL
backed up by an analysis from a Russian think tank, commissioned by Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund,
showing that
an oil spill
could reach nature reserves and protected areas in as little as 18 hours . Although some
help could arrive within a few
hours, Greenpeace Russia said it would take professional teams three or four days to arrive at the site.
A tanker
10,000 metric tons of oil spilling out into the Pechora Sea for five days,
the Informatika
More than 50,000 square miles could be at risk of being severely affected in the
event of a major spill,
Greenpeace warned. Such a spill would be quite rare, project manager Valentine Jouravel at Informatika Riska told
reporters, though activists countered that past spills had also been seen as unlikely, the Moscow Times reported. " It
large spill ... the nearby nature preserves cannot be avoided with 100% guarantee ,"
Jouravel wrote in an email to
the Los Angeles Times. The state-owned energy company that is behind the drilling plans, Gazprom, could not be
immediately reached for comment. It disputed the report in an email to the Associated Press, saying its platform
used the latest technology and exceeded environmental standards and that it teams with another oil company that
could help it speed up emergency efforts. Gazprom is poised to become the first company to produce Arctic oil,
capitalizing on a region believed to contain more untapped oil than any other area on the
Environmental groups have tried to halt such drilling, contending that cleaning up
an oil spill in the unforgiving Arctic would be too daunting and the risks for fragile
ecosystems too great. The Russian think tank found that companies might struggle to contain spills
at night or in harsh weather, which "can lead to significant pollution in the Pechora Sea
coast and protected areas." "There is no technology in the world
globe.
that could guarantee an effective cleanup ," Vladimir Chuprov of Greenpeace Russia wrote in an email to
the Los Angeles Times. The only way to protect the nature reserves, he said, would be "to cancel drilling and phase out this
dangerous project." Greenpeace has also
Gazprom has not filed a corrected plan for how it would respond to
an oil spill at the
raised concerns that
Prirazlomnaya oil platform, citing a letter from the Russian Emergencies Ministry that states its last plan
expired in July. Without such a plan, the group said, any drilling in this part of the Arctic would be illegal under Russian law.
No species snowball
*resiliency ecosystems have redundant species that do the same jobs that make
the global ecosystems resilient
Roger A Sedjo 2k, Sr. Fellow, Resources for the Future, Conserving Natures Biodiversity:
insights from biology, ethics & economics, eds. Van Kooten, Bulte and Sinclair, p 114
As a critical input into the existence of humans and of life on earth, biodiversity obviously has a very high value (at least to humans). But, as
how much. Thus, we may argue as to how much biodiversity is desirable or is required for human life (threshold) and how much is
desirable (insurance) and at what price, just as societies argue over the appropriate amount and cost of national defense. As discussed by Simpson,
the value of water is small even though it is essential to human life, while diamonds are inessential but valuable to humans. The reason has to do with
relative abundance and scarcity, with market value pertaining to the marginal unit. This water-diamond paradox can be applied to
biodiversity. Although
biological diversity is essential, a single species has only limited value, since the
global system will continue to function without that species . Similarly, the value of a piece of biodiversity (e.g.,
10 ha of tropical forest) is small to negligible since its contribution to the functioning of the global biodiversity is
negligible. The global ecosystem can function with somewhat more or somewhat less biodiversity,
since there have been larger amounts in times past and some losses in recent times. Therefore, in the
absence of evidence to indicate that small habitat losses threaten the functioning of the global life support
system, the value of these marginal habitats is negligible . The value question is that of how
valuable to the life support function are species at the margin. While this, in principle, is an empirical question, in practice it is probably
far, biodiversity losses appear to have had little or no effect on the functioning of the
earths life support system, presumably due to the resiliency of the system, which perhaps is due to the
redundancy found in the system. Through most of its existence, earth has had far less biological diversity. Thus, as in the water-
diamond paradox, the value of the marginal unit of biodiversity appears to be very small.
Hoffman 11
biodiversity]
Not knowing how many species are out there has not prevented
al. from declaring the
Anthony D.
Barnosky
et
next mass extinction imminent. In Has the Earths sixth mass extinction already arrived?, published in the journal
Nature, studied the differences between fossil and modern data, coming to the conclusion that the end is nigh for most of the world's
creatures. From that paper's abstract: Palaeontologists characterize mass extinctions as times when the Earth loses more than three-quarters
of its species in a geologically short interval, as has happened only five times in the past 540million years or so. Biologists now suggest that a
sixth mass extinction may be under way, given the known species losses over the past few centuries and millennia. Here we review how
differences between fossil and modern data and the addition of recently available palaeontological information influence our understanding of
the current extinction crisis. Our results confirm that current extinction rates are higher than would be expected from the fossil record,
highlighting
a few ecologists. Greenpeace Co-Founder and ecologist Dr. Patrick Moore, slammed the new study for claiming a dramatic and
irreversible mass species extinction
[journal Nature] article should never have made it through the peerreview process,
Moore told Climate Depot in an interview. The fact that the study did make it through peer-review indicates that the peer review
process has become corrupted, Moore has previously criticized others who have tried to declare a 6 th extinction event, most
notably Wilson, who has made a career out of prediction ecological doom. A decade ago, Wilson estimated that up to 50,000 species
go extinct every year based on computer models of the number of potential but as yet
Edward O.
electrons on a hard drive. I want a list of Latin names of actual species. And therein lies the central problem with all this decreasing
biodiversity bombast:
no
one really knows how many species we are dealing with. It is simply impossible to say
50% of Earth's species are in danger of extinction by 2050 without knowing how
many species exist and being able to
identify the ones supposedly in danger. Yet, whether it is polar bears or coral reefs, eco-alarmists would have us
believe they will be extinct by next Tuesday if we don't park our cars, close our factories and turn out the lights, right now! The tipping point is
just ahead! Of course, the cost of getting a feel for Earth's actual biodiversity pales when compared to the cost of switching to renewable
energy. Ecologists and many scientists are quick to blame people for the demise of any species, but the simple truth is that
species go
extinct all the timewith or without human help. A prime example is the sudden decline in amphibian
species around the world. Scientists now know the proximate cause is the chytrid fungus,Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (see Tackling the
Mystery of the Disappearing Frogs). The results of new gene sequencing technologies suggest that in susceptible frogs, the immune system
doesn't go on the defensive. The fungi somehow manages to evade the frogs immune system defenses and has wiped out amphibians around
the globe.
Humans
predation, competition and habitat destruction survival in the natural world is a blood sport. But when green
fanatics like Wilson and Barnosky et al. start shouting extinction in a crowded biosphere it serves no useful purpose. I have said it before, if
you want to preserve nature you need to make nature more attractive or more useful to people. Running around screaming extinction only
upsets the weak minded and annoys the rest of us. It should come as no surprise that there are many trying to profit off of biodiversity. In
2010, the International Year of Biodiversity, business leaders from around the world converged on a conference in London to discuss the
Business of Biodiversity. To debate the issues, consider the risks and view the opportunities that are emerging, which are linked to declining
biodiversity and ecosystem services, proclaimed the online announcement. Bottom line,
extinction
event caused by H. sapiens are more about profit than science.
voting to defund the IPCC, oil prices rising, the world economy reeling from the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan,
and governments around the world tightening their belts, the chance that the US or any other nation will pony up $263 billion to
study biodiversity is precisely zero.
Easterbrook 2003
Gregg, senior fellow at the New Republic, We're All Gonna Die!
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.07/doomsday.html?pg=2&topic=&topic_set=
If we're talking about doomsday - the end of human civilization - many scenarios simply don't measure up. A single
nuclear bomb ignited by terrorists, for example, would be awful beyond words, but life would go on. People and machines might converge in
ways that you and I would find ghastly, but from the standpoint of the future, they would probably represent an adaptation.
Environmental
collapse might make parts of the globe unpleasant, but considering that the biosphere has survived ice
ages, it wouldn't be the final curtain. Depression, which has become 10 times more prevalent in Western nations in the
postwar era, might grow so widespread that vast numbers of people would refuse to get out of bed, a possibility that Petranek suggested in
a doomsday talk at the Technology Entertainment Design conference in 2002. But Marcel Proust, as miserable as he was, wrote
Remembrance of Things Past while lying in bed.
D. nature recovers
Nature is not ending, nor is human damage to the environment unprecedented. Nature has repelled
forces of a magnitude many times greater than the worst human malfeasance . Nature is no ponderously slow. Its just
the living world can adjust with surprising alacrity is the reason
nature has been able to get old. Most natural recoveries from ecological duress happen with amazing
speed. Significant human tampering with the environment has been in progress for at least ten millennia and perhaps longer. If nature has been
interacting with genus Homo for thousands of years, then the living things that made it to the present day may be ones whose genetic treasury
This does not ensure any creature will continue to survive any clash
with humankind. It does make survival more likely than doomsday orthodox asserts . If natures adjustment to the
human presence began thousands of years ago, perhaps it will soon be complete.
onslaught, nature may be on the verge of reasserting itself . Nature still rules much more of the Earth than does genus Homo.
To the statistical majority of natures creatures the arrival of men and women goes unnoticed.
Wolf 10
(Shaye, Climate Science Director, works with the Centers Climate Law Institute. She graduated with a
bachelors in biology from Yale University and received a doctorate in ecology and evolutionary biology and a masters in
ocean sciences from the University of California,
Climate change is having profound impacts not only on individual species but
also on the ecosystems
to which they belongthe interconnected assemblages of species and their physical environment. Observed
ecosystem-level
degrading coastal habitats. MOVING EARLIER. As the onset of spring arrives earlier, some Arctic species are
advancing the timing of important activities to try to keep pace. The flowering of plants, egg-laying of birds, and
emergence of insects have shifted by up to 30 days earlier per decade in some Arctic regions.91 However, species may not
shift their timing in synch with each other, which can disrupt important relationships. For example, the plant-growing
season in Greenland is beginning earlier, but caribou have not advanced the timing of migration and calving to keep up,
creating a mismatch between caribou and their food. MOVING NORTHWARD. Many Arctic species, from shrubs to insects to
into the tundra, following the expansion of shrubs, which has been linked to declines of the smaller, less dominant tundradwelling Arctic fox. CHANGING SPECIES
availability of food resources and exposing them to new predators , competitors and
pathogens as species shift their
ranges. For example, as temperatures warm and sea ice vanishes, ringed seals are facing pressure from reduced
availability of ice-associated prey, a heightened risk of predation from killer whales moving into once inaccessible icecovered areas, increased competition for food from harbor seals moving northward, and exposure to novel pathogens.
DECLINES AND EXTINCTIONS.
affiliated Kittlitzs murrelet, to the tundra-dwelling caribou, to the marine sea butterfly. Researchers have forecast
that at least one species, the polar bear, will be faced with extinction within this century if sea-ice loss is not
halted.
effects on the functioning of entire ecosystems. MULTIPLE LAYERS OF IMPACT. Climate change
is having multilayered, synergistic impacts on Arctic ecosystems, including threats
from increasing human use. As previously ice covered areas become more accessible, human
activities like shipping, oil and gas exploration, commercial fisheries and tourism
are on the rise, putting more pressure on already stressed systems. Ecosystem
impacts will only worsen the longer greenhouse gas pollution goes unchecked.
Sagoff 8 (Mark, Senior Research Scholar Institute for Philosophy and Public
Policy School of Public Policy U. Maryland, Environmental Values, On the
Economic Value of Ecosystem Services, 17:2, 239-257, EBSCO)
excess since species appear nearly as numerous as the stars except that scientists have a better understanding
of how many stars there are in the galaxy than how
that. No one has suggested an economic application, moreover, for any of the thousand species in the USA listed as
threatened.42 To defend the marginal value of biodiversity on economic grounds is to trade convincing spiritual, aesthetic
and ethical arguments for bogus, pretextual
needed to keep the planet green and healthy, but it seems very unlikely to be
anywhere near the more
over half a continent, all but disappeared without bringing the eastern deciduous forest down with it. And
if we turn
nearly all biological diversity, what biologist is willing to find a value conventional or
ecological for all 600,000-plus species of beetles?44 The disappearance in the wild
even of agriculturally useful species appears to have no effect on production. The last
wild aurochs, the progenitor of dairy and beef cattle, went extinct in Poland in 1742, yet
no one believes the beef industry is threatened. The genetic material of crop species is
contained in tens of thousands of landraces and cultivars in use rice is an example
and does not depend on the persistence of wild ancestral types. Genetic engineering
can introduce DNA from virtually any species into virtually any other which allows for
the unlimited creation of
biodiversity.
A neighbour of mine has collected about 4,000 different species of insects on his two-acre property in
Silver Spring, Maryland. These include 500 kinds of Lepidoptera (mostly moths) half the number another entomologist
found at his residence.45 When you factor in plants and animals the amount of backyard biodiversity in suburbs is
astounding and far greater than you can imagine.46 Biodiversity generates no price at the margin because nature
provides far more of it than anyone could possibly administer. If one kind of moth flies off, you can easily attract hundreds
of others. The price of a building lot in suburban Maryland, where I live, is a function of its proximity to good schools and to
Washington, DC. The thousands of kinds of insects, weeds, microbes, etc. that nature lavishes on the typical suburban lot
do not increase its price. No one wants to invest to see if any of these creatures contains a cancer-curing drug, although a
raccoon in my attic did test positive for rabies.47 No one thinks that property values are a function of biodiversity; no one
could suppose that a scarcity of critters looms that might create a competitive advantage for housing lots that are more
generously endowed with deer, opossums, muskrats, raccoons, birds or beavers. (A neighbour who has a swimming pool
plays unwilling summer host to a beaver who at night jumps off the diving board into the
Knight 12
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-
17826898]
Twenty years ago, the Earth Summit in Rio resulted in a Convention on Biological Diversity, now signed by 193 nations, to
prevent species loss. But can we tell how many species are becoming extinct? One statement on the Convention's website
claims: "We are indeed experiencing the greatest wave of extinction since the disappearance of the dinosaurs." While that
may (or may not) be true, the next sentence is spuriously precise: "Every hour three species disappear. Every day up to
150 species are lost."
mathematical error in that claim (on the face of it, if three species are disappearing every
hour, 72 would be lost every day) there is an obvious problem in generating any such
number. No-one knows how many species exist. And if we don't know a species
exists, we won't miss it when it's gone. "Current estimates of the number of
species can vary from, let's say, two million species to over 30 or even 100 million species," says Dr Braulio Dias,
executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity. "So we don't have a good estimate to an order of
It has listed 801 animal and plant species (mostly animal) known to have gone extinct
since 1500. But if it's really true that up to 150 species are being lost every day,
shouldn't we expect to be able to name more than
Professor Georgina Mace, who works in the Centre for Population Biology
at Imperial College London, says the IUCN's method is helpful but inadequate. "It is never going to get us the answers we
need," she says. That's why scientists prefer to use a mathematical model to estimate species loss. Recently, however,
Nature. Professor Stephen Hubbell from the University of California, Los Angeles, says
that an error in the model means that it has - for years - over-estimated the rate of
species loss. The model applies something called
the "species to area relationship" to habitat loss. Put simply, an estimate is made of the number of species in a
given area, or habitat - the larger the area, the greater the number of species are said to be in it. Then the model is
worked backwards - the smaller the area, the fewer the species. In other words, if you measure habitat loss, you
can use the model to calculate how many species are being lost as that habitat gets smaller. The problem, says
Hubbell, is that the model does not work in reverse. "The method," he says, "when extrapolated backward, doesn't
take into account the fact that you need to remove more area to get to the whole range of a species than you need
to remove area to find the first individual of a species." Hubbell's point is that if you increase a habitat by, say, five
hectares, and your calculations show that you expect there to be five new species in those five hectares, it is wrong
to assume that reversing the model, and shrinking your habitat, eliminates five
species. That's because it takes more area to establish extinction - to show that every individual in a species has
been eliminated - than it does to discover a new species, which requires coming across just one individual of that
species.
model shows about half as many species going extinct as previously reported .
Unfortunately for scientists trying to measure species loss, the problems don't end there. They
also need to calculate the 'background rate' of extinction. If you want to work out the
impact of human life on biodiversity, you need to know how many species would have
gone extinct anyway without us being here. Mace says that
either," she says. "If you look back through the history
of life on Earth, there have been major periods of extinctions The level of uncertainty faced by researchers in this field
means it is perhaps not surprising that no-one can be sure of the scale of species loss. It also means
that when a representative of the Convention of Biological Diversity claimed "every hour three species disappear" he must
have known it was too precise.
Sagoff 97 (Mark, Senior Research Scholar Institute for Philosophy and Public
policy in School of Public Affairs U. Maryland, William and Mary Law Review,
INSTITUTE OF BILL OF RIGHTS LAW SYMPOSIUM DEFINING TAKINGS: PRIVATE
PROPERTY AND THE FUTURE OF GOVERNMENT REGULATION: MUDDLE OR MUDDLE
THROUGH? TAKINGS JURISPRUDENCE MEETS THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT, 38
Wm and Mary L. Rev. 825, March, L/N)
Although
one may agree with ecologists such as Ehrlich and Raven that the
an episode of
massive
extinction, it may not follow from this grim fact that human beings will suffer as a result. On the
contrary, skeptics such as science writer Colin Tudge have challenged biologists to explain
why we need more than a tenth of the 10 to 100 million species that grace the
earth. Noting that "cultivated systems often out-produce wild systems by 100-fold
or more," Tudge declared that "the argument that humans need the variety of other
species is, when you think about it, a theological one." n343 Tudge observed that "the elimination of
all but a tiny minority of our fellow creatures does not affect the material well-being
of humans one iota." n344 This
skeptic challenged ecologists to list more than 10,000 species (other than unthreatened microbes) that are
essential to ecosystem productivity
Global Biodiversity Assessment ("the Assessment") identified two positions with respect to redundancy of species.
"At one extreme is the idea that each species is unique and important, such that its removal or loss will have
demonstrable consequences to the functioning of the community or ecosystem." n347 The authors of the
Assessment, a panel of eminent ecologists, endorsed this position, saying it is "unlikely that there is much, if any,
ecological redundancy in communities over time scales of decades to centuries, the time period over which
environmental policy should operate." n348 These eminent ecologists rejected the opposing view, "the notion that
species overlap in function to a sufficient degree that removal or loss of a species will be compensated by others,
with negligible overall consequences to the community or ecosystem."
economy
as long as people forgot their aesthetic and moral commitment to the glory and beauty of the natural world.
n351 The Assessment makes this point. "Although any ecosystem contains hundreds to thousands of species interacting
among themselves and their physical environment, the emerging consensus is that the system is driven by a small number
of . . . biotic variables on whose interactions the balance of species are, in a sense, carried along." n352 [*907] To make up
your mind on the question of the functional redundancy of species, consider an endangered species of bird, plant, or insect
and ask how the ecosystem would fare in its absence. The fact that the creature is endangered suggests an answer: it is
already in limbo as far as ecosystem processes are concerned.
black-capped vireo, for example, serve? Are any of the species threatened with
extinction necessary to the provision of any ecosystem service on which humans
depend? If so, which ones are they? Ecosystems
and the species that compose them have changed, dramatically, continually, and totally in virtually every part of
the United States.
There is
little ecological similarity, for example, between New England today and the land
where the Pilgrims died. n353 In view of the constant reconfiguration of the biota,
one may wonder why Americans have not suffered more as a result of ecological
catastrophes. The cast of species in nearly every environment changes
constantly-local extinction is commonplace in nature-but the crops still grow. Somehow, it seems, property values
keep going up on Martha's Vineyard in spite of the tragic disappearance of the heath hen.
Accordingly, we
"library" of creatures ready, willing, and able to colonize ecosystems gets too small. (Advances in genetic
engineering may well permit us to
into the landscape or the society, changing and often enriching it. Shall we have a rule that a species had to come over on
the Mayflower, as so many did, to count as "truly" American? Plainly not. When, then, is the cutoff date? Insofar as we are
concerned with the absolute numbers of "rivets" holding ecosystems together, extinction seems not to pose a general
problem because a far greater number of kinds of mammals, insects, fish, plants, and other creatures thrive on land and in
water in
Interior document says, "only about 150 are extensively cultivated. " n363 About twenty species, not one of
which is endangered, provide ninety percent of the food the world takes from plants. n364 Any new food has to take "shelf
space" or "market share" from one that is now produced. Corporations also find it difficult to create demand for a new
product; for example, people are not inclined to eat paw-paws, even though they are delicious. It is hard enough to get
people to eat their broccoli and lima beans. It is harder still to develop consumer demand for new foods. This may be the
reason the Kraft Corporation does not prospect in remote places for rare and unusual plants and animals to add to the
world's diet. Of the roughly 235,000 flowering plants and 325,000 nonflowering plants (including mosses, lichens, and
seaweeds) available, farmers ignore virtually all of them in favor of a very few that are profitable. n365 To be sure, any of
the more than
600,000 species of plants could have an application in agriculture, but would they be preferable to the species that
are now dominant?
Has
anyone found any consumer demand for any of these half-million or more plants to
replace rice or
wheat in the human diet? There are reasons that farmers cultivate rice, wheat, and corn rather than, say,
Furbish's lousewort. There are many kinds of louseworts, so named because these weeds were thought to cause lice in
sheep. How many does agriculture really require? [*911] The species on which agriculture relies are domesticated, not
naturally occurring; they are developed by artificial not natural selection; they might not be able to survive in the wild.
n366 This argument is not intended to deny the religious, aesthetic, cultural, and moral reasons that command us to
respect and protect the natural world. These spiritual and ethical values should evoke action, of course, but we should also
recognize that they are spiritual and ethical values. We should recognize that ecosystems and all that dwell therein compel
our moral respect, our aesthetic appreciation, and our spiritual veneration; we should clearly seek to achieve the goals of
the ESA. There is no reason to assume, however, that these goals have anything to do with human well-being or welfare as
economists understand that term. These are ethical goals, in other words, not economic ones. Protecting the marsh may be
the right thing to do for moral, cultural, and spiritual reasons. We should do it-
but someone will have to pay the costs. In the narrow sense of promoting human welfare,
protecting nature
often represents a
net "cost," not a net "benefit." It is largely for moral, not economic, reasons-ethical,
not prudential,
Ronald Bailey 2k, science correspondent, author of Earth Report 2000: Revisiting the True State of the
Planet, former Brookes Fellow in Environmental Journalism at the Competitive Enterprise Institute,
member of the Society of Environmental Journalists, adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, May 2000,
Reason Magazine, Earth Day, Then and Now, http://reason.com/0005/fe.rb.earth.shtml
Earth Day 1970 provoked a torrent of apocalyptic predictions. We have about five more years at the outside to do something, ecologist Kenneth Watt
declared to a Swarthmore College audience on April 19, 1970. Harvard biologist George Wald estimated that civilization will end within 15 or 30 years
unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind. We are in an environmental crisis which threatens the survival of this nation, and
of the world as a suitable place of human habitation, wrote Washington University biologist Barry Commoner in the Earth Day issue of the scholarly
journal Environment. The day after Earth Day, even the staid New York Times editorial page warned, Man must stop pollution and conserve his
resources, not merely to enhance existence but to save the race from intolerable deterioration and possible extinction. Very Apocalypse Now. Three
decades later, of course, the world hasnt come to an end; if anything, the planets ecological future has never looked so promising. With half a billion
people suiting up around the globe for Earth Day 2000, now is a good time to look back on the
predictions made at the first Earth Day and see how theyve held up and what we can learn from them. The short answer:
The prophets of
doom were not simply wrong, but spectacularly wrong. More important, many contemporary environmental
alarmists are similarly mistaken when they continue to insist that the Earths future remains an eco-tragedy that
has already entered its final act. Such doomsters not only fail to appreciate the huge environmental gains made
over the past 30 years, they ignore the simple fact that increased wealth, population, and technological
innovation dont degrade and destroy the environment. Rather, such developments preserve and enrich the
environment. If it is impossible to predict fully the future, it is
nonetheless possible to learn from the past. And the best lesson we can learn from revisiting the discourse surrounding the very
first Earth Day is that passionate concern, however sincere, is no substitute for rational analysis.
exaggerated the threats and ignored evidence of improvement . His discontent causes him to adopt and incessantly employ
the pejoratively intended (and irritating) shorthand "enviros" to describe the leading environmental organizations and their admirers. He proposes-and
overuses-an equally infelicitous alternative phrase, "ecorealism," that seems to mean that most environmental initiatives can be justifited by more
moderate arguments. Given the mass, range, and defects of the book, any review of reasonable length must be selective. Easterbrook's critique begins
with an overview of environmentalism from a global perspective. He then turns to a much longer (almost 500- page) survey of many specific
environmental issues. The overview section is a shorter, more devastating criticism, but it is also more speculative than
correctable influences on a world affected by far more powerful forces . That is a more penetrating criticism than
typically appears in works expressing skepticism about environmentalism. Easterbrook notes that
predate industrialization or the white colonization of America, but still have had only minor impacts. We
are then reminded of the vast, often highly destructive changes that occur naturally and the recuperative
Presence
Adv
Robert J. Papp 12, Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, February 2012, The Emerging
Arctic Frontier, http://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2012-02/emergingarctic-frontier
obligations addressing activity in the Arctic is paramount . The United States must be part of such
a legal regime to
protect and advance our security and economic interests. In particular, for the past several years
there has
been a race by
countries other than the United States to file internationally recognized claims on
the
the Arctic. Alaska has more than 1,000 miles of coastline above the Arctic Circle on the Beaufort and
Chukchi seas. 7 Our
seabeds of
200
nautical miles from shore (just as along the rest of the U.S. coastline). Thats more than 200,000 square miles of
water over which the Coast Guard has jurisdiction. Below the surface, the United States also may assert sovereign rights
over natural resources on its continental
might reach as far as 600 nautical miles into the Arctic from the Alaskan coast. Last summer, the Coast
Guard cutter USCGC Healy (WAGB-20) was under way in the Arctic Ocean, working with the Canadian icebreaker
Louis S. St-Laurent to continue efforts to map the extent of the continental shelf.
stands by, other nations are moving ahead in perfecting rights over resources on an
extended
(through Greenland),
oil and gas resources on that shelf. They are making their case publicly in the media, in construction of
vessels to patrol these waters, and in infrastructure along their Arctic coastline. Even China, which has no land-mass
connectivity with the Arctic Ocean, has raised
Sea Convention without delay to protect our national security interests: sovereignty,
economy, and energy.
defining conduct at sea and maritime obligations. The convention also addresses
resource division, maritime traffic, and pollution regulation, and is relied upon for
dispute resolution. The LOSC is particularly important in the Arctic, because it stipulates
that the region beyond each country's exclusive
economic zone (EEZ) be divided between bordering nations that can prove their
underwater continental
shelves extend directly from their land borders. Nations will have exclusive economic
rights to the oil, gas, and mineral resources extracted from those outer continental
shelves, making the convention's determinations substantial. According to
geologists, the U.S. portion is projected to be the world's largest underwater
extension of landover 3.3 million square milesbigger than the lower forty-eight
states combined. In addition to global credibility and protection of Arctic shelf
claims, the convention is important because it sets international pollution standards
and requires signatories to protect the marine environment. Critics argue that the
LOSC cedes American sovereignty to the United Nations. But the failure to ratify it
has the opposite effect: it leaves the United States less able to
protect its interests in the Arctic and elsewhere. The diminished influence is particularly
Bert 12 (Captain Melissa Bert, 2011-2012 Military Fellow, U.S. Coast Guard, A
Strategy to Advance the Arctic Economy, February,
http://www.cfr.org/arctic/strategy-advance-arctic-economy/p27258)
Critics argue that the LOSC cedes American sovereignty to the U nited Nations. But the
failure to ratify it has
the opposite effect: it leaves the United States less able to protect its interests in the Arctic
and elsewhere.
remaining a nonparty, the United States lacks the credibility to promote U.S. interests in
the Arctic, such as by transforming U.S. recommendations into binding international laws.
Reiss 12 (Bob, bestselling New York based author and journalist, a former
Chicago Tribune reporter and former correspondent for Outside Magazine. His work
has also been published in The Washington Post Magazine, Smithsonian, Parade,
Rolling Stone and other national publications, and has been featured in collections
of the best of the Washington Post Magazine, and the best of Outside., Why we
should look to the Arctic, 7/16, http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/16/opinion/reissarctic-drilling/index.html)
-- In Washington, politicians
under which countries
are jockeying over whether to ratify "The Law of the Sea Treaty,"
abutting oceans will be able to claim up to 200 extra miles of undersea territory if they can prove it an extension of
their continental shelves. For the U.S., that could mean extra territory the size of California off Alaska. President
Barack Obama and former President George W. Bush support the treaty, as does an oddly aligned group including
the Pentagon, Sierra Club, oil companies, shipping companies and environmentalists, who favor the part of the
treaty designed to help protect the world's oceans. Although every other Arctic country has ratified the treaty, in
the U.S. it has been blocked for years by conservative senators who fear that it gives too much influence to
An undersea land rush has started under the treaty, with Russia claiming an
area the size of France and Spain combined. Norway's claim has been granted, and other Arctic nations
preparing to file claims. One U.S. Coast Guard
multinational bodies. --
the stadium or
afford
increased access to economic resources in the Arctic Ocean . Intense activities in commercial,
investment, diplomatic, legal, scientific and academic sectors abound in the new Arctic, but the regions long-term
significance is only gradually penetrating North American public consciousness. Media reports such as the recent, virtually
icefree trans-polar transit of a Chinese icebreaker through the Russian Northern Sea Route, or the transit of the Northwest
Passage by a large cruise ship, are only the tip of the proverbial economic iceberg. In preparing for the commercialization
of the Arctic Ocean, Canada and the United States, as major nations bordering the Arctic, face enormous opportunities in
protecting economic and environmental interests; however, a number of challenges impede the fulfillment
of this vision. Governance and Infrastructure Challenges As the Arctic Oceans sea ice continues to melt,
American Arctics marine, resource and community potential is a clear imperative for
both Canada and the United States. Such development will require an intense and focused
effort in multi-level domestic and binational governance. At the same time, a dramatic
gap in leadership and infrastructure is
emerging between North America on one side, and Russia and Scandinavia on the other, in maritime
transport facilitation,
search and rescue facilities, port infrastructure and resource development priority
the Arctic Ocean. The
lack of progress
well-intended
in
is the product of a
but complex and incoherent governance structure in the North American Arctic. The
organizational structure of the two North American governments means that national
responsibility for the Arctic is fragmented among numerous federal agencies and
departments, all of which face budget pressures
and are mostly preoccupied with southernbased issues . The economic development
potential of the Canadian territories and Alaska is not yet fully understood by Ottawa
and Washington. New business opportunities in
the Canadian and American Arctic regions could contribute directly to local, regional and national economic growth.
Leaders in both
Alaska and the Canadian territories have expressed frustration with the lack of
national strategic vision, resources and divided accountability in southern capitals.
While northern governments have local knowledge and public trust, and are
working to strengthen their capacities in the maritime field, they have limited
authority and face complex jurisdictional issues. Given their budgetary and
capability constraints, northern municipal governments, including Aboriginal
communities, are struggling to provide adequate services to their people and need
the solid economic development that comes with better public infrastructure,
private investment and economic activity.
The Wilson Center 13 (Opportunities and Challenges For Arctic Oil and Gas
Development, Eurasia Group report, 2013,
http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/Artic%20Report_F2.pdf, Accessed:
7/10, SD)
attractive investment destination for oil and gas companies, since resources compete for market access with the
abundant oil sands, shale oil, and gas reserves already being developed in Alberta, elsewhere in Canada, and the
U.S. lower 48. And yet the North American Arctic contains huge undeveloped discovered resources. The U.S. and
Canadian Arctic alone is estimated to hold 45 percent of all undiscovered Arctic energy resources.
Economic activity in the Arctic would benefit from planned and improved publicprivate infrastructure. The poor infrastructure in the North American Arctic impedes
economic growth and the development of local jobs that private investment in
energy and mineral projects could be creating. This lack of infrastructure slows
community development, delays essential maritime environmental protection
regimes and undermines the North American continents long-term economic and
security interests. The private sector remains deeply uneasy about lengthy delays
in project approvals, multiple, complex and overlapping layers of governance, and
the lack of American and Canadian federal government planning and action on
strategic marine transport, resource development and infrastructure issues. The
responsibility for Canadian and American marine transportation and ports in the
North American Arctic cannot simply be downloaded to the private sector on an ad
hoc, stovepiped project-by-project basis. The costs and risks to individual small- and
1NC - Non-Unique
No uniqueness Navy presence is expanding in the Arctic now
Brinkerhoff 14 [Noel Brinkerhoff, Allgov writer, March 4th, 2014, As Arctic Ice
Melts, U.S. Navy Expands its Presence, http://www.allgov.com/news/top-stories/asarctic-ice-melts-us-navy-expands-its-presence-140304?news=852593]
With global warming causing a dramatic and rapid reduction of ice in the Arctic
Ocean, the U.S. Navy is
preparing for a new era of seafaring around the North Pole. Changes are happening so fast
up north that the Navy
felt it necessary to update its Arctic plan , which was created only five years ago. But new
scientific calculations showed commercial shipping lanes may open where none
existed before in just another six years . The
operating forward and being ready. We dont think were going to have to do
war-fighting up there ,
but we have to be ready, Rear Admiral Jonathan White, the Navys top oceanographer and navigator, and
director of the Navys climate change task force, told Reuters. Naval readiness means doing more research on climate
change impacts in the Arctic, and figuring out how and where to base and operate ships and planes for missions in this
region, among other concerns. The Navy is also planning submarine exercises for the Arctic, and it intends to work with
Norway and Russia on joint training exercises. Russia is among the many countries with eyes on natural resources that
could become exploitable once the ice sheets thin, if not disappear for long stretches. The naval report says a less frozen
Arctic could yield $1 trillion in oil, gas and minerals for companies and countries to pursue. But less sea ice would not
necessarily mean smooth sailing in the Arctic, which would still be a treacherous environment to work in. If we do start to
see a rush, and people try to get up there too fast, we run the risk of catastrophes, White said, who hopes companies will
be slow and careful in entering the region. Search and rescue in the cold ice-covered water of the Arctic is not somewhere
we want to go.
2NC Non-Unique
Navy plans to boost Arctic presence now
Rosen 14 [US Navy aims to boost its presence in a melting Arctic, Yereth Rosen,
Alaska Dispatch reporter, March 9, 2014,
http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/20140309/us-navy-aims-boost-its-presencemelting-arctic]
The U.S. Navy plans to boost its knowledge of the Arctic in the next few years,
preparing for what is expected to be booming growth in vessel traffic and resource
expansion in future decades, according to a report issued this week that updates the Navys 2009
Arctic Roadmap. From now until 2020, the Navy expects to increase its Arctic operations
and training, partly through continued participation in joint military and emergency
exercises as well as scientific missions, the report said. By cooperating with other agencies and
academic institutions, the Navy will be able to focus on areas where it provides unique
capabilities and will leverage joint and coalition partners to fill identified gaps and
seams, the report said. For the next few years, at
least, on-scene Arctic activities will be limited to open-water periods because the Navy lacks the
vessels and equipment to travel otherwise, the report said. That situation should change in future
expected to expand. By 2025, the Bering Strait should have up to 175 days of open water per year,
and after 2030, the Northern Sea Route and Transpolar Route are expected to be navigable 130 days a
year, the report said. With abundant natural resources and reduced summer sea ice, the Arctic Ocean
will attract growing interest from an array of nations, including non-Arctic nations, and commercial
operators, the report says. But even with more ice melt, the Arctic will remain a difficult environment
for travelers, and emergency-response capabilities will be increasingly important, the report says.
Shalal 14
(Andrea, Reuters Reporter, US Navy Eyes 'Aggressive' Plan For Expanding Its Arctic Presence, 2/27/14,
http://www.businessinsider.com/us-navy-arctic-presence-2014-2)//WL
The U.S. Navy is mapping out how to expand its presence in the Arctic beginning
around 2020, given signs that
the region's once permanent ice cover is melting faster than expected, which is likely to trigger more traffic, fishing
and resource mining. "The
Arctic is all about operating forward and being ready. We don't think we're going to
have to do war-
fighting up there, but we have to be ready ," said Rear Admiral Jonathan White, the Navy's top
oceanographer and navigator,
routes of the Transpolar transit route forecast to be open for up to 45 days annually by 2025.
The document
includes dozens of
specific tasks and deadlines for Navy offices, including calling for better research on
rising sea levels and the ability to predict sea ice thickness, assessment of satellite
communications and surveillance needs, and evaluation of existing ports, airfields and
hangars. It also puts a big focus on cooperation with other Arctic nations and with the
U.S. Coast Guard, which is grappling with the need to build a new $1 billion
ice-breaking ship. The Navy is conducting a submarine exercise in the Arctic next month, and plans to participate in
a joint training
was aimed at
answering "the billion dollar question" of how much it would cost to prepare for an
increased naval presence in the Arctic, and trying to determine what investments
were needed when. "We're trying to use this road map to really be able to answer
that question," White said, noting that early smaller-scale investments
could help avert bigger bills in the future. He said efforts were under way now in the Navy to identify specific requirements
for weather-hardened ships and other equipment, land-based infrastructure, and better bandwidth for satellite and shorebased communications
(World Finance is one of the top news sites for finance developments worldwide, Is Arctic drilling worth the
capabilities. The Office of Naval Research and the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency are
already funding numerous Arctic-focused projects with industry, White said, predicting increased public-private
projects in recent years. He said he realized U.S. military budgets are under pressure, but hoped the plan would
help undergird Arctic-related budget requests in coming years by showing lawmakers that the Navy had carefully
studied and evaluated its options. "As far as I'm concerned,
responsibility is growing," White said. "We're growing a new ocean, so our budget should
be growing in line
with that." The Navy has long operated submarines in the region, and flies surveillance and unmanned aircraft as
needed, but by 2020 it
plans to boost the number of personnel trained for Arctic operations . By 2030, as the Arctic
Ocean becomes
increasingly ice-free, the Navy said it would have the training and personnel to respond to crises and national
security emergencies. The Navy's updated road map noted that the Arctic has significant oil, gas and mineral
resources, including some rare earth minerals now supplied mainly by China, and estimated hydrocarbon resources
of over $1 trillion. Those resources are attractive to big multinational corporations and other countries, but they
face big financial, technical and environmental risks due to the harshness of the environment, and the
unpredictable weather, White said. "If we do start to see a rush, and people try to get up there too fast, we run the
risk of catastrophes," he said, urging a more gradual, measured move into the region by the private sector. "Search
and rescue in the cold ice-covered water of the Arctic is not somewhere we want to go."
World Finance 14
change.
Tucked away among the Arctics ever-shifting jags of ice, hidden from the naked eye, are billions upon billions
of dollars in black gold. The Arctic landscape, spanning the Barents to the Beaufort Sea and beyond, is home to a reported
30 percent of the worlds undiscovered natural gas reserves and 13 percent of its oil. Whoever conquers it will lay claim to
1,669 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 90 billion barrels of oil almost three times the annual global consumption. Much
of the prospective total, according to the US Geological Survey, sits offshore and is up for the taking, provided that those
with suitably high ambitions come equipped with the necessary tools, know-how and most importantly resources to do
so. Although the region accounts for as little as six percent of the Earths surface, it accounts for a disproportionately large
amount of its resources, and it is this supposed abundance of hydrocarbons that has seen energy companies clamour
says Trevor Slack, Senior Analyst at risk analysis company Maplecroft. To varying degrees, Russia, Canada, the US,
Norway and Greenland have all increased exploration and development activity on their relevant portions of the
Arctic continental shelf. The majority of the Arctic countries have granted energy companies licenses to explore
offshore reserves, however, the exploration phase is only a fraction of the overall effort required to reap the regions
riches. The difficulties companies face while working in the region can perhaps best be seen in the case of Royal
Dutch Shell and the crisis that befell the Kulluk drilling rig late last year.
the road to
triumph? asked the company on its website soon after the 266ft barge ran aground
off the Alaskan
coast: circumstances that later incurred an impairment charge of $200m. The failed expedition constitutes only a slither
of the oil giants overall Arctic spending, which has so far amassed upwards of $5bn and yielded very little in the way of
returns. Despite having introduced an armada of 20 support vessels, chartered well over a thousand dedicated flights, and
exhausted $1bn on the project through the last year alone, the Anglo-Dutch powerhouse is yet to complete a single well in
the region.
considered a failure of sorts, they could just as easily be seen as par for the course,
as the extraction of Arctic oil and gas ranks among the most expensive business
opportunities in the world. Oil spill risks, high
extraction costs, doubts over the amount of commercially recoverable reserves, and a precedent of cost overruns and
delays combine to raise questions about the commercial viability of some proposed Arctic projects, reads a Greenpeace
report into Arctic exploration risks. The drilling conditions facing oil companies operating in the Arctic are some of the
most challenging on Earth. Risk and reward The challenges of tapping the Arctics resources are quite plain to see, these
being a harsh climate, underdeveloped infrastructure, long project cycles, spill containment and recovery risks, and
conflicting sovereignty claims, to name but a few. All things considered, the complications have caused some to question
whether the investment is actually worth the costs, whether they be financial or environmental. Total is the first major oil
company to publicly denounce offshore exploration in the Arctic, with the companys CEO Christophe de Margerie
expressing fears about the potential damages of a spill: Oil on Greenland would be a disaster, he told the Financial Times.
A leak would do too much damage to the
spill, while the level of climate change that would result from successful (in economic terms) drilling there would be catastrophic.
competitors such as ExxonMobil, Rosneft, Eni, Statoil and, of course, Shell, having committed
a great deal of time and money to the Arctic endeavour . Despite previous problems, Shell
hopes to resume its work in the
Arctic at some point this year, with CFO Simon Henry believing the region to be the most attractive single
opportunity for the
obstacles Although Shell appears quite intent on exploiting the Arctics natural resources, a US appeals court has recently
ruled that the Alaskan government acted illegally in granting Shell exploration rights to Arctic waters controlled by the US,
which has, in effect, curbed the companys oil ambitions further still. The extraction site was sold for $2.66bn in 2008, of
which $2.1bn was paid for by Shell, and has since been hotly contested by local and environmental groups, who claim the
consequences were ill conceived and its environmental impact sorely underplayed. Another major player whose progress
has been hindered by development costs and other such obstacles is Norways Statoil, which late last year expressed
concerns about the challenges of exploring and extracting Arctic hydrocarbon reserves. Logistical difficulties, regulatory
hurdles, jurisdictional tensions, environmental opposition and above all extremely inhospitable climatic conditions will
ensure that oil and gas activity in the region remains problematic, complex and expensive, says Slack. Cost is probably
the most important factor, with Statoil estimating that the cost of drilling one oil well in the Arctic could be as much as
$500m. This is likely to be prohibitive for most companies in the current climate, with some analysts predicting that the
price of crude could drop in the medium term. Statoils Exploration Chief Tim Dodson spoke at a climate change
conference last year about some of the issues facing oil companies in the Arctic. We
dont envisage
production from several of these areas before 2030 at the earliest; more likely 2040,
probably not until 2050, he said. I think what we have to realise is that the
challenges our industry faces in the Arctic are at least as significant as we thought
they were just a
couple of years back, but theyre not insurmountable . Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy, meanwhile,
has announced that, regardless of having spent over $1bn in the region, it is deprioritising its Greenland operations after
not having made a single commercial find as of yet. Many believe the inadequate infrastructure and tumultuous weather
conditions, combined with the falling price of oil and gas, to be the perfect storm when it comes to Arctic exploration.
These circumstances mean that short-term financial benefits can only be marginal at best, until stratospheric sums of
capital are poured into developing the region. Charlie Kronick, Senior Climate Advisor at Greenpeace UK, is sceptical. [It] is
impossible to drill safely for oil in the ice covered waters of the Arctic the potential impacts on local livelihoods and
biodiversity are uncostable. It would be literally impossible for both technical and environmental reasons to clean up
after the inevitable
A report
conducted by Lloyds and Chatham House found that investment in the Arctic could
reach $100bn by 2022, as companies scramble to gain a foothold. Business activity in
the Arctic region is undeniably increasing, and the impact of climate change means that
this is likely to grow significantly in the future. But as new opportunities open up,
decisions on exploiting them need to be made on the basis of as full
an understanding of the risks as possible , said Richard Ward, Chief Executive at Lloyds. At present, any
areas of the Arctic that are unrepresented are being hotly contested by the bordering countries. Regardless, it is crucial
that businesses granted permission to work in the region align their goals with those of local governments, communities
and the environment, as the territory proceeds to transform. In addition, those partaking in Arctic exploration should put in
place strict measures to avoid any environmental disasters, and have procedures in place should the worst case scenario
occur. The businesses which will succeed will be those which take their responsibilities to the regions communities and
environment seriously, working with other stakeholders to manage the wide range of Arctic risks and ensuring that future
development is sustainable, says Ward.
However, in such a hostile operating environment, warships are not the only way to make an
Evans 13
(Gareth, PhD, As the Arctic melts who has the most formidable ice-going naval fleet?, 1/3/13,
http://www.naval-technology.com/features/featurearctic-ice-melting-naval-fleet-us-norway-vessel-russia/)
Reducing on average by just over 11% a decade, according to US National Snow and Ice Data Center, receding
arctic ice offers huge reserves of oil, manganese, copper, cobalt, zinc and gold, untouched fisheries and a potential
polar sea-lane that could halve the voyage-time between
Europe and Asia. Basically, the High North is a place of growing strategic importance.
such a hostile
operating environment, warships are not the only way to make an effective national
statement." While a race to claim the arctic is unlikely, even so, to herald a sudden
return to 'gunboat diplomacy' or the massed northern deployment of capital ships in
a display of prestige and power. As Norwegian Institute for
know, there are no plans to build such ships either. Consequently, naval presence in the arctic will be
and weapons
systems, it'll be about support and rescue ," says defence blogger Newton Hunter. "Sure, you'll see
battleships zipping in an out during the ice-free times for show, but it's the ice-going capability of the non-combatant fleets
that gives you a pretty clear idea of how stakeholders see the future strategic importance of the region. Who's up on the
game, and who needs to play catch-up." Russia: embracing the challenge Russia is one nation clearly embracing the
challenge. The region was declared a major strategic interest in the "National Security Strategy of the Russian Federation
until 2020" and with Arctic naval capabilities prioritised by President Putin himself, Moscow has started a major programme
of investment in both submarines and ice-breakers to back it up. "Moscow has started a major programme of investment in
both submarines and ice-breakers to back it up." State-owned Rosatomflot already runs the only nuclear-powered icebreakers in the world, but that existing fleet is soon to be bolstered, most notably by the addition of the first of the nextgeneration LK-60 Class. At 173m (568ft) long and 34m (112ft) wide, it will be 14 metres longer and four metres broader
than current ships, and capable of powering its way through around three metres of ice, driven by its two 'RITM-200'
compact pressurized water reactors. With a RUB 37bn ($1.1 bn) budget, construction is scheduled to begin next year, and
the vessel will enter service in 2017. In the interim, the Coast Guard will receive new ice-class patrol ships, while Moscow
continues to emphasise its ambitions with annual Northern Fleet exercises in the Kara Sea, this year involving more than
7,000 personnel and 20 vessels, including the 250-metre nuclear-powered flag ship, 'Peter the Great'. US: ill-equipped and
"inadequately prepared" Washington has, at least until recently, viewed things rather differently, as a 2012 report from the
Center for Strategic and International Studies makes clear. "A New Security Architecture for the Arctic; An American
Perspective" describes a US approach that "has largely been to outsource any requirements to foreign-flagged commercial
vessels or borrow ice-strengthened vessels from Canada, Russia or Sweden." "A 2011 war game simulation highlighted just
how ill-equipped the world's foremost naval power seemed to be." The nuclear submarine fleet obviously remains a major
asset, but the navy seems distinctly wanting in terms of surface ships, having signed over its last ice-breaker to the US
Coast Guard in 1966. The Coast Guard itself currently has only one operational ice-breaker, the medium-sized 'Healy'. By
the start of 2013, 'Healy' will be joined by a heavy ice-breaker - returning to service after repairs and upgrades - and work
on the design of a new heavy vessel is underway, with the contract expected to be awarded within five years. Northern
Edge exercises every two years in the Gulf of Alaska aside, US vessels rarely venture into Arctic waters - and that lack of
capability is now sounding alarm bells, particularly after a 2011 war game simulation highlighted just how ill-equipped the
world's foremost naval power seemed to be. A summary from the Naval War College revealed that the US Navy's lack of
ice-capable ships, support facilities and adequate communications left it "inadequately prepared to conduct sustained
maritime operations in the Arctic." Nevertheless, according to Lundesgaard: "The US Navy does not seem overly concerned
about a military build-up in
The US Navy has made no great efforts at increasing its presence in the
area, and I have seen no
the area.
evidence to suggest that this will change anytime soon ." Canada: a clear policy Canada, like
Russia, affords the Arctic a high priority, with its policy for the region focussed on the four stated goals of sovereignty,
social and economic development, governance and environmental protection. In practical terms, this translates into a
major programme of investment in modernising the Canadian Navy and Coast Guard and revitalising the fleet - including
allocating around $33bn across 30 years to build 28 new vessels. Between six and eight Arctic patrol ships and a new icebreaker will be included in the project, bolstering the country's existing ice-going capabilities. Norway: a display of naval
power According to Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stre: "The High North is the most important strategic priority in Norwegian
foreign policy" - and Oslo has allocated the resources and increased the military presence in the region to back up his
words. Arguably the most high-profile example of this is the annual visit by at least one of the navy's largest vessels - this
year, its most modern warship, 'KNM Thor Heyerdahl' - to the territorial waters around Svalbard and Bear Island,
intentionally to demonstrate Norwegian sovereignty in the area. The last of five frigates built between 2006 and 2010, at a
cost of NOK 21bn ($3.7bn), the vessel and its sister-ships represented the largest investment in Norwegian defence to date,
and maintaining dominion in the High North is said to have played a large part in the procurement decision. A different kind
of Cold War "It's a different kind of 'Cold War' this time, and so far, Russia's winning." The military build-up has fuelled some
media speculation about the prospect of international conflict, particularly after Russia famously planted a flag on the
seabed in 2007, but Hunter sees it as nothing more sinister than the Arctic nations keeping an eye on their newly open
waters. Lundesgaard agrees. Three years
ago, he reasoned that the potential for an armed conflict in the region was "rather limited", principally because
the historic
Yazev No Date [Valery Yazev, First Vice-Chairman of the State Duma Committee
for Natural
Resources, the Environment and Ecology, and the President of the Russian Gas
Society, The exploration
of the Arctic is impossible without the development of the nuclear icebreaker fleet ,
http://www.arctic-
info.com/ExpertOpinion/Page/the-exploration-of-the-arctic-is-impossible-without-thedevelopment-of-the-nuclear-icebreaker-fleet, NO DATE]
The signing of a cooperation agreement between OAO Novatek and Rosatom state
corporation is an important step in implementing the national strategic objective,
the exploration of the Arctic. This document formalized the parties' intent to develop a mutually
beneficial partnership to coordinate investment and innovation activities . The agreement is
related to safe and efficient navigation in Arctic Waters, White and Baltic Seas; the
coordination of inter-related investment projects, the development of new technologies and
competitive products (including import substitution) to raise the efficiency of geological exploration,
production, transportation, storage and processing of natural gas and gas condensate. The signed
agreement also envisages conclusion of a long-term service contract for the support of icebreakers
escorting vessels carrying LNG plant products, through the Northern Sea Route for a period of at least
15 years. This guarantees stable workload for the Russian nuclear icebreaker fleet for 15 years ahead.
Two years ago the first large transit tanker of Novatek was escorted along the Northern Sea Route,
whose utilization back then was 120 thousand tons. Today, we are talking about the increase of transit
icebreaker fleet management. I would like to note very positive changes since the transfer of
the nuclear icebreaker fleet into Rosatom charge three years ago. We are hopeful therefore, that by
the year 2020 Atomflot would provide the transit of 17.5 million tons of cargo annually, which would
exceed the shipment volumes on the Northern Sea Route more that ten-fold,
development of the
nuclear icebreaker fleet, and one of the Rosatom strategic steps was the signing in the August of
this year, of a contract with Baltiysky zavod, JSC (Baltic Shipyard) for the construction of the first
icebreaker of a new generation. The state atomic energy company has already allocated funds for this
large-scale project. The plans also include construction of two more nuclear icebreakers.
Gray 13
(Daniel W., Lieutenant Commander, United States Coast Guard, NATIONAL DEFENSE UNIV NORFOLK VA
JOINT ADVANCED WARFIGHTING SCHOOL, CHANGING ARCTIC: A STRATEGIC ANALYSIS OF UNITED STATES ARCTIC POLICY
AND THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE LAW OF THE SEA, 5/2/13, http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?
verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA581139)//WL
Operations, Admiral
navigation established in
guarantees freedom of
From
an
Arctic states . . . . Future defense and civil support scenarios in the Arctic maritime
domain will require closely coordinated, multinational operations.16 The
Commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Robert
navigation,
Congress in
ADM Papp conveyed the need for accession to set international provisions
on law
joining the convention will provide the U.S. a critical voice on maritime
issues from mineral claims
community claims that technology is at the point where it is financially feasible to exploit these resources; however
companies need the certainty the Convention provides in order to explore beyond 200 miles and to place experts on
international bodies that will delineate claims
in the Arctic. 20 The Chairman and CEO of Exxon, R. W. Tillerson, in a 2012 letter to the Senate Foreign Service
Committee, expressed his companys support for the ratification of UNCLOS as a necessity to financially and efficiently
operate in the Arctic. He elaborated that there are currently overlapping claims in the Arctic and that UNCLOS provides
the legal basis necessary for resolving claims and establishing stability
necessary to support development. Otherwise, the lack of legal certainty unnecessarily clouds our investment
motivation.21 Thomas J. Donahue of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce echoed Tillersons statement in a January
2012 letter to Senators John Kerry and Richard Lugar, pointing out that without UNCLOS no U.S. company will
make the multi-billion dollar investments required to recover these resources without the legal certainty the
Convention provides.22 In addition to exploiting the resources in a respective economic exclusion zone, Arctic
countries are scrambling to map out their extended continental shelves. For the United States, this could produce
billions, perhaps trillions, of dollars in profits from oil, natural gas, and minerals. Of great concern is the harvesting
of seabed minerals in the form of rare earth metals: namely manganese, nickel, copper, and cobalt. In discussing
rare earth metals and the need for ratification, the National Association of Manufacturers claims that China
produces more than 90 percent of the worlds supply and also consumes roughly 60 percent . . . . China recently
imposed significant export restrictions on its rare earth production. In 2010, it announced it would cut exports by 40
percent in 2012.23 These minerals are extremely important to the production of telecommunications, defense
systems, and manufacturing. Without being a ratified member of UNCLOS, proponents of the treaty point out that
the United States will not be heard in the policy making process. As a non-party the U.S. does not have a
representative on the International Seabed Authority (ISA) or Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf
(CLCS). These same arguments extend to the exploitation of Arctic oil and natural gas as well. If the United
States were to gain all of the undersea area that many believe it is entitled to through its extended continental
shelf, that area could extend up to 600nm from the Alaska coastline. In addition, the U.S. could gain upwards of
4.1 million square miles of ocean floor, an area greater than the 48 contiguous states, the largest jurisdiction
grant of any nation in the world.24 Just the area within the EEZ around Alaska may hold as much as 27 billion
barrels of oil and 132 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.25 In total, the United States would have the largest
EEZ/ECS area of any country in the world, one that extends into three separate oceans. Shipping is another
concern for UNCLOS advocates. With the opening of the Arctic, the international community is looking at the
possibilities of shortened commerce transit routes that could save millions in time and money. Supporters argue
that relying on existing customary maritime laws does not provide enough legal certainty for business to grow.
Over 95 percent of U.S. commerce is transported by water. UNCLOS supporters point to the benefits of legally
established territorial seas, the right of innocent passage, and unimpeded transit through archipelagos and
international straits. Stable, long-term laws benefit business worldwide. In a letter to Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton, the President of the Maritime Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, Michael Sacco, presented the argument
that U.S. accession to UNCLOS creates a safer atmosphere for international shipping, as it places an obligation on
its signatories to do everything in their power to preserve high seas for innocent use.26 Without ratifying
UNCLOS, other countries could potentially have a voice in crafting international laws that are unfavorable to U.S.
business. UNCLOS has been a contentious issue in the U.S. since its creation. No one in the U.S. political arena
appears to be wavering in their beliefs for or against
UNCLOS;
the Arctic
Restino 14 [Carey Restino, Arctic sounder reporter, Icebreaker fleet in U.S. lags
behind, January 13, 2014,
http://www.thearcticsounder.com/article/1202icebreaker_fleet_in_us_lags_behind]
There is also the issue of national security, as well as territorial rights in the Arctic. With many countries eyeing the
newly ice-free waters, how the division will occur is somewhat up in the air. The congressional report outlines the
sometimes-strained relationship between the United States and Russia, not to mention the potential for modern-day
piracy and fishing rights as issues that will require increased security in the Arctic in the future. Congressional
delegates fly icebreaker flag high Sen. Lisa Murkowski has long been a proponent of a beefier icebreaker fleet
without icebreaker
capacity, she said the lack of funding in support of the effort has stood in the way
of such ventures. Sen.
Mark Begich, chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard, has also been working
hard to secure funding, but it's been slow in coming. The Senate passed a bill that included $8.9 billion for the Coast Guard
for 2010, while Begich introduced the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act, which is expected to be taken up this winter. That
bill authorizes $8.7 billion for the fiscal years 2012 and 2013 and makes the Coast Guard the sole provider of polar icebreaking services to agencies of the federal government. The bill also requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to
ensure that the Coast Guard continues to operate a minimum of two heavy polar icebreakers as part of
It also calls for a feasibility study for a deep-water sea port in the Arctic "to
protect and advance
its fleet.
United States interests within the Arctic region. " There is also a recommendation from the Coast
Guard based on several years of study, which is still making its way through the channels, said Keogh. Past
recommendations dating back to 2008 have called for as
own icebreaker
depended upon to respond in an emergency . Keogh said the Coast Guard intends to set up some initial
infrastructure in the
North Slope this summer and icebreaker funding will hopefully find its way through the various channels and into
actual vessels. "Obviously,
we wish we had an updated fleet," Keogh said. "We are there for everyone not for
our own means or
for industry."
to the general
Vieru 10 [January 4th, 2010, By Tudor Vieru, News editor at softpedia, No Armed
Conflict Over the Arctic, http://news.softpedia.com/news/No-Armed-Conflict-Overthe-Arctic-131043.shtml]
Over recent years, a war of statements concerning the Arctic region broke out, with
numerous countries bordering the area claiming large swaths of it for their own . With
the effects of global warming making themselves felt more and more, new shipping lanes are opened in
northern waters, and maritime companies and governments want to make the best
of this. Still, in spite of so many countries taking a stand on the issue, the possibility
of them going to war over it is fairly remote, AlphaGalileo reports. In addition to
control over new and profitable shipping lanes, the Arctic also offers large oil
reserves, which companies are
authorities are at the forefront of this movement, staking their claims to large swaths of land in the Arctic, and even
conducting military exercises in the region to show their strength. Add to the situation the fact that a number of
Arctic borders are under dispute, and you could have the recipe for an armed conflict, analysts said last year.
assert that dispassionate diplomacy is a solution far more likely to resolve any
In a
picture drawn by the media and some commentators over the last couple of years ,
the Arctic region
does not suffer under a state of virtual anarchy . The era when states could claim
rights to territory and
resourcesby simply planting their flag is long gone , FNI sea expert and study researcher Oystein
Jensen explains. The basic fact here is that the Arctic Ocean is an ocean, and as such, regulated by the law of the sea.
legal status of the Arctic Ocean as a sea area due to it being predominantly ice-covered stand
no chance of being accepted today. At the outset, there is thus no support in
international law to treat the waters of the frozen
North differently from other maritime spaces, the scientist adds. Notably, the
Convention on the Law
United Nations
of the Sea the relevant legal framework for national legislation in most state-to-state relations today
contains a clause
consensus exists as to the question of the applicability of the law of the sea to all
parts of the Arctic
Ocean, Jensen reveals. The researchers focused mostly on Norwegian-Russian relationships and found that, while
there were
countries.
There is no way nations will go to war in the Arctic diplomacy is a much better
solution and Law of the Sea treaty says its illegal, thats Vieru.
Kraska 10
Why does anyone care about such legal claims? Its not just national pride. The U.S. Geological Survey
estimates that the region holds 13 percent of the undiscovered oil and 30 percent of the undiscovered
natural gas in the world, and these figures do not include potentially vast reserves of methane gas
hydrates.6Areas of the Beaufort Sea, waters north of Siberia and the seabed of
Russian nationalists. Its not the only economic factor in play, however, and more
than economics is involved as well.
Merchant 12 [So Who's Going to Start the Oil War in the Arctic?, BRIAN
MERCHANT, SENIOR EDITOR, November 14, 2012,
http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/so-who-s-going-to-start-the-oil-war-in-the-arctic]
Whos it going to be? Whos going to kick off the armed conflict over all those
precious oil and gas reserves in the Arctic? Russia? Nah , Putins steely villainy
is just a show . Norway? Denmark? Nope
too Scandinavian, too neutral, too peaceful. Canada? Please. So how about the ol
U.S. of A.? We do like to toss our military might around, and our trigger fingers
probably getting pretty itchy, what with the drawdowns in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Chances are, its not going to be anybody; there will likely be no
flag onto the ocean floor there, proving it has a claim to the land. And thats
valuable land. Some 13% of the worlds proven oil reserves remain stored away up
there, and a full 30% of the gas. As climate change melts away the sea ice and
opens up access, corporations and governments are increasingly bullish in their
efforts to secure the rights to that land. And so far, theres no unified framework in
place to sort out who gets to drill wherethe U.N. wants northern countries to
agree on one by 2013..
CNN Money 12 (Steve Hargreaves -, U.S. missing out on Arctic land grab,
7/18/12, http://money.cnn.com/2012/07/18/news/economy/Arctic-land-grab/index.htm)
Canada and Russia claim the passages are part of their inland waterways, subject to
the rules, restrictions, surveillance and possible imposition of hefty transit fees by
the host country. Russian President
Vladimir Putin has said the Northern Sea Route could one day rival the Suez Canal in terms of ship traffic. The Suez
generates $5 billion a year in
Much has been made of these Arctic disputes, as well as what appears
to be a military
revenue for Egypt.
In 2008, shortly after planting a Russian flag on the bottom of the ocean at the North Pole,
Russia conducted long-rage strategic bomber flights over the Arctic -- the first such exercises since the end of the Cold War,
according to the CRS report. Meanwhile Canada has constructed a cold-weather training base in its Arctic territory, and
ordered the construction of six ice-capable ships to
the region is
unlikely. Four of the five Arctic states with competing claims are NATO members.
And if the United
States and Russia were able to survive 40-plus years of Cold War
antagonism, it's unlikely they'd go to
Snurbiv 9
[Akexeu Snurbiv 1/23 ,2009, the arctic is hot, The Russian Oil and Gas Report, lexis]
The Arctic faces the threat of armed conflicts, possibly involving Russia, in the years ahead. This conclusion has been arrived at independently by the
Danish Institute of Military Studies and Australian Armed Forces analysts. The open part of a classified report from the Australian military says: "The Arctic
is melting, and mining on the sea bed is becoming profitable. If disputes over mining rights cannot be resolved by peaceful means, armed force may be
used." Similar concerns are expressed in the Danish report. Five countries are claiming areas close to the North Pole:
Denmark, Russia, the United States, Canada, and Norway. Four of them are NATO members. "
Moscow is claiming, up to
70% of their oil and gas reserves would end up in the hands of the Russians. The stakes
are too high - they have too
much to lose. If the Arctic is full of warships monitoring each other, no oil
platforms could be built
there.
So
militarization
of the North
Borgersons highly geopolitical tale is illustrative of a common narrative about the Arctic. It
invariably stresses climate change, increasing competition for resources, and the
potential for conflict. Last weeks discussion of
critical geopolitics , however, should remind us that this narrative is far from the only one that can tell us about the Arctic
today. Todays second article, Have you heard the one about the disappearing ice? Recasting Arctic Geopolitics,
challenges this conventional narrative.
Far
consciously) exploited by Moscow. To begin with, the authors argue, the Arctic is represented as a region of
new openness, which signifies indeterminacy, which then signifies danger. Melting ice, they write, is correlated
with enhanced accessibility, and this new accessibility is correlated with the use of the Arctic for hostile purposes.
In addition to hostility from traditional states, the authors take Borgerson to task for warning us about Arctic-based
illegal immigration and terrorism, to include a scenario in which a future Arctic oil infrastructure becomes a target
for terrorist attacks that could undermine North American energy security. Arctic openness, argue Dittmer et
al is central to the performance of Arctic geopolitics, enabling sabre-rattling by the five Arctic Ocean coastal
states.
remind us, ignores the reality in much of the Arctic e.g., that the movement of goods
and persons remains prohibitively expensive for most actors and that actual military
combat there is almost
unimaginable (as Russian strategic analyst Pavel Baev pointed out at the time). The second representational
move that has become characteristic of orthodox geopolitical portrayals of the Arctic is the idea of it in general,
but in the case of Arctic governance regimes in
the expedition
was widely interpreted in the West as prima facie evidence of Russian realpolitik
in trying to annex the Arctic. Instead of attributing the above expedition to some
sovereign geopolitical master-logic, argue Dittmer et al, Arctic geographies should instead
provide a more complex picture that highlights how the expedition was improvised,
with its supposed geopolitical meaning and significance emerging
afterwards. Borgerson and his fellow travelers, in other words, draw a dubious straight line from the realistically
irreversible melting of polar ice to an inevitable military-political conflict for the regions resources. There are, argue
Dittmer and co, alternatives to this type of lockstep geopolitical determinism.
The Arctic has become a new frontier in international relations, but fear of
potential conflict in the
revealing more and more of the Arctic region to scientists, researchers and industry. Climate change experts can
take a more precise look at a what global warming is doing to the planet, shipping trade routes once considered
unthinkable are now possible, and governments and businesses are in thrall to the potential exploitation of coal,
iron, rare earths and oil. The interest is reflected in the growing list of those wanting to have a foot in the Arctic
council, a forum of eight countries with territory in the polar region. While the US, Denmark, Iceland, Finland,
Norway, Sweden, Russia and Canada form the council, the EU commission, China, India, South Korea and Japan
have all expressed an
America, Europe
and the Asia Pacific," says Damien Degeorges, founder of the Arctic Policy and Economic Forum.
During a recent
conference on Arctic shipping routes in the European Parliament, Degeorges noted that "China has been the most active by
far in the last years." He points to its red-carpet treatment of politicians from Greenland, a territory that recently got full
control over its wealth of natural resources. Bejing also cosied up to Iceland after the island's financial meltdown. The two
undertook a joint expedition to the North Pole and the Chinese have the largest foreign embassy in Reykjavik. Meanwhile,
South Korea's president visited Greenland last year and shipping hubs like Singapore are holding Arctic conferences. The
interest is being spurred by melting icebergs. Last year saw a record low of multi-year ice - permanent ice - in the polar
sea. This means greater shipping and mineral exploitation potential. There were 37 transits of the North East Passage
(NEP), running from the Atlantic to the Pacific along the top of Russia, in 2011. This rose to 47 in 2012. For a ship travelling
from the Netherlands to China, the route around 40 percent shorter than using the traditional Suez Canal. A huge saving for
China, where 50 percent of its GDP is connected to shipping. Russia is also keen to exploit the route as the rise in
temperatures is melting the permafrost in its northern territory, playing havoc
with its roads and railways. According to Jan Fritz Hansen, deputy director of the Danish shipowners association, the real
breakthrough will come when there is a cross polar route. At the moment there are are two options - the North East Passge
for which Russia asks high fees for transiting ships - or the much-less developed North West Passage along Canada. His
chief concern is that "trade up there is free. We don't want protectionism. Everyone should be allowed to compete up
there." And he believes the biggest story of the Arctic is not how it is traversed but what will be taken out of it. According
to the US Geological Survey (2009), the Arctic holds 13 percent of undiscovered oil and 30 percent of undiscovered gas
supplies. Greenland is already at the centre of political tussle between the EU and China over future exploitation of its rare
earths - used in a range of technologies such as hybrid cars or smart phones. "The biggest adventure will be the Arctic
destination. There is a lot of valuable goods that should be taken out of nature up there," he said.
This resource
potential - although
tempered by the fact that much of it is not economically viable to exploit - has led
to fears that the Arctic region is ripe for conflict . But this is nonsense, says Nil
Wang, a former Danish admiral and
Arctic expert . Most resources have an owner "There is a general public perception that the
Arctic region holds great potential for conflict because it is an ungoverned region
where all these resources are waiting to be picked up by the one who gets there first. That is
completely false ," he said. He notes that it is an "extremely well-regulated
region ," with international rules saying that coastal states have territorial
jurisdiction up to 12 nautical miles off their coast. On top of that is a further 200 nautical
miles of exclusive economic zone "where you own every value in the water and
under the seabed." "Up to 97 percent of energy resources is actually belong ing
to someone already ," says Wang. He suggest the actors in the region all want to
create a business environment, which requires stable politics and security.
Grtz 12 (Jonas, researcher at the Center for Security Studies, July 2012, The
Geopolitics of the Arctic Commons, http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/DigitalLibrary/Articles/Special-Feature/Detail/?
lng=en&id=157901&tabid=1453469894&contextid774=157901&contextid775=15792
2)
extraction of raw materials or new soft security issues. Due to the weather conditions, only
military or coast guard assets tend to be able to safely operate under Arctic conditions. In light of the new possibilities,
there is also a growing awareness of the lack of surveillance capabilities for the territory and the enforcement of
sovereignty. Particularly for countries like Canada and Denmark, building up policing and military capabilities serves to
avoid the impression that the Arctic is of little national interest. However, offensive capabilities are also being built up in
the Arctic, reflecting global ambitions rather than changing regional dynamics. Since the Arctic Ocean provides Russias
best access to the worlds main oceans, two thirds of its navy are already stationed in the Arctic. Instead of upgrading
border protection capabilities, Moscow so far has focused on modernising its offensive capabilities for the purpose of power
projection. What is more, Russia has resumed patrol flights over the Arctic and submarine patrols previously carried out
during the Cold War, albeit at a lower frequency. This testifies to the persistence of a rather traditional Russian threat
perception. Today,
cooperation, competition, and conflicts of interest . There are indications that the growing
presence of non-Arctic players prompts more cooperation among the coastal states.
Open conflicts are unlikely to break out in the foreseeable future: While existing
mechanisms for cooperation may be too weak to resolve some conflicts of interest, the
costs of military conflict will likely be considered too high in light of uncertain gains.
If conflicts were to occur, they would probably be limited in both time and space,
aiming at the
enforcement of interpretations of international law . Having said that, as the involvement of all key
political players increases, the Arctic is also the scene of overarching geo-strategic competition and conflict. The extent to
which the thawing of the Arctic means conflict or rapprochement and cooperation will therefore also depend on the shape
of the future world order and the relationships between the different power centres.
Fries 12 [Tom Fries, Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Arctic Institute, Apr 18 2012,
Perspective Correction: How We Misinterpret Arctic Conflict,
http://www.thearcticinstitute.org/2012/04/perspective-correction-how-we.html]
not only the handcuffs of many colors worn by the Arctic states that will keep them
from getting aggressive, it is also the good precedents that exist for cooperation
here. Russia and Norway recently resolved a forty year-old dispute over territory in the
Barents. There are regular examples of military cooperation among the four littoral
NATO states and between Norway and Russia. Even the US and Russia are finding
opportunities to work together. Meanwhile, the need to develop search-and-rescue capabilities is
making cross-border cooperation a necessity for all Arctic actors. There are numerous
international research and private-sector ventures, even in areas other than hydrocarbons.
These will only grow in importance with time. In fact, it would seem that for many of these
countries, the Arctic is a welcome relief - a site where international collaboration is
comparatively amicable.
Its
Using science for diplomatic purposes has obvious attractions and several benefits. But there are limits to what
it
can achieve
. The scientific community has a deserved reputation for its international perspective scientists often ignore national
boundaries and interests when it comes to exchanging ideas or collaborating on global problems. So it is not surprising that science attracts the
interest of politicians keen to open channels of communication with other states. Signing agreements on scientific and technological cooperation is
often the first step for countries wanting to forge closer working relationships. More significantly, scientists have formed key links behind-the-scenes
when more overt dialogue has been impossible. At the height of the Cold War, for example, scientific organisations provided a conduit for discussing
nuclear weapons control. Only so much science can do Recently, the
Obama administration
has given this field a new push, in its desire to pursue "soft diplomacy" in regions such as the
Middle East. Scientific agreements have been at the forefront of the administration's activities in countries such as Iraq and Pakistan.
But as emerged from a meeting entitled New Frontiers in Science Diplomacy, held in London this week (12 June) using
science for diplomatic purposes is not as straightforward as it seems. Some scientific collaboration clearly
demonstrates what countries can achieve by working together. For example, a new synchrotron under construction in Jordan is rapidly becoming a
symbol of the potential for teamwork in the Middle East. But
precursor for political collaboration is less evident. For example, despite hopes that the Middle
East
synchrotron would help bring peace to the region, several countries have been reluctant to support it
until the Palestine problem is resolved. Indeed, one speaker at the London meeting (organised by the UK's Royal Society
and the American Association for the Advancement of Science) even suggested that
bring inevitably lead to turbulence and upheaval . In such a context, viewing science as a
driver for
Johnson 10
http://www.scidev.net/en/news/usaid-appointment-boosts-science-diplomacy-focus.html)
The US government's international development agency is stepping up its focus on science and
technology with a
the
administration's push for science diplomacy. Alex Dehgan was appointed USAID's
science and technology advisor last month (11 March). The agency described him in a
statement as "the focal point for implementing the Administrator's vision to restore
science and technology to its rightful place within
USAID". An agency spokeswoman said that Dehgan will work closely with USAID's senior counselor and director of innovation,
Maura O'Neill,
and will help shape development strategies, as well as create "novel science-based initiatives".
the
such as efforts to forge international cooperation among scientists and engineers, to achieve broader political
objectives. Dehgan, a conservation biologist and an attorney in international law, has worked for the US State
Department in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Middle East. He also has experience working on large-scale conservation
projects in the non-governmental sector. The appointment is "very encouraging", said Caroline Wagner, author of
The New Invisible College: Science for Development.
"There is a lot of interest and experience that's being brought to this issue." Al Teich, director of science and policy
the most contentious area discussed at the meeting was how science diplomacy
can frame developed countries' efforts to help build scientific capacity in the
developing world. There is little to quarrel with in collaborative efforts that are
put forward with a genuine desire for partnership .
Perhaps
Indeed, partnership whether between individuals, institutions or countries is the new buzzword in the "science
for development"
to meet as equals. And that goes against diplomats' implicit role: to promote and
defend their own
countries' interests.
John Beddington, the British government's chief scientific adviser, may have been a bit harsh
meeting that a diplomat is someone who is "sent abroad to lie for his country". But he touched a raw nerve. Worlds apart
yet co-dependent The truth is that science and politics make an uneasy alliance. Both need the other. Politicians need
science to achieve their goals, whether social, economic or unfortunately military; scientists need political support to
fund their research. But they also occupy different universes. Politics is, at root, about exercising power by one means or
another. Science is or should be about pursuing robust knowledge that can be put to useful purposes. A strategy for
promoting science diplomacy that respects these differences deserves support. Particularly so if it focuses on ways to
leverage political and financial backing for science's more humanitarian goals, such as tackling climate change or reducing
world poverty. But a commitment to science diplomacy that ignores the differences acting for
example as if science can substitute politics (or perhaps more worryingly, vice versa), is dangerous.
The
Obama administration's
no bad thing
Dickson 10
conference-2010/
7/9/11)//NR
Theres a general consensus in both the scientific and political worlds that the principle of science diplomacy, at least in
the somewhat restricted sense of the need to get more and better science into international negotiations, is a desirable
objective. There is less agreement, however, on how far the concept can or indeed should be extended to embrace
broader goals and objectives, in particular
attempts to use science to achieve political or diplomatic goals at the international level.
international
These seem to have been the broad conclusions to emerge from a three-day
meeting at Wilton Park in Sussex, UK, organised by the British Foreign Office and the Royal Society, and attended by
scientists, government officials and politicians from 17 countries around the world. The definition of science diplomacy
varied widely among participants. Some saw it as a subcategory of public diplomacy, or what US diplomats have
recently been promoting as soft power (the carrot rather than the stick approach, as a participant described it).
Others preferred to see it as a core element of the broader concept of innovation diplomacy, covering the politics of
engagement in the familiar fields of international scientific exchange and technology transfer, but raising these to a
higher level as a diplomatic objective. Whatever definition is used, three particular aspects of the debate became the
focus of attention during the Wilton Park meeting: how science can inform the diplomatic process; how diplomacy can
assist science in achieving its objectives; and, finally, how science can provide a channel for quasi-diplomatic
exchanges by forming an apparently neutral bridge between countries. There was little disagreement on the first of
these. Indeed for many,
issues with a scientific dimension that politicians have to deal with, this
is essentially what the core
of science diplomacy should be about. Chris Whitty, for example, chief scientist at the UKs
Department for International Development, described how knowledge about the threat raised by the spread of the
highly damaging plant disease stem rust had been an important input by researchers into discussions by politicians and
diplomats over strategies for persuading Afghan farmers to shift from the production of opium to wheat. Others pointed
out that the scientific community had played a major role in drawing attention to issues such as the links between
chlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere and the growth of the ozone hole, or between carbon dioxide emissions and
climate change. Each has made essential contributions to policy decisions. Acknowledging this role for science has
some important implications. No-one dissented when Rohinton Medhora, from Canadas International Development
Research Centre, complained of the lack of adequate scientific expertise in the embassies of many countries of the
developed and developing world alike. Nor perhaps predictably was there any major disagreement that diplomatic
initiatives can both help and occasionally hinder the process of science. On
both
programme of research programmes was quoted as a successful advantage of the first of these. Examples of the
second range from the establishment of the European Organisation of Nuclear Research (usually known as
CERN) in Switzerland after the Second World War, to current efforts to build a large new nuclear fusion facility
to ease the burdens of such restrictions. The broadest gaps in understanding the potential of
scientific diplomacy lay in the third category, namely the use of science as a channel of international diplomacy, either
as a way of helping to forge consensus on contentious issues, or as a catalyst for peace in situations of conflict. On the
first of these, some pointed to recent climate change negotiations, and in particular the work of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change, as a good example, of the way that the scientific community can provide a strong rationale
for joint international action. But others referred to
demonstration of the
considerable attention was the current construction of a synchrotron facility SESAME in Jordan, a project that is already
is bringing together researchers in a range of scientific disciplines from various countries in the Middle East (including
Israel, Egypt and Palestine, as well as both Greece and Turkey). The promoters of SESAME hope that as with the
building of CERN 60 years ago, and its operation as a research centre involving, for example, physicists from both
Russia and the United States SESAME will become a symbol of what regional collaboration can achieve. In that sense,
it would become what one participant described as a beacon of hope for the region. But others cautioned that,
however successful SESAME may turn out to be in purely scientific terms, its potential impact on the Middle East peace
coming
another. Scientists should be wary of having their prestige used in this way; those who did so could come over as
patronising, appearing unaware of political realities. Similarly, those who hold science in esteem as a practice
committed to promoting the causes of peace and development were reminded of the need to take into account how
review.
The consensus seemed to be that science can prepare the ground for diplomatic initiatives and benefit
from diplomatic agreements but cannot provide the solutions to either.
Energy
Security Adv
Salhani 13
The US Energy Information Administration released on Tuesday an early version of its Annual Energy Outlook for
2014. The main item being
that the
United States will continue to develop its own oil and to press for more efficient
cars in order to reduce demand on oil. The report from the federal government
forecasts a rise in US oil production of
another 800,000 barrels per day for the coming two year s, but sees a rise by 2016 with the US
reaching about 9.5 million barrels per day. The previous high was attained in 1970 when production had reached 9.6
million bpd. Predictions are that the oil boom is temporary and is expected to level off around 2020, but by then there
should be a lot more fuel efficient cars on the roads that the drop in production will not be felt.
US is decreasing its dependence on oil now 1NC Salhani gives two reasons
US oil production is increasing by 800,000 barrels per day from the two years before
DOE 12
(United States Department of Energy, Our Dependence on Foreign Oil Is Declining, 3/1/12,
http://energy.gov/articles/our-dependence-foreign-oil-declining, EK)
Americas dependence on foreign oil has gone down every single year since
Obama took office. In
President
production is up here
last eight years. As part
in the United States. In fact, America is producing more oil today than at any time in the
of his strategy to increase safe, responsible oil production in the United States, President
millions of new
and we now have more working oil and gas rigs than the rest of the
worldcombined.
Yeo 14
(Sophie, Staff Writer for RTCC News US committed to cutting fossil fuel use despite shale oil boom, 1/20/14,
http://www.rtcc.org/2014/01/20/us-committed-to-cutting-fossil-fuels-use-despite-shale-oil-boom/)//WL
Booming levels of oil production from shale formations will not affect the countrys commitment to cutting its
carbon footprint, US energy
boom in shale gas, which has been largely credited with pushing down US emissions by 12% between 2005 and
2012, oil production
has soared over the last five years. In 2011, the US became a net exporter of refined
petroleum products for the first time since 1949. Moniz said efficiency, alternative
fuel use and electrification were the three prongs the USA would employ to wean
itself off oil. He added that, historically, innovation in the field of energy production tends to
arrive at a time when production is booming : Its a lot easier to be introducing new
technologies and new players when the pie is growing, he said. At the same time as
we celebrate our
domestic production with all its benefits, we do not lose sight of in any way our commitment to lowering
our oil dependency, said Moniz. He added that natural gas was a bridge to a low carbon future envisaged by President
Barack Obama in his Climate Action Plan, though it would at some stage require carbon capture and storage technology.
Producing more oil should not be confused with increasing oil dependence. We are decreasing oil dependence even as we
produce more oil. The glut of oil has led to an increasing debate over whether the US should lift its ban on the export of
crude oil, which was put in place following the 1970s decision by Arab countries not to export to America. Moniz reinforced
that, while this decision rested with the Department of Commerce, There are many, many issues that need a relook from
the 1970-1975 period.
RFA 12
(Renewable Fuels Association, RFA Chief Highlights Ethanols Role in Decreasing Foreign Oil Dependence at MIT
This afternoon, RFA President and CEO Bob Dinneen will participate on a panel, The Future of Transportation Fuels,
from 1:00pm-3:45pm EST as
has contributed
significantly to the reduction of our foreign oil dependence . In 2011, the use of 13.9
billion gallons of American ethanol helped reduce the need for imported oil by 485
million barrels. That is roughly equivalent to 13% of total U.S. crude oil imports, saving the American
economy $49.7 billion. Our nations reliance on foreign oil imports is continuing to
decrease because of ethanol, said RFA President and CEO Bob Dinneen. Since 2005, the year the
Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) was first enacted, Americas oil demand has decreased and
national oil import
In 2010, U.S. oil imports fell below 50% for the first time since
ethanol, without the foundation of the RFS, our oil imports would have been 52%
last year. Maintaining
critical policies like the RFS is essential to increasing our national energy security. While gasoline demand is
currently at its lowest point in
more than a decade, prices at the pump continue to run-up due to the increasing costs of barrels of crude oil.
Nevertheless,
prices of
Iowa State University and the University of Wisconsin found that in 2010,
prices $0.89 lower per gallon than they otherwise would have been. Americanproduced ethanol now constitutes 10% of our nations gasoline supply, and it is the
only energy source available today that can
Norris 14
(Floyd, chief financial correspondent of The New York Times, U.S. Oil Production Keeps Rising Beyond the
OIL production in the United States rose by a record 992,000 barrels a day in 2013 ,
the International Energy Agency estimated this week. We keep raising our forecasts, and we keep
underestimating production, said Lejla
with both November and December production estimated to have been over eight million barrels a day. American
consumption of oil also rose last year, by 390,000 barrels a day, or 2.1 percent, to 18.9 million barrels a day. The agency
increased its estimate of American oil use in the final quarter of the year, although it lowered its estimate of the increase in
some other countries, including China. Over all, world consumption rose 1.4 percent, making 2013 the first year since 1999
that the use of oil in the United States rose more rapidly than in the rest of the world. The agency said that demand was
strong in the petrochemical industry in the United States, which has benefited from the fact that rising supply has left
American crude oil prices lower than those in many other countries. The agency estimated that demand for gasoline in the
United States rose as a result of increasing consumer confidence and more sales of sport utility vehicles. Despite the 2013
increases, oil use in most
developed countries remains well below the levels of 2007, the last pre-recession year.
estimated to have
used 8.5 percent less oil in 2013 than it did in 2007, while demand is down by about
25 percent in Italy
and Spain,
European countries that were hard hit by the euro areas problems. Germany stands out, with 2013 usage
equal to that of 2007. In the developing world, oil use has been rising steadily. Demand in China and Brazil is up more than
30 percent since 2007, and Indias consumption is 17 percent higher. The agency estimates that in 2014, the 34 mostly rich
countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development will consume less than half the oil used in the
world. That would be a first: As recently as 2004, their share was over 60 percent, and in 2013, it was estimated to be 50.5
percent. Over the same period, the United States share of the market fell to 21 percent from 25 percent, while Chinas
share rose to 11 percent from less than 8 percent. But the American share was estimated to have risen
1951, according to the United States Energy Information Administration. In percentage terms, the 15.3 percent
increase in 2013
was the largest since an 18.9 percent gain in 1940. American oil production fell
steadily from the early 1990s through 2008, but has since risen for five consecutive
years, largely because of increased
production of shale oil. Not since the late 1960s, when production in Texas was peaking and Alaska oil was
beginning to come on stream, has there been such a string of annual increases. As a result, United States oil production
climbed to the highest level since 1989, although it remains well below the record production of 9.6 million barrels a day,
set in 1970.
production would continue to rise in 2014, adding 782,000 barrels, to 8.3 million
barrels a day. If that
Luft and Korin 13(Gal and Anne, co-directors of the IAGS and Senior Advisers to the United States Energy
Security Council The Myth of U.S. Energy Dependence What We Got Wrong About OPEC's Oil Embargo, Foreign Affairs,
10/15/13, http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/140172/gal-luft-and-anne-korin/the-myth-of-us-energy-dependence) EK
The first U.S. energy secretary, James Schlesinger, observed in 1977 that when it comes to energy, the United
States has only two modes -- complacency and panic. Today, with the country in the middle of an oil and gas
boom that could one day crown it the worlds largest oil producer, the pendulum has swung toward complacency.
40 years ago this week, panic ruled the day, as petroleum prices quadrupled in a matter
of months and Americans endured a traumatic gasoline shortage, waiting for hours in long lines only to be greeted by signs
But
The cause of these ills, Americans explained to themselves, was the Arab oil
embargo
-- the decision by Iran and the Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to
cut off oil exports to the United States and its allies as punishment for their support of Israel in the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
And the lessons they drew were far-
The fear that, at any given moment, the United States oil supply could be interrupted
by a foreign country convinced Washington that its entire approach to energy
security should center on one goal: reducing oil imports from that volatile region . But
Americans were wrong on both counts. The embargo itself was not the root cause of the energy
crisis. Contrary to popular belief, the U nited States has never really been dependent on
the Middle East for its supply of oil -- today only nine percent of the U.S. oil supply
comes from the region.
reaching.
the country could solve all its energy woes by reducing its reliance on Middle
Eastern oil. Where did this
conclusion come from? By the time the six-month embargo was lifted, in March 1974, the global economy lay in
ruins. In the United States, unemployment had doubled and GNP had fallen by six percent. Europe and Japan had
fared no better, and struggling, newly created countries in Asia and Africa took the worst hits. Countries completely
dependent on energy imports found themselves heavily in debt, and millions of unemployed poor had to migrate
from the cities back to their villages. The crisis also dealt a blow to American prestige. At the height of the Cold War,
the United States essentially proved that without oil it was a paper tiger. The worried secretary of state, Henry
Kissinger, indicated that the United States was prepared to send military forces to the Persian Gulf to take over
whatever country was needed to keep the oil flowing. Since 1973, the United States has sent forces to the Middle
East time and again in the name of energy security. Moreover, the embargo created a deep sense of vulnerability
from which the United States has never recovered. The country has been portrayed that way by its own leaders: in
2006, Senator Joseph Lieberman called it a pitiful giant, like Gulliver in Lilliput, tied down and subject to the whim
of smaller nations. The only proper response, it seemed, was to stop importing so much Middle Eastern oil.
Every
embargo, from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama, has sought the elusive goal of energy
independence, either by
increasing domestic oil supply (Republicans) or by constraining demand through a gasoline tax and improving the
standards for cars fuel
that OPEC played during this episode and over the subsequent four decades.
rethink the U.S. national fixation with energy self-sufficiency, and to focus
on solutions that actually
have a chance of getting the United States -- not to mention the rest of the world -- out of the mire.
This is the oil production that these countries essentially keep in reserve. It's
Plumer 14
(Brad, reporter focusing on energy and environmental issues, How the oil boom could change U.S. foreign
The United States is suddenly awash in crude oil. From 2008 to 2013, domestic oil
production rose by 2.5 million barrels per day the biggest five-year increase in
the country's history. Last year, U.S. produced more oil
than it imported for the first time since 1995. So what does that mean for the rest of the world? Or for U.S. foreign
policy? Well, for starters,
it
probably doesn't mean that Americans can now safely ignore the Middle East. The
U.S. economy is still heavily reliant on oil, and prices are still largely swayed by
what goes on in the global markets. Disruptions in places like Saudi Arabia, Iran or
Iraq still have a big impact. That's one conclusion of a major new
report by a commission of former generals and senior officials, backed by Securing America's Energy Future (SAFE).
"The
sparked a lot of loose talk about how we can now ignore what goes on in the Middle
East," said Adm. Dennis
Blair, a former director of National Intelligence who led the commission, in an interview Tuesday. " But
that's
just not true." Blair pointed out that the oil boom has already had some impact on U.S. foreign policy. For
example, increased North American oil production likely allowed the United States and Europe to impose stricter
sanctions on Iran without worrying as much about resulting price spikes. There are also early, tentative signs that
China could become more cooperative on Middle East issues now that the fast-growing nation has displaced the
United States as the biggest oil importer from the region. But what's arguably more telling is how much hasn't
changed.
boom, the United States is still quite vulnerable to oil shocks . As such, the SAFE report
proposes a number of policy steps
to deal with that, from working with China to protect global oil shipping lanes to developing more predictable guidelines for
using strategic petroleum reserves. It also calls for a renewed push to curtail the U.S. economy's dependence on oil, such
as shifting to alternative vehicle fuels
expected to peak by
2020 or so.
The report also offers a detailed look at how the U.S. oil boom is upending the world energy markets and
affecting everyone from African oil producers to China and Russia. Here are six highlights: 1) Even as imports dwindle and
efficiency improves, the U.S. is still spending as much on oil as it did in the 1970s : The United
States has seen a colossal surge in oil production over the past five years. And Americans are becoming increasingly oilefficient (that's what the orange dotted line shows). As a result, U.S. imports keep dwindling. Nonetheless, the United
to deal with serious supply disruptions: Oil prices are a function of global supply and
demand. And one way to gauge the balance between supply and demand is to look at
the "spare capacity" that Saudi
a way to manipulate markets. But it's also extra oil that can be released in the event of a sudden shortage.
Historically,
keep spare capacity at about 4 percent of global oil demand. But as the world's thirst for
oil has increased, and supply has struggled to keep pace, that spare capacity has
dwindled. That means that disruptions in places such as the Middle East say, a war in Syria
or violence in Iraq or labor unrest in
Libya can cause sharp lurches in global oil prices . (And, in fact, those sorts of disruptions became
much more common between 2011 and 2013.) The two charts above help illustrate why the SAFE report argues that the
United States isn't yet in a position where it can just stop worrying about what goes on in the Middle East and elsewhere. 3)
China is now the biggest importer of oil from the Middle East: Thanks to the North American oil boom and dwindling U.S.
imports, the United States is now less directly dependent on Middle East oil than China. Right now, however, the U.S. still
shoulders much of the burden for maintaining the flow of oil in the Middle East such as using its Navy to protect the
Strait of Hormuz, which about one-fifth of the world's petroleum passes through. This role reversal is likely to continue in
the years ahead. China became the world's biggest oil importer in 2013. And by some projections, Chinese oil demand
could account for 40
could
grow more assertive as a global power ." In response, the report suggests that U.S. policymakers try to
find points of cooperation on energy issues while possibly finding ways for China to share more of the burden for operations
to protect oil shipping. 4) Africa is becoming increasingly less important to the U.S. as an oil source: The biggest geopolitical
shift from the U.S. oil boom? The United States now imports far
less oil from Africa than it used to. Case in point: Nigeria used to send a dozen supertankers worth of crude each
month to the U.S. That's shrunk down to about three. Many of these African oil producers are now struggling to find
buyers Europe is a temporary solution for countries such as Angola and Nigeria, but that may not last. As a
result, many of these countries' economies will be extremely vulnerable to downward swings in oil prices for the
foreseeable future. And, the report argues, they're likely to deepen ties with Asian countries like China as they try
to find new markets.
Keek 13 (Zachary, Writer for the Diplomat, Why China and the US (Probably)
Wont Go to War, The Diplomat, 2013, http://thediplomat.com/flashpointsblog/2013/07/12/why-china-and-the-us-probably-wont-go-to-war/)
the diplomatic summits between China and the U.S. over the past
month has renewed conversation on whether Beijing and Washington, as rising and
established power, can defy
As I noted earlier in the week,
Xinhua was the latest to weigh in on this question ahead of the Strategic and
Economic Dialogue this week, in an article titled, China, U.S. Can Avoid Thucydides Trap. Like many others, Xinhuas
argument that a U.S.-China war can be avoided is based largely on their strong economic relationship. This logic is deeply
flawed both historically and logically. Strong economic partners have gone to war in the past, most notably in WWI, when
Britain and Germany fought on opposite sides despite being each others largest trading partners. More generally, the
notion of a capitalist peace is problematic at best. Close trading ties can raise the cost of war for each side, but any great
power conflict is so costly already that the addition of a temporarily loss of trade with ones leading partner is a small
consideration at best. And while trade can create powerful stakeholders in each society who oppose war, just as often
trading ties can be an important source of friction. Indeed, the fact that Japan relied on the U.S. and British colonies for its
oil supplies was actually the reason it opted for war against them. Even today, Chinas allegedly unfair trade policies have
created resentment among large political constituencies in the United States.
But while trade cannot be relied upon to keep the peace, a U.S.-China war is
virtually unthinkable because of two other factors: nuclear weapons and geography.
The fact that both the U.S. and China have nuclear weapons is the most obvious
reasons why they wont clash, even if they remain fiercely competitive. This is
because war is the continuation of politics by other means, and nuclear weapons
make war extremely bad politics. Put differently, war is fought in pursuit of policy ends,
which cannot be achieved through a total war between nuclear-armed states. This is
not only because of nuclear weapons destructive power. As Thomas Schelling outlined brilliantly, nuclear weapons
have not actually increased humans destructive capabilities. In fact, there is evidence to
suggest that wars between nomads usually ended with the victors slaughtering all of
the individuals on the losing side, because of the economics of holding slaves in
nomadic societies. What makes nuclear weapons different, then, is not just their
destructive power but also the
of these can and should be dealt by Chinese and the U.S. leaders holding regularly senior level dialogues like the
ones of the past month, in which frank and direct talk about redlines are discussed. These can and should be
supplemented with clear and open communication channels, which can be especially useful when unexpected
crises arise, like an exchange of fire between low-level naval officers in the increasingly
crowded waters in the region. While this possibility is real and frightening ,
that if it is not properly contained, a nuclear war could ensue, and the complete destruction of a leaders country is
a more frightening possibility than losing credibility among hawkish elements of society. In any case, measured
means of retaliation would be available to the party wronged, and behind-the-scenes diplomacy could help facilitate
the process of finding mutually acceptable retaliatory measures.
Geography is the less appreciated factor that will mitigate the chances of a U.S.China war, but it could be nearly as important as nuclear weapons. Indeed, geography
has a history of allowing countries to avoid the Thucydides Trap, and works against
a U.S.-China war in a couple of ways. First, both the United States
and China are immensely large countriesaccording to the Central Intelligence Agency, the U.S. and
China are the third and fourth largest countries in the world by area, at 9,826,675 and 9,596,961 square km respectively .
As such, they
important point and differentiates the current strategic environment from historical cases where
power transitions led to war. For example, in Europe where many of the historical
cases derive from, each state genuinely had to worry that the other side could
increase their power capabilities to such a degree that they could credibly threaten
the other sides national survival. Neither China nor the U.S. has to realistically
entertain such fears, and this will lessen their insecurity and therefore the security
dilemma they operate within. Besides being immensely large countries, China and the U.S. are
also separated by the Pacific Ocean, which will also weaken their sense of insecurity
and threat perception towards one another. In many of the
violent power transitions of the past, starting with Sparta and Athens but also including the European ones, the
rival states were located in
Even with the U.S. presence in Asia, then, the fact that the Chinese and American
homelands are separated by the largest body of water in the world is enormously
important in reducing their conflict potential, if history is any guide at least. Thus,
while every effort should be made to avoid a U.S.-China war, it is nearly unthinkable
one will occur.
War.
Of course, like the rest of the world, the US's economic future depends on China's rise. The US benefits from cheap
Chinese imports, cheap
means China and the US will never enter into a second cold war.
will always be stressful
environment in which China will rise in ways that the US prefers. And the US thinks
it still has a strong
hand to play.
What do Australia, Korea and Japan have in common? One answer is that China is their leading
economic partner. But the other answer is that their alliances with the US are the core of their national security.
while it has lots of big trade partners, the US has lots of good friends as well as
allies. This the best way
joint naval exercises with Japan and getting the South China Sea
of all, the US wants to shape China's rise, so that it follows the US-led but widely shared ''rules of the road'' Obama
talked about in his speech to the Australian Parliament almost a year ago.
Honghbin 13 (Wang, Zhang Yongxing, and Zhao Xiaoqing, Writers for Peoples
Daily Online China-U.S. cooperation at local level abounds with opportunities:
senior Chinese diplomat, Peoples Daily Online, July 19,
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90883/8332772.html)
states share good momentum in cooperation with China's provinces and cities,
will cement basis for a new type of major-country relationship. Xu made an analogy with her area of jurisdiction which covers
eight southern states including Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida and U.S.
territory Puerto Rico. "If we compare the United States to a sandwich, the states along the east and west coasts are two
slices of bread while the southern states are the fillings, the most nutritious part," she said. With an increasing number of
enterprises and population moving south in recent years, Xu observed, the importance of the southern states are just
showing itself. States like Texas are among the least affected places amid the economic recession and large shale
oil reserves gave another boost to the booming economy here, she said.
various fields
between the southern U.S. states and China have registered good results and keep
expanding, Xu said. The
trade volume between China and Xu's area of jurisdiction scored over 100 billion U.S. dollars last year, up 9.85
percent over the previous year,
destination of Chinese
investment.
More than 80 percent of Chinese direct investment in the United States are in the southern states, Xu
said. More than 100 Chinese enterprises have reached the southern states with a total investment of 8.5 billion dollars,
creating thousands of job opportunities for
states while 19 Confucius institutes here are offering Chinese courses to Americans ,
she said. Xu said she noticed
in her contact with people from all walks of life that southern U.S. states are eager for greater cooperation with China and
are offering favorable policies like tax cut to attract more Chinese investment.
boosted by discovery of shale oil reserves, and the Panama Canal expansion project ,
scheduled to be completed
in 2015, mean tremendous opportunities for Chinese companies, Xu said. The project will double the capacity of the canal
and facilitate trade between the U.S. states along the Gulf of Mexico and China, she said, adding that many port expansion
projects and channel dredging plans could bring a lot of business opportunities for Chinese companies. Xu warned that
protectionism is a major hurdle that hampers Chinese
the local
level could cement the basis for bilateral ties at large and become a source of strength for further development.
"The potential of cooperation at the local level between the two countries is huge and is yet to be fully tapped. I
believe that hard work from both sides will make more headway in this regard and help our bilateral cooperative
partnership take a deeper root," she said.
We
national interests are under threat ," he said. "We still face a very complex, sometimes severe, situation.
We will be
There's a saying: work for the best and prepare for the worst," said Lt. General
Haiquan. These comments are seen as a warning to certain members of Congress and the entire US military industrial
establishment - "don't mess with us in China." In the China Daily report, Chinese officials indicated
it would
to "strike back"
Alison and Blackwill 13 (Graham and Robert, Director of the Belfer Center
for Science and International Affairs and Douglas Dillon Professor at Harvard's John
F. Kennedy School of Government AND Senior Fellow for U.S. foreign policy at the
Council on Foreign Relations Beijing Still Prefers
As China has become a leading export market for its neighbours, it expects them to be "
more respectful ", in Mr Lee's
words. In public statements, China usually downplays the advantages its size begets, but in a
heated moment at a 2010 regional security meeting, its foreign minister had a different message: "China is a big
country and other countries are small countries and that is just a fact." Mr Lee has a phrase for this message:
"Please know your place." Unlike free-market democracies, in which governments are unable or unwilling to
squeeze imports of bananas from the Philippines or cars from Japan, China's government can use its economic
As tensions mount over competing claims for contested territories, should we expect Beijing to
use military force to advance its claims? From the perspective of the grand strategist, the answer is no unless it is
provoked by others. "China understands that its
muscle.
growth depends on imports, including energy, and that it needs open sea lanes. They are determined to
avoid the mistakes
since it is still at a clear technological and military disadvantage . This means that, in the near
term, it will be more
point,
concerned with using diplomacy, not force, in foreign policy. Henry Kissinger, the western statesman who has
spent most quality time with Chinese leaders in the past four decades, offers a complementary perspective. As he has
the lens of Sun Tzu, the
seeks its objectives," Mr
Kissinger says, "by careful study, patience and the accumulation of nuances only rarely does China risk
a winner-take-all showdown." In Mr Lee's view, China is playing a long game driven by a compelling vision. "It is
China's intention," Mr Lee says, "to be the greatest power in the world." Success in that quest will require not only
written,
ancient strategist who focused on the psychological weaknesses of the adversary. "China
sustaining
Diaz 13 (Perry, Writer for the Global Balita, Why China Wont Go to War VS US,
Global Balita, April 23, 2013, http://globalbalita.com/2013/04/23/why-china-wouldntgo-to-war-vs-u-s/)
If China attacked the United States, she had better knock her out in the first strike.
Otherwise, the U.S.
B-52 bombers, and B-2 stealth bombers. China has approximately 240 warheads
and an undetermined number of ICBMs. But who would fire the first ICBM?
Use policy. However, in January 2011, the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) reportedly had indicated that it would consider
launching a preemptive nuclear strike if the country finds itself faced with a critical situation in a war with another nuclear
state. By adopting a First-strike policy, China is changing the geopolitical game. In March 2013, in an apparent reaction
to Chinas First-strike policy, the Obama administration sought to create the capability to launch a first strike against
Russia and/or China without fear of nuclear retaliation. To accomplish this, the U.S. military plans to have 1,500 to 1,800
sea- and air-based first-strike cruise missiles by 2015 and 2,500 to 3,000 by 2020. Many believe that to launch a
preemptive first-strike could lead to Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD), a Cold War doctrine in which a full-scale use of
nuclear weapons of mass destruction by two opposing sides would effectively result in the complete, utter and irrevocable
annihilation of both the attacker and the defender. But that doesnt mean to say that a conventional war could not erupt in
the Asia-Pacific region. Actually, it could happen anytime soon. North Koreas threat to launch ballistic missiles against the
U.S., Japan, and South Korea could spark a war that could presumably bring China to come to her aid. And this is where the
conflict could become a battle between the worlds two economic powers:
But like any other war in modern times, oil or the absence of oil
could determine the
U.S. and China.
During World War II, the Allies launched precision bombing of oil fields and refineries in
Germany, Austria, Romania, Norway, and other German-occupied countries. The success of the Allies Oil Campaign
contributed to the weakening of Germanys defenses. Thus, when D-Day came, Germanys vaunted panzer divisions were
rendered inutile.
less than 30 days of strategic oil reserves, which could be reduced to 10 days in
time of war. If the flow of imported oil from the Middle East and Africa were blocked
at the Strait of Malacca, it would deprive
At the east end of the Strait of Malacca, Singapore controls the bottleneck the
narrowest point in the strait with a width of only 1.7 miles. And conveniently located there is Changi Naval Base where Singapore maintains a
fleet of submarines, frigates, and missile gunboats.
Recently, President Barack Obama and Singapores Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong met in Washington D.C. and agreed on a plan to
rotate deployments of U.S. Navy ships to Singapore as part of Obamas Pivot to Asia rebalancing of forces by transferring 60% of
the U.S.s naval assets to the Asia-Pacific region by 2020. The backbone of the U.S.s Asia-Pacific strategy is her military presence in
Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Philippines, and Australia. Of utmost importance is the U.S.s ability to block the chokepoint
at the Strait of Malacca, which connects the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea. With the supercarrier USS George Washington
strike group permanently based in Yokosuka, Japan, two other supercarrier strike groups were recently deployed to the 7th Fleet, the
USS John C. Stennis strike group operating in the South China Sea and the USS Nimitz strike group operating in the Western Pacific.
The three strike groups have combined aircraft strength of more than 240 jet fighters. At the west end of the Strait of Malacca, in the
Indian Ocean, the supercarrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower strike group is deployed. To protect Guam from potential missile attacks
from North Korea, the U.S. is deploying a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System (THAAD) to Guam to strengthen the strategic
islands defenses. Already deployed at Guams Anderson Air Force Base is a squadron of 12 B-52 nuclear-armed bombers, two
squadrons of the advanced F-22 Raptor stealth jet fighters, and three nuclear attack submarines. And from Japan to South Korea to
Taiwan through nations in the South China Sea to India and Afghanistan, the U.S. has deployed a ring of the anti-missile Aegis
Combat System and batteries of Patriot anti-ballistic missiles around Chinas periphery. In terms of military personnel, the U.S.
Pacific Area Command (PACOM) which is responsible for the Pacific and Indian Oceans has more than 320,000 American troops
under its command of which 85,000 are stationed in Japan and South Korea. Its interesting to note that two senior posts were
assigned to Australian officers, one of which is Deputy of PACOM Intelligence. Australia appears to play an important role in the
U.S.s Asia-Pacific strategy. In 2011, Australia agreed to host 250 to 2,500 American Marines at Darwin, which is strategically
positioned to control the Timor Sea, a possible new route for Chinas oil imports in the event the Strait of Malacca and the Sunda
Strait in Indonesia were blocked. Obama called the troop deployment to Australia, necessary to maintain the security architecture
of the region. This will allow us to be able to respond in a more timely fashion and to meet the demands of a lot of partners in the
about and say, This is mine! That is mine! At the end of the day,
Feldman 13 (Noah, Writer for Foreign Policy Magazine, The Unstoppable Force vs.
the Immovable Object, Foreign Policy, May 16, 2013,
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/05/16/china_united_states_cool_war_power?
page=0,1)
The Chinese government holds some $1.2 trillion in U.S. Treasury debt, or 8
percent of the outstanding total. Only the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Social Security trust fund hold more; all American
households combined hold less. As of the most recent count, 194,000 Chinese students attend U.S. universities; some
70,000 Americans live and study and work in mainland China.
We are
no longer in the realm of ping-pong diplomacy: We are in the world of economic and
cultural
partnership. These many cooperative projects require trust, credibility, and commitment
-- all of which were lacking between the United States and the Soviet Union. In the long run,
China would like to rely less on exports and expand its customer base to include a
bigger domestic market. The United States, for its part,
would clearly prefer a more dispersed ownership of its debt. But for now,
desires, and could get other nations to do what it wanted them to do, and, as the political scientist Stephen M. Walt put it, manage the politics, economics and security arrangements for nearly the entire globe.
Kagan 2012
[Robert Kagan, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Center on the United States and Europe, 1/5/12,
http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2012/0105_international_relations_kagan.aspx]
If the United States is not suffering decline in these basic measures of power,
The
almost universal assumption is that the United States has indeed lost influence
Whatever the
explanation may be
it is broadly
American decline, the rise of the rest, the apparent failure of the American capitalist model, the dysfunctional nature of American politics, the increasing complexity of the
international system
accepted that the United States can no longer shape the world to suit its
interests and ideals as it
once did Every day seems to bring more proof as things happen in the world that
seem both contrary to
.
. But then it never could. Much of todays impressions about declining American influence are based on a nostalgic fallacy: that there was once a time when the United States could shape the
If we are to gauge
Americas relative position today, it is important to recognize that this image of the past
is an illusion There never was such a time. We tend to think back on the
Cold
War as a moment of complete
.
. The United States did accomplish extraordinary things in that era: the
Marshall Plan, the NATO alliance, the United Nations, and the Bretton Woods economic system all shaped the world we know today.
triumph of the Communist Revolution in China in 1949, which American officials regarded as a disaster for American interests in the region and which did
indeed prove costly; if nothing else, it was a major factor in spurring North Korea to attack the South in 1950. But as Dean Acheson concluded, the ominous result of the civil war in China had proved beyond the control of the ...
United States, the product of forces which this country tried to influence but could not. A year later came the unanticipated and unprepared-for North Korean attack on South Korea, and Americas intervention, which, after more
than 35,000 American dead and almost 100,000 wounded, left the situation almost exactly as it had been before the war. In 1949, there came perhaps the worst news of all: the Soviet acquisition of the atomic bomb and the end of
the nuclear monopoly on which American military strategy and defense budgeting had been predicated. A year later, NSC-68, the famous strategy document, warned of the growing gap between Americas military strength and its
global strategic commitments. If current trends continued, it declared, the result would be a serious decline in the strength of the free world relative to the Soviet Union and its satellites. The integrity and vitality of our system,
the document stated, was in greater jeopardy than ever before in our history. Douglas MacArthur, giving the keynote address at the Republican National Convention in 1952, lamented the alarming change in the balance of world
power, the rising burden of our fiscal commitments, the ascendant power of the Soviet Union, and our own relative decline. In 1957, the Gaither Commission reported that the Russian economy was growing at a much faster
pace than that of the United States and that by 1959 Russia would be able to hit American soil
with one hundred intercontinental ballistic missiles, prompting Sam Rayburn, the speaker of the House, to ask, What good are a sound economy and a balanced budget if we lose our national lives and Russian rubles become the
coin of the land?
United States always able to persuade others, even its closest allies, to do what it
wanted, or to refrain
. In 1949, Acheson tried and failed to prevent European allies, including the British, from recognizing Communist China. In 1954, the Eisenhower
Conference on Vietnam and refused to sign the final accords. Two years later it tried to prevent the British, the French, and the Israelis from invading Egypt over the closure of the Suez Canal, only to see them launch an invasion
without so much as a heads-up to Washington. When the United States confronted China over the islands of Quemoy and Matsu, the Eisenhower administration tried and failed to get a show of support from European allies,
prompting John Foster Dulles to fear that NATO was beginning to fall apart. By the late 1950s, Mao believed the United States was a superpower in decline, afraid of taking on new involvements in the Third World and increasingly
incapable of maintaining its hegemony over the capitalist countries. But what about soft power? Wasnt it true, as the political scientist Joseph S. Nye Jr. has argued, that the
United States used to be able to get what it wanted in the world because of the values expressed by American culture as reflected through television, movies, and music, and because of the attractiveness of Americas domestic
and foreign policies? These elements of
power
truth is more
soft
made other peoples around the world want to follow the United States, admiring its values, emulating its example, aspiring to its level of prosperity and openness. Again,
the historical
complicated
great portions of the world neither admired the United
States nor sought to emulate it, and were not especially pleased at the way it
conducted itself in international affairs American media
they were
spreading images that were not always flattering.
. During the first three decades after World War II,
. Yes,
televised images of Joseph McCarthy and the hunt for Communists in the State Department and Hollywood. American movies depicted the suffocating capitalist conformism of the new American corporate culture. Best-selling novels
such as
The Ugly
spitting at black schoolchildren and police setting their dogs on black demonstrators. (That used to be us, too.)
global image
. In the late 1960s and early 1970s came the Watts riots, the assassinations of Martin Luther
and then the government-shaking scandal of Watergate. These were not the kinds of images likely to endear the United States to the world, no matter how many Jerry Lewis and Woody Allen movies were playing in Parisian cinemas.
Nor did much of the world find American foreign policy especially attractive during these years. Eisenhower yearned to get some of the people in these down-trodden countries to like us instead of hating us, but the CIAorchestrated overthrows of Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran and Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala did not help. In 1957, demonstrators attacked the vice presidents motorcade in Venezuela, shouting, Go away, Nixon! Out, dog! We
wont forget Guatemala! In 1960, Khrushchev humiliated Eisenhower by canceling a summit when an American spy plane was shot down over Russia. Later that year, on his way to a goodwill visit in Tokyo, Eisenhower had to turn
back in mid-flight when the Japanese government warned it could not guarantee his security against students protesting American imperialism. Eisenhowers Democratic successors fared little better. John F. Kennedy and his wife
were beloved for a time, but Americas glow faded after his assassination. Lyndon Johnsons invasion of the Dominican Republic in 1965 was widely condemned not only in Latin America but also by European allies. De Gaulle warned
American officials that the United States, like all countries that had overwhelming power, had come to believe that force would solve everything and would soon learn this was not the case. And then, of course, came Vietnam
the destruction, the scenes of napalm, the My Lai massacre, the secret incursion into Cambodia, the bombing of Hanoi, and the general perception of a Western colonialist superpower pounding a small but defiant Third World
country into submission. When Johnsons vice president, Hubert Humphrey, visited West Berlin in 1967, the American cultural center was attacked, thousands of students protested American policies, and rumors swirled of
assassination attempts. In 1968, when millions of Europes youth took to the streets, they were not expressing their admiration for American culture. Nor were the great majority of nations around the world trying to emulate the
American system. In the first decades of the Cold War, many were attracted to the state-controlled economies of the Soviet Union and China, which seemed to promise growth without the messy problems of democracy. The
economies of the Soviet bloc had growth rates as high as those in the West throughout much of this period, largely due to a state-directed surge in heavy industry. According to Allen Dulles, the CIA director, many leaders in the Third
World believed that the Soviet system might have more to offer in the way of quick results than the U.S. system. Dictators such as Egypts Nasser and Indonesias Sukarno found the state-dominated model especially attractive, but
so did Indias Nehru. Leaders of the emerging Non-Aligned MovementNehru, Nasser, Tito, Sukarno, Nkrumahexpressed little admiration for American ways. After the death of Stalin, moreover, both the Soviet Union and China
engaged in hot competition to win over the Third World, taking goodwill tours and providing aid programs of their own. Eisenhower reflected that the new Communist line of sweetness and light was perhaps more
dangerous than their propaganda in Stalins time. The Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson administrations worried constantly about the leftward tilt of all these nations, and lavished development aid on them in the hope of winning
hearts and minds. They found that the
aid
, while
was that
after 1960. Once the place where the American war in Korea was legitimized, from the 1960s until the end of
forum for constant expressions of anti-Americanism. In the late 1960s, Henry Kissinger despaired of the future. The increased fragmentation of power, the greater diffusion of political activity, and the more complicated patterns of international conflict and
alignment, he wrote to Nixon, had sharply reduced the capacity of both superpowers to influence the actions of other governments. And things only seemed to get more difficult as the 1970s unfolded. The United States withdrew from Vietnam in defeat, and the
world watched the first-ever resignation of an
American president mired in scandal. And then, perhaps as significant as all the rest, world oil prices went through the roof. The last problem pointed to a significant new difficulty:
United States to
. Today
, or to manage the tumultuous Arab Awakening, as a sign of weakness and decline. But in 1973 the United States could not
engaging in all-out war. When Egypt and Syria launched their surprise attack on Israel, it was a surprise to Washington as well. The United States eventually had to go on nuclear alert to deter Soviet intervention in the conflict. The
war led to the oil embargo, the establishment of OPEC as a major force in world affairs, and the sudden revelation that, as historian Daniel Yergin put it, the United States itself was now, finally, vulnerable. The worlds foremost
superpower had been thrown on the defensive, humiliated, by a handful of small nations. Many Americans feared that the end of an era was at hand.
Cronk 14
(Terri, Armed Forces Press Service, Military Officials Testify on Sequestration, Readiness, 3/31/14,
http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=121937)//WL
Sequestration would degrade military readiness , senior military officials recently told a Senate panel.
Army Gen. John F. Campbell, vice chief of staff; Marine Corps Gen. John M. Paxton Jr., assistant commandant; Air Force Gen.
Larry O. Spencer, vice chief of staff; and Navy Vice Adm. Philip H. Cullom, deputy chief of naval operations for fleet
readiness and logistics, testified March 26 before the Senate Armed Forces Committees subcommittee on readiness and
management support. Today, the Army remains globally engaged with more than 66,000 soldiers deployed, including
about 32,200 in Afghanistan and about 85,000 forward-stationed in over 150 different countries, Campbell
While restoration of some funding for fiscal 2014 helps the Army
restore readiness, he said, it is not sufficient to fully eliminate the shortfall in core
capabilities created from the past decade of counterinsurgency operations, and
made greater by sequestration. The current level of [fiscal 2015]
told the Senate panel.
funding will allow the Army to sustain the readiness levels achieved in [fiscal] '14, but will only generate
minimum readiness
active-duty soldiers, 350,000 Army National Guardsmen, and 202,000 reservists by the end of fiscal '15, Campbell
said.
By the end of
fiscal 2017, the Army will decrease its end strength to 450,000 active-duty, 335,000
Army National Guardsmen and 195,000 reservists, he said. This cuts disproportionally
on the active Army and they will reverse the force mix ratio going 51 percent active and
49 percent reserve in [fiscal] 2012 to 46 percent active and 54 percent in our reserve
component in [fiscal] '17. So we have a greater preponderance in our reserve
components, in both our National Guard and our reserve, Campbell added. As the Army continues to
draw down and restructure over the next three to four years, readiness and modernization deficiencies will exist, he said.
Fiscal realities have caused us to implement tiered readiness as a bridging strategy [by] maintaining different parts of
the Army at varying levels of
under the Budget Control Act and sequestration instantly impaired our readiness. About 30,000 Marines are now forwarddeployed around the world, promoting peace, protecting the national interest and securing U.S. defense, Paxton said.
Marine readiness has been proven many times, he added, and significantly twice in the last year with humanitarian
missions during a typhoon in the Philippines and the rescue of American citizens in South Sudan. Both missions
demonstrated the reality and the necessity for maintaining a combat-ready force that's capable of handling crisis today,
Paxton said. Such an investment is essential to maintaining our national security and our prosperity in the future. As the
nation continues to face fiscal uncertainty, the Marine Corps is making necessary choices to protect its near-term readiness
and to place the service on the best trajectory to meet future defense requirements, Paxton said. Marine Corps leadership,
he said, looks at issues through five pillars: to recruit and retain high-quality people, maintain the highest state of unit
readiness, meet the combatant commanders' requirements for Marines, maintain appropriate infrastructure investments,
and keep an eye on the future by investing in capabilities for tomorrow's challenges. In the Air Force, decades of
sustained combat operations stressed the ranks and decreased its readiness to unacceptable levels, although airmen
performed exceptionally well in the counterinsurgency and counterterrorism fights in the U.S. Central Command area of
responsibility, Spencer told the Senate panel. We will continue to maintain our ability to respond to today's requirements,
we must also regain and maintain our ability to effectively operate in the most
demanding threat
but
environment,
he said. The bottom line on readiness, Spencer added, is the Air Force knows the [fiscal year] '15
[proposed] submission sets the conditions that enable us to begin the road to recovery in the years ahead, but we will need
your help to get there. Sequestration has cut the Air Force budget by billions of dollars. Our only option is to reduce our
force structure. We cannot retain more force structure than we can afford to keep ready, Spencer said. Properly trained
and equipped, the Air Force can set the conditions for success in any conflict in any region of the world whenever we're
called upon, he said. The Navy continues to deliver ready, certified forces forward and will not compromise, Cullom said,
calling it a responsibility to sailors, their families and combatant commanders. With the budget you provided for this
[fiscal] year '14, we're meeting our forward-presence commitment to the combatant commanders, the admiral said. We
are able to execute the deeper maintenance plan for our ships and aircraft, and we have restored a normal training and
readiness progression within the fleet.. Our maintenance plan continues to execute the reset of surface ship material
condition after a decade of high temporal operations, Cullom
continued. But because of the need to drive our ships for much of this work, it must continue for at least five more
years. The Navy accepted increased risk into the mission areas of defense strategic guidance because of slowed
modernization and restricted ordinance procurement, and the risk continues into the long-term viability of shore
infrastructure, Cullom said. If we must return to sequestration levels in [fiscal] '16 and beyond, we will continue to
strive to have a ready Navy, but it would require us to become smaller and less capable, he said. Our soldiers,
sailors, airmen, and Marines are the finest we have ever had and they're going into harm's way every day . We
must continue to provide them the right training and capable equipment to meet the challenges they face today
and will face in the future, Cullom said.
Zeller 11
(Tom Jr., American reporter and writer who has covered poverty, technology, energy policy and the
environment, among other topics, for The New York Times Alternative Fuels Dont Benefit the Military, a RAND Report
Says, New York Times, 1/25/11, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/25/business/energy-environment/25fuel.html) EK
The United States would derive no meaningful military benefit from increased use
of alternative fuels to
government-commissioned
Corporation scheduled for release Tuesday. The report also argued that most alternative-fuel
technologies were
unproven, too expensive or too far from commercial scale to meet the militarys
needs over the next decade. In particular, the report argued that the Defense Department was
spending too much time and money
and
urged Congress to reconsider the militarys budget for alternative-fuel projects . But if
such fuels are to be
pursued, the report concluded, the most economic, environmentally sound and near-term candidate would be a liquid fuel
produced using a combination of coal and biomass, as well as some method for capturing and storing carbon emissions
released during production. The findings by the nonprofit research group, which grew out of a directive in the 2009
Defense Authorization Act calling for further study of alternative fuels in military vehicles and aircraft, are likely to provoke
much debate in Washington. The
to pass any sort of climate or renewable energy legislation . Meanwhile, the Pentagon is
seeking to improve the militarys efficiency and reduce its reliance on fossil fuels
over the coming decade, devoting $300 million in economic stimulus financing and
other research money toward those goals.
Terkel 13
(Amanda, Huffington Post Author, Sequestration Damaging To Military Readiness, Chuck Hagel Says,
7/22/13,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/22/sequestration-military-readiness_n_3635686.html)//WL
Defense
argued on Monday, urging members of Congress to work together to come up with a solution. " To
implement the steep and
abrupt reductions that have been required under sequestration, we've had to make
very difficult decisions to reduce, stop and defer many activities and programs that
keep our military prepared to fight -- including training, maintenance, and
modernization investments," Hagel said. "Readiness cuts aren't always visible, but these
cuts are having and will continue to have very damaging effects ," he added. Hagel
made his remarks in Louisville, Ky., at the national convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He said that while
visiting Fort Bragg last week,
he heard from infantrymen whose units didn't have enough training rounds for their
weapons because
of the budget cuts. The Defense Secretary has held scores of town halls around the country in recent weeks, and
at each one, sequestration has been the top concern among members of the military and their families, as well as civilian
Defense Department employees. Furloughs started on July 8 for civilians. About 90 percent of the department's workforce
-- 650,000 people -- will have to take 11 days of unpaid leave before the end of September, amounting to a 20 percent pay
cut.
was calling for reduced spending at the Defense Department. But as he reiterated on Monday, he believes that
sequestration is not the answer to the nation's budgetary problems. "Sequestration is an irresponsible process, and it is
terribly damaging. I hope that our leaders in Washington will eventually come to policy resolution, a resolution that stops
sequestration," he said to applause from the audience. "But all of us who have the responsibility of leading our Defense
Department cannot lead the Department of Defense based on hope, based on 'we think,' based on 'maybe.' We have to
prepare our institution for whatever comes." Army Gen. Martin
also recently said that unless Congress addresses sequestration, there will be "a
dramatic impact in
Staff,
our readiness."
On Tuesday, the Senate Budget Committee, chaired by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), will be holding a
hearing examining the impact of sequestration and national security. One of the witnesses will be Jennifer-Cari Green, a
Madigan Army Medical Center employee and single mother who is being furloughed.
Haass 10
(Richard N., President of the Council on Foreign Relations and Ph.D. from Oxford University 2/25/10, "The
That we should care so much about weak states marks a major change. Much of
strong statesthe attempts by Germany, Japan, and, in the century's second half, the Soviet Union
to establish global primacy, and the corresponding efforts of the United States and a
shifting coalition of partners to resist. Those struggles produced two world wars and a Cold War. In the 21st
century the principal threat to the global order will not be a push for dominance by
any great power. For one thing, today's great powers are not all that great: Russia has a
one-dimensional economy and is hobbled by corruption and a shrinking population;
China is constrained by its enormous population and a top-heavy political system.
Just as important, China and the other major or rising powers seek less to overthrow the
existing global order than to shape it. They are
by weak statesPakistan,
Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, Haiti, Mexico, Congo, and others. What they have in common (in addition to the fact that
many, like Iraq, are located in the greater Middle East) are governments that lack the capacity, the will, or both to rule.
They are unable to exercise what is expected of sovereign governmentsnamely, control over what goes on within their
own territory. In the past, this would have been mostly a humanitarian concern. But as we all know, thanks to globalization,
people and things travel. Terrorists, diseases, illegal migrants, weapons of
mass destructionfor all of them, international boundaries are often little more than formalities. On the other hand,
we cannot resolve
many cases there is no clearmuch less preferablealternative to the current authority. Even in a supporting role,
is it always clear that doing more militarily will result in lasting improvements
commensurate with the
investment in blood and treasure. This could well be America's fate in Afghanistan.
that are
Solve
ncy
1NC No Modeling
No international modelingUS tech doesnt apply to hydrate
regions across the world
(Center for Strategic and International Studies, Innovate or Enervate:The future of US-
Research Service AND Analyst in Asian Affairs at the Congressional Research Service and was a 2013 Japan Studies Visiting
Fellow. The U.S.-Japan Alliance 12/12/13, http://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL33740.pdf)//WL
The U.S.-Japan alliance has long been an anchor of the U.S. security role in Asia .
Forged in the U.S. occupation of
Japan after its defeat in World War II, the alliance provides a platform for U.S. military readiness in the Pacific. About 53,000
U.S. troops are stationed in Japan and have the exclusive use of 89 facilities. In exchange,
Security challenges in the region, particularly nuclear and missile tests by North Korea and increased
Chinese maritime activities, have reinforced U.S.-Japan cooperation in recent years . The
vitality of the alliance is particularly salient as the Obama Administration renews its
focus on the Asia- Pacific region through a
U.S.-Japan
alliance, missing a strategic anchor since the end of the Cold War,
new guiding rationale in shaping the environment for China's rise . Since the early 2000s,
the United States and Japan have taken significant strides in improving the
operational capability of the alliance as a combined
force, despite constraints. In addition to serving as hub for forward-deployed U.S. forces, Japan provides its own
advanced military assets, many of which complement U.S. forces. The joint response to a 2011 tsunami
and earthquake in Japan demonstrated
the interoperability of the two. Cooperation on ballistic missile defense and new
attention to the cyber
and space domains has also been strong . Japan's own defense policy has continued to evolve, and major
strategic documents reflect a new attention to operational readiness and flexibility. Steady progress on an initiative to
realign U.S. forces based in Japan has been overshadowed by the failure to resolve difficult basing issues on Okinawa, the
major U.S. forward logistics base in the Asia-Pacific.
Congressional leaders have raised concerns about the cost of relocating Marines to Guam and, as a result, imposed
stringent restrictions on U.S. funding for the realignment. The sustainability of the U.S. military presence on
Okinawa remains a critical challenge for the alliance.
opportunity for more predictable alliance planning . However, constitutional, legal, fiscal, and
political barriers exist to significantly expand defense cooperation. The most prominent debate involves relaxing or
removing the self-imposed ban on Japanese forces participating in collective self-defense. Such measures face opposition
from the public and from political parties. In addition, leaders in China and South Korea distrust Abe because of his past
statements on Japanese actions in the World War II era. Suspicion from Beijing and Seoul also complicates Japan's efforts to
expand its security role. Japan faces a complex security landscape in the region. North Korea's increased asymmetric
capabilities pose a direct threat to Japan. A territorial dispute with China over a set of islets in the East China Sea raises the
risk of military escalation, a scenario that could trigger U.S. treaty obligations to defend Japan. Japan has pursued security
cooperation with others in the region, including Australia and several Southeast Asian countries. Of increasing concern to
the United States is the tense relationship with South Korea that has prevented effective trilateral coordination and, in the
views of some, degraded U.S. credibility in the region. Without cooperation among its allies, the United States may find
itself less able to respond to North Korean missile threats and to influence Chinas behavior.
AT: Econ
Add-On
Drezner 12 (Daniel W., Professor, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy,
Tufts University, October 2012, The Irony of Global Economic Governance: The
System Worked, http://www.globaleconomicgovernance.org/wp-content/uploads/IRColloquium-MT12-Week-5_The-Irony-of-Global-Economic-Governance.pdf)
conflict and violence. During the initial stages of the crisis, multiple analysts asserted that the financial
crisis would lead states to increase their use of force as a tool for staying in power.37 Whether
through greater internal repression, diversionary wars, arms races, or a ratcheting up of great
power conflict, there were genuine concerns that the global economic downturn would lead to an increase in
conflict. Violence in the Middle East, border disputes in the South China Sea, and even the
disruptions of the Occupy movement fuel impressions of surge in global public disorder.
The
aggregate data
suggests otherwise, however. The Institute for Economics and Peace has constructed a Global Peace Index
annually since 2007. A key conclusion they draw from
as it was in 2007.38
Interstate violence
have military
in particular
that
as
increase in violent conflict; the secular decline in violence that started with the end of the Cold War has not
been reversed.39 Rogers
or ethnic exclusion
Given the severity, reach and depth of the 2008 financial crisis , the proper
comparison is with Great
Depression. And by that standard, the outcome variables look impressive . As Carmen
Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff
concluded in This Time is Different: that its macroeconomic outcome has been only the most severe global
recession since World War II and not even worse must be regarded as fortunate.42
Drezner 12 (Daniel W., Professor, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy,
Tufts University, October 2012, The Irony of Global Economic Governance: The
System Worked, http://www.globaleconomicgovernance.org/wp-content/uploads/IRColloquium-MT12-Week-5_The-Irony-of-Global-Economic-Governance.pdf)
had
predicted a
looming
crisis in global
Analysts only reinforced this perception since the financial crisis, declaring that we live in a G-Zero world. This
paper takes a closer look at
the global response to the financial crisis. It reveals a more optimistic picture.
Despite initial shocks that
more severe than the 1929 financial crisis, global economic governance structures
responded quickly
were actually
and robustly. Whether one measures results by economic outcomes, policy outputs, or institutional flexibility,
global economic
since 2008.
Multilateral economic
in crisis situations to reinforce open economic policies , especially in contrast to the 1930s. While
there are areas where
governance has either faltered or failed, on the whole, the system has worked. Misperceptions about global
economic governance persist because the Great Recession has disproportionately affected the core economies and
because the efficiency of past periods of global economic governance has been badly overestimated. Why the system has
worked better than expected remains an open
question. The rest of this paper explores the possible role that the distribution of power, the robustness of
international regimes, and the resilience of economic ideas might have played.
Tir 2010
[Jaroslav Tir - Ph.D. in Political Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is an Associate
Professor in the Department of International Affairs at the University of Georgia, Territorial Diversion: Diversionary Theory
of War and Territorial Conflict, The Journal of Politics, Vol. 72, No. 2, April 2010, Pp. 413425, Chetan]
despite the
wide-ranging
DeRouen 1995, 2000; Fordham
1998a, 1998b; Hess and Orphanides 1995; James and Hristolouas 1994; James and Oneal 1991; Ostrom and Job 1986),
after
five decades of
research
broader
Gowa; 1998; Leeds and Davis 1997; Levy
1998; Lian and Oneal 1993; Meernik and Waterman 1996). This has prompted one scholar to conclude that seldom
much common sense in
has so
research (e.g., Chiozza and Goemans 2003, 2004; Meernick 2004; Moore and Lanoue 2003; Oneal and Tir 2006). I argue that this puzzling
lack of support could be addressed by considering the possibility that the embattled leader may anticipate achieving their diversionary aims
specifically through the initiation of territorial conflict2a phenomenon I call territorial diversion.
AT: Ukraine
Add-On
2NC - Presence D
Cross apply the 1NC Brinkerhoff evidence the navy is
already increasing its military presence in the arctic solves
their generic internal link.
Much of the cooperation is based on the sovereign rights that Arctic countries hold over their territories, adjoining waters, and continental shelf. This
Stars and Stripes 12 (Seth Robson, US uses Russian icebreaker to get fuel
supplies to Antarctica, 2/12/12, http://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/japan/us-usesrussian-icebreaker-to-get-fuel-supplies-to-antarctica-1.168398)
Antarctica thanks to continued problems with its own shrinking fleet of the cold-water vessels. Late last month,
the Russian icebreaker Vladimir Ignatyuk cut a channel through Antarctic sea ice so that a
Military Sealift Command tanker the Maersk Peary
could deliver millions of gallons of fuel to McMurdo Station . A second MSC ship, the
Green Wave, also is bound for McMurdo and will need the Russian icebreakers help to
deliver supplies and equipment that will
sustain the station through the harsh Antarctic winter . The job of cutting supply channels through
the ice has traditionally fallen to the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard. However, the militarys inaction on updating its fleet has
Russian-flagged tanker through the iced-over waters in the Bering Sea to supply
Nome, Alaska. The Coast
Guard owns two other icebreakers, but the Polar Sea is being decommissioned, and the Polar Star is being refitted
at a cost of $62.8 million, according to Lt. Eric Quigley, a capabilities manager with the Coast Guard. The shortage
of U.S. icebreakers, which cost $1 billion each to build, contrasts with a large Russian fleet that comprises more
than two dozen of the massive ships, including several nuclear-powered vessels.
Russian icebreakers are in high demand to escort commercial shipping along the
Northern Sea Route that
follows Russias northern coast through Arctic waters between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, according to Cmdr.
Steve Wittrock, a Coast Guard budget officer. The route is open for only two months each year, and moving sea ice
means ships risk being trapped. However, the route is far shorter than traditional sea lanes connecting Europe and
Asia, he said
Byers 9
[Michael, holds a Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Global Politics and International Law at the Liu Institute
for Global Issues, University of British Columbia, Prior to 2004, he was a Professor of Law and Director of Canadian Studies
at Duke University; from 1996-1999, he was a Research Fellow at Jesus College, Oxford University Cold Peace:
International Cooperation Takes Hold in the Arctic, http://www.cceia.org/resources/articles_papers_reports/0040.html, 1216-09]
One occasionally hears talk of the need for an Arctic treaty modeled on the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, or for an Arctic-wide nuclear-weapons-free zone.
Achieving multilateral agreement on such matters will not be easy, given the continued strategic importance of the Arctic for the United States and
Russia; the significant populations that live there, especially in Alaska and Russia; and
the considerable jurisdiction already vested in the Arctic Ocean coastal states under the law of the sea. Fortunately,
a great deal of
cooperation and
beginning with
UNCLOS
governments. Treaties existand are complied withon icebreaker transits, the protection of
species at risk, the prevention and cleanup of
The few remaining boundary disputes are relatively minor and susceptible to
negotiated solutions.
countries defined the boundaries between their respective jurisdictions and worked together in pursuit of
common goals. In the Arctic, sovereign rights can facilitate cooperation by providing clear jurisdiction for regulating shipping and the extraction of
natural resources, and for guarding against nonstate security
as countries
2NC - No Impact
Even with tensions there is zero risk of war
Today Russian-US relations are going through hard times , and may reach the lowest point again
like during the armed conflict with Georgia in South Ossetia (Caucasus) in 2008. Now one of the most controversial
issues is the death of the Russian child Max Shatto (whose Russian name is Maxim Kuzmin) adopted by a US family
and who was allegedly abused by his stepmother. Why did this tragedy hit the headlines both in the Western and in
Russian mass media and cause heated debates in Russia? Over the past two decades, the US families have
adopted more than 60,000 Russian children, and 20 of them died in the US. Most of them were either orphans or
their parents were deprived of their rights to raise children due to unsocial behavior, alcoholism or drug addiction.
For the children it was an opportunity to have a family, instead of staying in the orphanage where living conditions
are not always good. Nevertheless, the death of Max Shatto turned out to be the last straw, after it was widely
covered by the Russian mass media and taken up by politicians. There were also problems in the lack of
information given by the US side to the Russian authorities.
are real and not imaginative problems and assured me that he will personally take
all necessary measures to make full transparency and reporting between Russia
and the US in this sphere possible." It is significant that both sides kept away from
giving a political coloring to the problem but are trying to
find a solution.
Max Shatto's tragedy is not the only source of irritation in Russian-US relations, and it did not
overshadow other thorny issues that both sides are facing today. After the adoption of the Magnitsky Act, which forbids
Russian officials accused of human rights abuses from enjoying visits to the US and other privileges, Russia approved a
similar act aimed at the US officials it accuses of human rights abuses. Chris Smit, the US Chairman of the House Foreign
Affairs Subcommittee on Human Rights, was the first victim of the retaliatory Russian legal action. He was denied Russian
visa. According to him, he traveled to the Soviet Union repeatedly in the past and is now shocked by this denial. In his
opinion, the Magnitsky Act was the reason why he didn't get the visa. Missile defense in Europe is another apple of discord
in Russian-US relations. The US rejected Russian proposal to build a joint missile defense system. And the Russian side
refused to sign any political declaration put forward by the US stating that the missile defense is not aimed at the Russian
nuclear deterrent. The Russian approach is based on the necessity to have legally binding guarantees that missile defense
is aimed outside Europe but not inside, and the belief that these guarantees should be checked by objective military and
technical criteria.Russia
despite all disagreements, it would be wrong to come to the conclusion that Russia and
the US are on the track back to the Cold War. It should not escape our notice that Russia
and the US still have many areas where our interests coincide and where we can and
should cooperate, such as the economy, humanitarianism, nonproliferation, arms
control and fighting terrorism. Both countries can work together to resolve conflicts in
which our positions are similar or close. It is important to iron out our differences, and it
would be unreasonable not to cooperate because we disagree on some issues.
Hopefully, Russia-US relations will benefit from Kerry's appointment. After his meeting with the US counterpart
Lavrov, he stated, "It feels like the second administration of Obama will aim to play a more constructive role when
it comes to its foreign policy agenda led by Kerry." If we do not find common ground and our cooperation fails,
neither Russia nor the US will benefit but terrorists and extremists will.
seems that Moscow and Washington are doomed to repeat these cycles
time and again. Such changes
in bilateral relations are no mere coincidence . Russia and the United States base their relations on
mutual nuclear deterrence. The material and technical foundations for Russian-American relations differ little from those
underpinning the Soviet-American relations of the 1980s. Thus, these cycles of Russian-American rapprochement are due to
two factors.
reduce aging nuclear systems so that during disarmament neither party risked
destroying the military-strategic parity. Second, the reaction to a major militarypolitical crisis after which the parties seek to reduce confrontation and update the
rules of conduct in the military-political sphere . After confronting these
tasks, Russia and the United States returned to a state of low intensity confrontation. The first rapprochement cycle
was observed in the early 1990s. Yeltsins government needed U.S. support in recognizing Russia within the 1991
borders of the RSFSR. Boris Yeltsin also needed U.S. assistance in addressing the problem of the Soviet nuclear
legacy and taking on the Supreme Council. The administrations of George Bush Senior and Bill Clinton were willing
to help the Kremlin solve these problems. However, the Americans demanded major strategic concessions from
Russia in return, outlined in START-III: making the elimination of heavy intercontinental ballistic missiles a priority.
The parties reached an unofficial compromise: U.S. recognition of the Russian leadership in exchange for the rapid
decrease in Russias strategic nuclear forces (SNF). However, the stronger Russian state institutions became, the
weaker the impetus to the rapprochement. In autumn 1994, Russia refused to ratify the original version of START-II
and declared NATOs eastward expansion unacceptable.
the late 1990s in Iran and Yugoslavia were, like NATO expansion, the logical results of a restoration of the old
approach to Soviet-American
It was actually the events of 1994, not 2000, that in fact predetermined the
subsequent
relations.
November 2001). The United States agreed to sign a new Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT), and Russia did not
object to Washingtons withdrawal from the ABM Treaty. Instead of the ABM Treaty, the parties signed the Moscow
Declaration on May 24, 2002, under which the United States pledged to consult with Russia on all issues pertaining to
missile defense
deployment. However, after the compromise at Crawford, the agenda for Russian-American rapprochement was
exhausted.
The
disputes between Moscow and Washington over Iraq, Iran, Georgia, Ukraine and
Beslan, which had been gathering steam since 2003, necessitated a return to the
traditional format for Russian-American
relations.
At the Bratislava meeting (February 24, 2005) President Vladimir Putin refused to accept George W. Bushs
suggestion of including
professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania Foreign Affairs, The Rise of U.S. Nuclear Primacy
March/April 2006)
EVEN AS the United States' nuclear forces have grown stronger since the end of the Cold War ,
Russia's
strategic nuclear arsenal has sharply deteriorated. Russia has 39 percent fewer long-range bombers,
S8 percent fewer ICBMs, and 8o percent fewer SSBNS than the Soviet Union fielded during its last days. The true extent of
the Russian arsenal's decay, however, is much greater than these cuts suggest.
What nuclear forces Russia retains are hardly ready for use. Russia's strategic
bombers, now located at only two bases and thus vulnerable to a surprise attack, rarely conduct
training exercises, and their warheads are stored off-base. Over 8o percent of
Russia's silo-based ICBMS have exceeded their original service lives, and plans to
replace them with new missiles have been stymied by failed tests and low rates of
production. Russia's mobile ICBMS rarely patrol, and although they could fire their
missiles from inside their bases if given sufficient warning of an attack, it appears
unlikely that they would have the time to
do so.
The third leg of Russia's nuclear triad has weakened the most. Since 2000, Russia's SSBNS have conducted
approximately two patrols per year, down from 6o in 1990. (By contrast, the U.S. SSBN patrol rate today is about 40 per
year.) Most of the time, all nine of Russia's ballistic missile submarines are sitting in port, where they make easy targets.
Moreover, submarines require well-trained crews to be effective. Operating a ballistic missile submarine-and silently
coordinating its operations with surface ships and attack submarines to evade an enemy's
forces-is not simple. Without frequent patrols, the skills of Russian submariners, like the submarines themselves,
are decaying. Revealingly, a 2004 test (attended by President Vladimir Putin) of several submarine-launched
ballistic missiles was a total fiasco: all either failed to launch or veered off course. The fact that there were similar
failures in the summer and fall of 2005 completes this unflat tering picture of Russia's
AT: Wrangel
Add-On
2NC - Presence D
Cross apply the 1NC Brinkerhoff evidence the navy is
already increasing its military presence in the arctic solves
their generic internal link.
Much of the cooperation is based on the sovereign rights that Arctic countries hold over their territories, adjoining waters, and continental shelf. This
Stars and Stripes 12 (Seth Robson, US uses Russian icebreaker to get fuel
supplies to Antarctica, 2/12/12, http://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/japan/us-usesrussian-icebreaker-to-get-fuel-supplies-to-antarctica-1.168398)
Antarctica thanks to continued problems with its own shrinking fleet of the cold-water vessels. Late last month,
the Russian icebreaker Vladimir Ignatyuk cut a channel through Antarctic sea ice so that a
Military Sealift Command tanker the Maersk Peary
could deliver millions of gallons of fuel to McMurdo Station . A second MSC ship, the
Green Wave, also is bound for McMurdo and will need the Russian icebreakers help to
deliver supplies and equipment that will
sustain the station through the harsh Antarctic winter . The job of cutting supply channels through
the ice has traditionally fallen to the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard. However, the militarys inaction on updating its fleet has
Russian-flagged tanker through the iced-over waters in the Bering Sea to supply
Nome, Alaska. The Coast
Guard owns two other icebreakers, but the Polar Sea is being decommissioned, and the Polar Star is being refitted
at a cost of $62.8 million, according to Lt. Eric Quigley, a capabilities manager with the Coast Guard. The shortage
of U.S. icebreakers, which cost $1 billion each to build, contrasts with a large Russian fleet that comprises more
than two dozen of the massive ships, including several nuclear-powered vessels.
Russian icebreakers are in high demand to escort commercial shipping along the
Northern Sea Route that
follows Russias northern coast through Arctic waters between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, according to Cmdr.
Steve Wittrock, a Coast Guard budget officer. The route is open for only two months each year, and moving sea ice
means ships risk being trapped. However, the route is far shorter than traditional sea lanes connecting Europe and
Asia, he said
Byers 9
[Michael, holds a Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Global Politics and International Law at the Liu Institute
for Global Issues, University of British Columbia, Prior to 2004, he was a Professor of Law and Director of Canadian Studies
at Duke University; from 1996-1999, he was a Research Fellow at Jesus College, Oxford University Cold Peace:
International Cooperation Takes Hold in the Arctic, http://www.cceia.org/resources/articles_papers_reports/0040.html, 1216-09]
One occasionally hears talk of the need for an Arctic treaty modeled on the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, or for an Arctic-wide nuclear-weapons-free zone.
Achieving multilateral agreement on such matters will not be easy, given the continued strategic importance of the Arctic for the United States and
Russia; the significant populations that live there, especially in Alaska and Russia; and
the considerable jurisdiction already vested in the Arctic Ocean coastal states under the law of the sea. Fortunately,
a great deal of
cooperation and
beginning with
UNCLOS
governments. Treaties existand are complied withon icebreaker transits, the protection of
species at risk, the prevention and cleanup of
The few remaining boundary disputes are relatively minor and susceptible to
negotiated solutions.
countries defined the boundaries between their respective jurisdictions and worked together in pursuit of
common goals. In the Arctic, sovereign rights can facilitate cooperation by providing clear jurisdiction for regulating shipping and the extraction of
natural resources, and for guarding against nonstate security
as countries
Topicalit
y
1NC T-Its
Interpretation Its means:
its Top 1000 frequently used words Syllabification: its Pronunciation: /its / DETERMINER 1Belonging
associated with
to or
a thing
previously mentioned
or easily identified: turn the camera on its side he chose the area for its atmosphere
7/2/14)
over legal
ownership. Economic
ownership is exercised by a controlling entity when it has the power to govern the financial and operating policies
of the other entity.
Two
interest or the power to appoint or remove governing board members, is required; second, at least one
benefit condition,
Standards
Overview
Our interpretation is that the federal government has to actually do the exploration
or development part of the resolution its is referring to ownership and Lienert says
private ownership isnt topical because the development/exploration part of the aff
is not federal development.
PRESERVE neg flex on a very LARGE oceans topic biggest topic thats ever been
topiced.
First, the aff can do exploration affs the Methane Hydrates aff is a great example
of an exploration aff that researches methane hydrates and finds the safe ways to
drill in order for safe drilling. Even though the privates inevitably drill, its still the
federal governments exploration leading to development, which is topical.
Second, the aff can have the Army Corps of Engineers take direct action like drilling
for natural gas the army corps of engineers is an agency and is part of the federal
government that can directly take action for drilling measures because they
specifically take actions for ecosystem management, strengthen the nations
security, and planning for regulations about drilling.
Third, the aff can have demonstration projects for natural gas which would cause
further private drilling
AT: We Meet
They dont meet the aff is private development of the oceans and NOT the
government ownership for oceans development.
AT: CI
Counter-interpretation links to all of our offense
First, limits affs that can have privatization blow up the topic multiplied by
different mechanisms that result in privatization. That kills fairness because the
negative could never prepare for all those affs with different mechanisms -- wed
have to result to process CPs like we did in the 1NC to test mechanisms. A debate
thats not fair makes people want to quit, key to social capital because people can
only improve their lives through debate inculcating skills for them if they want to
participate the amount of affs deters people from debating on any future topic.
A case list under our interpretation includes OTEC, Carbon Sequestration, Ships
Sinking, IOOS, Sea colonization, Deep Sea Ocean Exploration, Off-shore Wind,
Desalination, Aqua-culture owned by the government, ice-breakers, port dredging,
and any exploration aff like ocean floor mapping or Methane Hydrates.
They justify all those affs Ive listed above but can claim different advantage ground
based on mechanisms. There are thousands of different types of mechanisms like
leasing processes, contracts, agreements, trade deals, and bonds-buying that the
government can motivate privatization action, also means we dont have education
about the topic because were more likely to focus on the mechanisms than the
pros and cons of ocean policies.
so second is Ground the resolution says the USFG in it for a reason we cant test
if the USFG is key with privatization CPs and USFG DAs about privatization
because thats core negative ground.
Set a communal norm even if they are a so-called core aff you have to set a
precedent here for untopical affs.
Nobody knows what a core aff is just because camps put out these affs doesnt
mean its a core aff.
Legal precision outweighs any core aff arguments a precise and predictable
definition is preferred over a predictable aff. A predictable definition is not about the
predictability of affs but the predictability of the definition our interpretation is the
pinnacle of predictability because people use that definition all the time for our
interpretation. Legality dictates the resolution, NOT the literature about the aff
because theres literature about any aff in which even small affs can be called core
affs.
AT: Reasonability
Default to competing interpretations put the burden on the aff that they meet the
best interpretation.
Theyre not reasonable the standards debate proves they have made the debate
impossible and bad.
Its a question of less subjective intervention from the judge the word Best is a
relative judgment and good is an absolute judgment. Reasonability is the absolute
judgment but best is in comparison to another whereas good does NOT have a point
of comparison. You choose the relative judgment because if gives you a relevant
point of comparison between two specific interpretations; otherwise the judge has
to subjectively determine a good interpretation.
It doesnt make sense in the context of debate, you dont vote for someone because
they almost outweighed the disad
No benefit to defaulting reasonability With the case list that weve given them
access to through our definitions they cant argue that they need any more aff flex.
Default to the quality of literature our definitions come from the most predictable
source that sets the definition of the literature base on the topic means lit is reason
to vote for us.
N.H. 1949. -The word "substantially" as used in provision of Unemployment Compensation Act that experience
rating of an employer may transferred to' an employing unit which acquires the organization, -trade, or business, or
"substantially" all of the assets thereof,
is 'an elastic term which does not include a definite, fixed amount of
percentage, and the transfer does not have to be 100 per cent but cannot
be less than 90 per cent in the ordinary
situation.
R.L c. 218, 6, subd. F, as added by Laws 1945, c. 138, 16.-Auclair Transp. v. Riley, 69 A.2d 861, 96 N.H.
l.-Tax347.1.
They dont increase natural gas production by 90% of the status quo or develop
90% of natural gas in the oceans blows up the amount of affs on the topic
because you can just be a small increase in natural gas production
Devinsky 2 (Paul, Is Claim "Substantially" Definite? Ask Person of Skill in the Art,
IP Update, 5(11), November,
http://www.mwe.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/publications.nldetail/object_id/c2c73bdb9b1a-42bf-a2b7-075812dc0e2d.cfm)
In reversing a summary judgment of invalidity, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found
that the district court, by failing to look beyond the intrinsic claim construction evidence to consider
what a person of skill in the art would understand in a
"technologic context,"
Crane Cams, Inc., Case No. 01-1417 (Fed. Cir. November 14, 2002). The patent in suit related to an improved
push rod for an internal combustion engine. The patent claims a hollow push rod whose overall diameter is
larger at the middle than at the ends and has "substantially constant wall thickness" throughout the rod and
rounded seats at the tips. The district court found that the expression "substantially constant wall thickness"
was not supported in the specification and prosecution history by a sufficiently clear definition of
"substantially" and was, therefore, indefinite. The district court recognized that the use of the term
"substantially" may be definite in some cases but ruled that in this case it was indefinite because it was not
further defined. The Federal Circuit reversed, concluding that the district court erred in requiring that the
meaning of the term "substantially" in a particular "technologic context" be found solely in intrinsic
evidence: "While reference to intrinsic evidence is primary in interpreting claims, the criterion is the
meaning of words as they would be understood by persons in the field of the invention." Thus, the Federal
"resolution of any ambiguity arising from the claims and specification may be aided by extrinsic
evidence of usage and
meaning of a term in the context of the invention." The Federal Circuit remanded the case to the district
court with instruction that
"[t]he question is not whether the word 'substantially' has a fixed meaning as applied to
'constant wall thickness,' but how the phrase would be understood by persons experienced in
this field of mechanics, upon reading the patent documents."
Aff would just read truth statements like 2+2 = 4 and say vote aff topicality
needs to check that.
T OW Theory
Counterpl
ans
***Japan
CP***
1NC Shell
CP Text: The government of Japan should substantially
increase its exploration of Arctic deep-water methane
hydrates.
Johnson 14
(Keith, senior reporter covering energy for Foreign Policy, Burning Ice and the Future of Energy, Foreign
During their three-day meeting this week, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo
Obama to speed up
exports of American natural gas to help his beleaguered and energy-poor economy. But
the big energy revolution that could ride to Tokyo's rescue may not come on tankers
from U.S. ports, but rather from deep underneath the sandy seabed off Japan's own
shores. Methane hydrates, which are chunky packets of ice
for energy
in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster and skyrocketing bills for imported fuel. Other Asian
countries facing an energy crunch, including South Korea, China, and India, are also hoping to tap into the apparently
abundant reserves of methane hydrates, also known as "fire ice." That could help fuel growing economies -- but it could
also fuel further tensions in regional seas that are already the stage for geopolitical saber rattling and brinkmanship over
natural resources. Totally unknown until the 1960s,
theoretically store more gas than all the world's conventional gas fields today . The
amount that scientists figure
should be gettable comes to about 43,000 trillion cubic feet, or nearly double the 22,800 trillion cubic feet of
technically recoverable traditional
natural gas resources around the world. (The United States consumed 26 trillion cubic feet of gas last year.)
That
of an energy revolution that could dwarf even the shale gale that has transformed
America's fortunes in a few short years. It could also potentially have big
implications for countries, including the United States, Australia, Qatar, and even Russia, which are
banking on unbridled growth in the global trade of liquefied natural
gas. The trick will be to figure out exactly how to profitably tap vast deposits of the stuff buried inside the seafloor.
"There's no doubt that the resource potential is enormous ," said Michael Stoppard, managing
director, global gas, at energy consultancy IHS. "I
rebuttal to the peak oil and peak gas concept , but of course that's not
develop it." To that end, last week a 499-ton survey vessel nosed out of the port of Sakai, once home to fabled gunsmiths
and the finest makers of samurai swords in medieval Japan and today the prospective launching pad for a new
technological revolution. For the next two months, the Kaiyo Maru No. 7 will survey the seafloor right off Japan's west coast,
the first step in a years-long process that could end with significant production of natural gas in Japanese waters. A
promising methane hydrate site off the southeast coast was the subject of earlier surveys. Japan is the epicenter of
methane hydrates today not because it has so much of the resource -- quite the opposite, most methane hydrates appear
to be in gas-rich North America -- but because it needs the resource so badly and is working faster than any other country
to make fire ice a commercial proposition.
loads of conventional
some companies, such as Chevron, work alongside the U.S. government on methane hydrate research, " there's
the industry for enabling field experiments and data collection than there was 10
years ago," said Ray
Boswell, technology manager for methane hydrates at the U.S. Energy Department's National Energy Technology
Laboratory.
Not so in
Japan
ice release 160 times their volume in methane as they are taken out of low-temperature, high-pressure
environments. That
could make
commercial extraction, which experts estimate is at least 10 to 15 years off, an easier proposition.
Japan has sought to
come up with a new energy blueprint in the wake of the 2011 nuclear disaster
that
which led to a spike in imports of pricey fuel, especially natural gas. Japan's new energy
nuclear output
will likely never reach the 30
nuclear reactors,
plan, approved in April, puts nuclear energy back on the table. But Japanese officials concede that
percent or so of Japan's electricity output that it was before the disaster. As a result,
the government included methane hydrate development in its top five priorities for
new energy supplies. Japanese officials say
they are working on methane hydrates because they need an alternative to liquefied natural gas (LNG), which costs
about three times as much
as natural gas in the United States. "It's very easy to understand the Japanese motivation , and
with China, India, and South Korea you have very similar situations," said Tim Collett, a gas hydrate expert at the
U.S. Geological Survey. Because Japan and South Korea are the first- and second-largest importers of LNG globally,
methane hydrate development "is potentially a significant long-term threat to the LNG industry," said IHS's
Stoppard. "Even small-scale development of methane hydrate would slow down any growth in LNG sales there." To
be sure, the kinds of shale gas reserves that have made the United States an energy superpower exist overseas
too. China is loaded with shale resources, as are parts of Europe and Latin America. But the shale gas revolution
depends on a lot of things other countries don't have: small, nimble energy companies, thousands of drilling rigs,
private ownership of land, and up-to-date financial and regulatory systems.
Getting
2NC/1NR Overview
CP Solves all of the case the first plank of the CP makes Japan increase exploration
of Arctic deep-water methane hydrates 1NC Johnson says researchers in Japan
reached a technical breakthrough to extract methane hydrates into energy form.
Solves the environment advantage because theres no reason US is key their 1AC
COL evidence says that they need management and development and the Japanese
can do that management and development.
Solves the energy advantage Their 1AC Joyce evidence just says an alternative
energy is needed for energy security which Japan can provide.
[The second plank of the CP has the US establish oil spill prevention control and
response tactics to promote US interests and regulate the region. That solves
presence their 1AC Ebinger evidence says that US presence is key US is still in
the Arctic for leadership under the CP.]
Frame the debate of sufficiency vs. necessary a sufficient solvency deficit that the
aff has to prove is that Japan CANNOT do methane hydrates for their first two
advantages and that the US establishing regulation in the Arctic CANNOT maintain
presence.
It is not easy to extract methane from methane hydrate because the latter exists in the
form of solid matter. But Japan has succeeded in getting methane from an underground
methane hydrate layer in a test in Canada. In the test, the pressure inside the layer was
lowered to let methane vaporize. Around mid-February in 2013, Japan, Oil, Gas and
Metals National Corp. plans to start a test to dissolve methane hydrate in a layer some
1,300 meters below the sea surface off Atsumi Peninsula of Aichi Prefecture.
2NC Modeling
Japan causes US modeling- proves feasibility- solves all aff
impactsdelay avoids link to politics
Ruppel 11
(Carolyn, Coordinator of the Georgia Tech Focused Research Program on Methane Hydrates Methane
Hydrates and the Future of Natural Gas, Gas Hydrates Project U.S. Geological Survey, 2011,
http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Supplementary_Paper_SP_2_4_Hydrates.pdf) EK
The next step for proving that gas hydrates in permeable marine sediments can be a resource for
natural gas is testing to determine the optimal processes and conditions for extracting
the gas. There are few technical barriers to conducting such a test, but the cost and
relative immaturity of routine deepwater operations mean that it will probably be at least
a few years before even a short-term test can be undertaken. Japans national
(MH21) currently
plans to conduct
tests
on
deposits. The U.S. R&D program, through the DOE/Chevron Joint Industry Project, plans pressure
coring (i.e., coring that retains the sediments at in situ pressure conditions) of gas hydrate-rich sandy
sediments in the northern Gulf of Mexico in 2012.
Such a program would be the next step along the trajectory towards a U.S.
deepwater research production test within the next decade.
2NC Internal NB
CP Solves Japan Energy Independence- no alternatives in the
Squo
Pfeifer 14
(Silvia, Energy Editor, Financial Times Methane hydrates could be energy of the future, Financial Times,
1/17/14, http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/8925cbb4-7157-11e3-8f92-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz2qfjtQxRv) EK
Forget the shale gas revolution that has transformed North Americas energy landscape.
buried deep underneath the worlds oceans and the Arctic permafrost : giant reservoirs of
gas trapped in ice crystals. Sometimes called flammable ice, these methane hydrates also hold out the
potential to alter trade flows and the
and India,
reserve in the northern part of the South China Sea. It is very early days. Test drillings have so far taken place only
in Canada and Japan, but
the International Energy Agency, the western worlds energy watchdog, does not rule out the
possibility of another energy revolution to rival that of the shale boom in North
America. Maria van der Hoeven, the IEAs executive director, said in an interview last year: There may be
other surprises in store. For example, the methane hydrates off the coasts of Japan
and Canada ... This is still at a very early stage. But shale gas was in the same
position 10 year ago. So we cannot rule out that new revolutions may take place
through technological
developments. Methane hydrates are deposits of natural gas trapped with water in a crystalline structure that forms
at low temperatures and moderate pressures. Although estimates of the resources vary widely, experts agree they are
extremely large. According to the IEAs most recent World Energy Outlook published last autumn, even the lower estimates
give resources larger than all other natural gas resources combined. Many estimates fall between 1,000tn and 5,000tn
cubic metres, or between 300 and 1,500 years of production at current rates. The US Geological Survey estimates that gas
hydrates worldwide are between 10 to 100 times as plentiful as US shale gas reserves. However,
although several governments have investigated methane hydrates since the early
1980s, no country has been especially focused on developing them. Exploiting them has
to make sense from a cost
perspective. There have also been other sources of fossil fuels notably conventional oil and gas and more recently
shale that have been easier and cheaper to access. Things changed early last year. In March, Japan became the first
country to get gas flowing successfully from
shutting down most of its nuclear power stations three years ago
Fukushima nuclear plants, the
disaster, nuclear provided about 30 per cent of Japans power generation, compared with LNG at 25 per cent. Since
that time, LNGs share has soared to 45 per cent. The increasing energy imports have helped drive the countrys
trade balance into deficit. According to Paul Duerloo, partner and managing director at Boston Consulting Group in
Japan, the country tops the list of those with an incentive to develop their methane
hydrate deposits. Japan, he says, is paying about $15 per million British thermal units (mBTU), compared with the
US Henry Hub price of just $4-$5.5 per mBTU and a price of well below $10 per mBTU in Europe. The country, adds Mr
Duerloo,
has few alternatives in terms of energy sources and is keen to become selfsufficient. The resource could be
enormous. Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation, the state oil group, estimated in 2008 that 1.1tn cubic metres of
methane hydrates lay beneath the eastern Nankai Trough, enough to offset at least a decades worth of foreign gas
imports. Even so,
huge challenges
remain before natural gas can be produced from these reserves and the relevant
extraction technology
is still in its infancy. Hydrates form under high pressure caused by the weight of the seawater or rock above them.
That pressure needs to be maintained when the sediment cores are analysed or else the hydrates within quickly dissociate
into water and gas. There are also concerns about what the release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, could do to the
atmosphere. To extract the gas last March, the Japanese team used conventional methods. These involved first lowering a
drill about 1,000m to the bottom of the Nankai Trough. They then had to drill another 300m into the rock, drain the water
out of the hydrate layer to lower the pressure in the deposit and free the methane gas
longer-term role of methane hydrates will depend on climate change policies as well as technological advances, as
meeting ambitious
goals to reduce emissions could require a reduction in demand from all fossil fuels,
certainly in the longer term. Japan has set itself the target of bringing methane
hydrates into the mainstream by the
early 2020s. Despite the significant challenges, Mr Duerloo believes the world should not underestimate its
dedication, inventiveness and willingness. I think the chances they pull it off are more than half.
Pagliarulo 13
(Ned, Global Risk Insights Fukushima Amplifies Japanese Energy Import Dependence, Zero Hedge,
10/30/13, http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2013-10-30/fukushima-amplifies-japanese-energy-import-dependence) EK
When Typhoon Wipha flooded Japan with heavy rains last week, the operator of the Fukushima nuclear power plant
ordered precautionary
taken offline, creating a large shortfall in energy production that Japan has had to fill from abroad. Growing
dependence on imports
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Japan falls far short of providing
enough energy for its domestic uses, with only 16% domestic energy production . Not
surprisingly, Japan needs to import heavily
it is the world largest importer of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Before the disaster at Fukushima and the following
reevaluation of nuclear power in Japan, nuclear sources supplied 13% of Japans energy consumption. The EIA notes in
another report that Japans
electric
power utilities have been consuming more natural gas and petroleum to make up for
the shortfall in nuclear output With this shift, fossil fuel use has jumped 21% in 2012
compared to 2011 levels. High
(the IMF forecasts that the spot price for crude will remain above $100/barrel
problem for Japans trade balance . As Japan imports more fossil fuels, its trade
deficit widens (Japan ran a
would usually helps by making exports competitive, the IMFs Article 4 consultation with Japan noted that
the
Auslin 9
(Michael, Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute Japans Downturn Is Bad News for the
Recently, many economists and scholars in the U.S. have been looking backward to Japan's banking disaster of the
1990s, hoping to learn lessons for America's current crisis. Instead, they should be looking ahead to what might
occur if Japan goes into a full-fledged
If Japan's economy collapses, supply chains across the globe will be affected
and numerous economies will face severe disruptions, most notably China's. China is
currently Japan's largest import provider, and the Japanese slowdown is creating
tremendous pressure on Chinese factories. Just last
depression.
week, the Chinese government announced that 20 million rural migrants had lost their jobs. Closer
to home, Japan may also start running out of surplus cash, which it has used to purchase U.S. securities for years.
For the first time in a generation, Tokyo is
U.S.government is
set to expand the national debt by a trillion dollars or more. Without massive debt purchases by Japan and China,
the U.S. may not be able to finance the cost of the stimulus package, creating a trapdoor under the U.S. economy.
Dibb 1
(Paul, Professor at the Australian National University Strategic Trends: Asia at a Crossroads, Naval War College
Review, Winter 2001, http://www.nwc.navy.mil/press/Review/2001/Winter/art2-w01.htm)
areas of maximum danger and instability in the world today are in Asia,
The strategic situation in Asia is
more uncertain and potentially threatening than anywhere in Europe. Unlike in Europe, it is
possible to envisage war in Asia involving the major powers: remnants
The
followed by the Middle East and parts of the former Soviet Union.
Pakistan have nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, and these two countries are more confrontational
than at any time since the early 1970s; in Southeast Asia, Indonesiawhich is the worlds fourth-largest country
faces a highly uncertain future that
military conflict.
democracy, which would
There are positive tendencies, including the resurgence of economic growth and the spread of
no history of successful multilateral security cooperation or arms control. Such multilateral institutions as the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the ASEAN Regional Forum have shown themselves to be ineffective
when confronted with major crises.
Hours later, a flare on the ships stern showed that gas was being produced, the ministry said.
2NC Solvency
Japanese extraction solves- pioneered production and
extraction
Tabuchi 13[Hiroko, Staff writer about Japan for the New York Times, An Energy
Coup for Japan: Flammable Ice
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/13/business/global/japan-says-it-is-first-to-tapmethane-hydrate-deposit.html?pagewanted=all 3/12/13 DG]
Japan said Tuesday that it had extracted gas from offshore deposits of
methane hydrate sometimes called flammable ice a breakthrough that
officials and experts said could be a step toward tapping a promising but still littleunderstood energy source. The gas, whose extraction from the undersea hydrate
reservoir was thought to be a world first, could provide an alternative source of
energy to known oil and gas reserves. That could be crucial especially for Japan , which
TOKYO
importer of liquefied natural gas and is engaged in a public debate about whether to resume the countrys heavy
reliance on nuclear power. Experts estimate that the carbon found in gas hydrates worldwide totals at least twice
the amount of carbon in all of the earths other fossil fuels, making it a potential game-changer for energy-poor
thought to lie. The exact properties of undersea hydrates and how they might affect the environment are still poorly
understood, given that methane is a greenhouse gas. Japan has invested hundreds of millions of dollars since the early
2000s to explore offshore methane hydrate reserves in both the Pacific and the Sea of Japan. That task has become all the
more pressing after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis, which has all but halted Japans nuclear energy program and
caused a sharp increase in the countrys fossil fuel imports. Japans rising energy bill has weighed heavily on its economy,
helping to push it to a trade deficit and reducing the benefits of the recently weaker yen to Japanese exporters. The
Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said a team aboard the scientific drilling ship Chikyu had started a trial
extraction of gas from a layer of methane hydrates about 300 meters, or 1,000 feet, below the seabed Tuesday morning.
The ship has been drilling since January in an area of the Pacific about 1,000 meters deep and 80 kilometers, or 50 miles,
south of the Atsumi Peninsula in central
the team drilled into and then lowered the pressure in the
undersea methane hydrate reserve, causing the methane and ice to separate. It then
piped the natural gas to the surface,
Japan. With specialized equipment,
and Metals National Corporation, or Jogmec, the state-run company leading the trial extraction. The team will
continue the trial extraction for about two weeks before analyzing how much gas has been produced, Jogmec said.
Japan hopes to make the extraction technology
oceanic methane
hydrates,
and I hope we will be able to confirm stable gas production, Toshimitsu Motegi, the Japanese trade minister,
said at a news conference in Tokyo. He acknowledged that the extraction process would still face technical hurdles and
other problems. Still, shale gas was considered technologically difficult to extract but is now produced on a large scale,
he said. By tackling these challenges one by one, we could soon start tapping the resources that surround Japan. It is
unclear how much the tapping of methane hydrate would affect Japans emissions or global warming. On one hand, natural
gas would provide a cleaner alternative to coal, which still provides Japan with a fifth of its primary energy needs. But new
energy sources could also prompt Japan to slow its development of renewable energies or green technologies, hurting its
emissions in the long run. Any accidental release of large amounts of methane during the extraction process would also be
harmful. Jogmec estimates that the surrounding area in the Nankai submarine trough holds at least 1.1 trillion cubic
meters, or 39 trillion cubic feet, of methane hydrate, enough to meet 11 years worth of gas imports to Japan. A separate
rough estimate by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology has put the total amount of
methane hydrate in the waters surrounding Japan at more than 7 trillion cubic meters, or what researchers have long said
is closer to 100 years worth of Japans natural gas needs. Now we know that extraction is possible,
said Mikio Satoh, a senior researcher in marine geology at the institute who was not involved in the Nankai trough
expedition. The next step is to see how far Japan can get costs down to make the technology economically viable.
Methane hydrate is a sherbetlike substance that can form when methane gas is trapped in ice below the seabed or
underground. Though it looks like ice, it burns when it is heated. Experts say there are abundant deposits of gas hydrates in
the seabed and in some Arctic regions. Japan, together with Canada, has already succeeded in extracting gas from
methane hydrate trapped in permafrost soil. American researchers are carrying out similar test projects on the North Slope
of Alaska. The difficulty had long been how to extract gas from the methane hydrate far below the seabed, where much of
the deposits lie. In onshore tests, Japanese researchers explored using hot water to warm the methane hydrate, and tried
lowering pressure to free the methane molecules. Japan decided to use depressurization, partly because pumping warm
water under the seabed would itself require a lot of energy. Gas hydrates have always been seen as a potentially vast
energy source, but the question was, how do we extract gas from under the ocean? said Ryo Matsumoto, a professor in
geology at Meiji University in Tokyo who has led research into Japans hydrate deposits. Now weve cleared one big
hurdle. According to the United States Geological Survey, recent mapping off the North Carolina and
South Carolina coasts shows large offshore accumulations of methane hydrates. Canada, China, Norway and the
United States are also exploring hydrate deposits. Scientists at the geological survey note, however, that there is
still a limited understanding of how drilling for hydrates might affect the environment, particularly the possible
release of methane into the atmosphere, and are calling for continued research and monitoring.
Arango 13 [Canada drops out of race to tap methane hydrates, Funding ended
for research into how to exploit world's largest fossil energy resource, By Santiago
Ortega Arango, a freelance contributor for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, is a
Colombian engineer and freelance journalist interested in climate change, May 7 th,
2013, http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/canada-drops-out-of-race-to-tapmethane-hydrates-1.1358966]
Canada and Japan have been partners in the quest to extract methane from
hydrates. Since 2000, Natural
Resources Canada has invested more than $16 million in the venture.
2008 to finance production tests in the Canadian Arctic . On March 18 this year the
Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp. reached a milestone, successfully completing a test to
produce methane gas from offshore hydrate formations for the first time, using
extraction techniques pioneered in Canada. Despite the success, Canadian federal funding
from Natural Resources Canada for research into exploiting methane hydrates
just a couple of weeks after the offshore production tests in Japan. The ministry told
CBC News the decision was made in 2012.
Strong U.S. Japan Ties cause East Asian instability and kills
Chinese Democracy
a bipolar structure with only the United States and Japan facing
China would be ineffective, because it would force other regional powers to choose
between two competing poles. Some might side with the United States and Japan,
but most regional powers would choose strict neutrality or align with China . Ultimately,
this would weaken the powerful example of American and Japanese democracy and
return the region to a Cold War or nineteenth century balance-of-power logic that
does not favor stability in the region or contribute to Chinas potential for positive
change. Stability in East Asia will rest on the quality of U.S.-Japan-China relations,
and even though the United States is closely allied with Japan, Washington should
encourage good relations among all three.
At the same time, however,
Dibb 1
(Papul, Prof. and Head of Strategic and Defense Studies Centre Research School of the Asia Pacific of
Australian National U., Former Defense Sec. for Strategic Policy and Intelligence Australian DOD, Naval War College
Review, Strategic trends: Asia at a crossroads, 54:1, Winter, Proquest)
The areas of maximum danger and instability in the world today are in Asia , followed by
the Middle East and parts
threatening than
anywhere in Europe.
Unlike in Europe, it is possible to envisage war in Asia involving the major powers: remnants
of Cold War
Japan are amongst the top four or five global military spenders. Asia also has more nuclear powers than any other
region of the world.
Asia's
The Guardian 13 [Japan becomes first nation to extract 'frozen gas' from
seabed, Successful extraction from frozen methane hydrate deposits is the first
example of production of the gas offshore, Staff and agencies, theguardian.com,
Tuesday 12 March 2013
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/mar/12/japan-extract-frozen-gasseabed]
Japan has successfully extracted natural gas from frozen methane hydrate deposits
under the sea, in the
first example of production of the gas offshore, officials said on Tuesday. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and
Industry showed what it said was gas flaming from a pipe at the project in the Pacific Ocean 80 kilometres (50 miles) off the coast of
central Japan.
The
eventual
from the seabed are much higher than for other forms of production . Methane hydrate is a
form of methane gas
frozen below the seabed or in permanently frozen ground. Japan earlier succeeded in producing such gas from
permafrost in Canada in 2007-
Japan, which imports most of its energy, hopes to develop ways to produce
natural gas from its
08. Resource-scarce
own reserves.
The Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp and a government research institute, the National
Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, used a technology they developed to reduce pressure in the
underground layers holding the methane hydrate 1,330 metres (4,363 feet) below the sea surface, and then dissolved it
into gas and water, collecting the gas through a well, the ministry said. Speaking to the Financial Times, Ryo Minami,
director of the oil and gas division at Japan's Agency for Natural Resources, compared methane hydrate to shale gas, a
once-marginal resource which is transforming the US energy market. "Ten years ago, everybody knew there was shale gas
in the ground, but to extract it was too costly. Yet now it's commercialised," he said. Methane hydrate looks like ice but
burns like a candle if a flame is applied. With the boom in production of natural gas from the fracking of shale gas boosting
supplies in the US in particular, there is little need to resort to the more costly extraction of the frozen gas in those regions.
Fitzpatrick 10 [Japan to drill for controversial 'fire ice' Japan seeks to improve
energy security by drilling for frozen methane but environmentalists fear a leak of
the greenhouse gas, which is 21 times as damaging as carbon dioxide, Michael
Fitzpatrick, reporter at theguardian.com, Monday 27 September 2010,
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/sep/27/energy-industry-energy]
controversial frozen
methane gas along its coast next year. The gas is methane hydrate, a sherbet-like substance consisting
of methane trapped in water ice sometimes called "fire ice" or MH that is locked deep underwater or under permafrost
by the cold and under pressure 23 times
Japan has enough methane hydrate for 100 years at the current rate of usage. Lying hundreds of metres below the
sea and deeper still below
nearly all its gas about 58.6m tonnes of liquified gas annually and is heavily dependent on oil imports. In a desperate
attempt to secure more oil, for example, Japan recently did a deal with the United Arab Emirates. In exchange for using
Japan as a base for Asian oil trading, Japan now has priority to purchase rights to up to 4m barrels of immediately
accessible crude. Lucia van Geuns, an energy analyst at the international energy programme of the Clingendael Institute,
said: "Methane
Japan put a lot of R&D into this project because of course the less energy it
imports the better. Whether
they can commercialise methane hydrates remains to be seen. "If it does succeed, and that's very much a long
shot, it will have a huge impact equivalent to the use of gas shales in the US."
Max et. Al 13[Michael d., world's leading consultancies for unconventional gas resources, Natural Gas Hydrate
- Arctic Ocean Deepwater Resource Potential chapter 6, http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/760/chp
%253A10.1007%252F978-3-319-02508-7_6.pdf?auth66=1405009459_e105112ca2e5e2501764c04c4bb61a85&ext=.pdf
2013 DG]
As will be discussed elsewhere in this volume, very great progress has been made in understanding the NGH system and
developing exploration
liquefied natural gas (LNG) that has been in the $15-$18 MMcf range in the 2011-2013 time period .
With
improvement of the
Russia oversees the world's largest fleet of nuclear icebreakers, and it will soon add
the largest one yet
to its tally. Rosatom, which currently manages Russia's fleet of new icebreakers through its subsidiary, Atomflot, has
just signed a contract with the St. Petersburg-based shipbuilding company Baltisky Zavod to construct a 556-foot-long
behemoth -- about 42 feet longer than the next biggest ship. It is so big that it does not fit in any existing docks, so a new
one will need to be constructed. The new icebreaker is budgeted to cost about $1.2 billion. Once it is ready in 2017, the
ship will grant Russia extra capability to ensure safe shipping along the Northern Sea Route (NSR), which it is working
strenuously to develop into a major transportation corridor. Although the ice is melting, each ship transiting through the
NSR will still need to be escorted by an icebreaker in the short to medium term, so having an adequate number of
icebreakers is crucial.
The Russian fleet currently stands at six nuclear icebreakers. Four of the icebreakers
are powerful enough to break ice in the open ocean, while two are designed for
ramming through the more shallow
The new, seventh icebreaker will reportedly be able to cut through ice up to twelve
since it is a dual-draft ship, it will be able to operate in both the ocean and in rivers.
The massive
navigate through the often ice-bound Ob and Yenisei Rivers, which spill out into the
Arctic Ocean. Scientific
icebreakers by 2020. Canada surely envies these plans. Its new icebreaker, the CCGS John G. Diefenbaker, slated
for delivery in 2017, will only be able to break through 7-1/2 feet of ice. It will be replacing the 42-year-old CCGS Louis S.
St-Laurent, too, meaning that Canada will still only have one icebreaker and not even a nuclear one at that. Granted, the
Northwest Passage has much poorer prospects for turning into a global trade link due to its shallower, narrower passages
and greater amount of ice.
in the Arctic hugs Russia's coast, it is up to the Kremlin to meet the challenge of
bringing it within world-class standards. The volume of cargo shipped along the NSR
should hit a record high this year, besting last year's total of 34 ships and 820,000
tons of cargo, so long as the shipping season endures as long as last year's did
(through November). So far, Russia is showing political and economic commitment
to development of the Arctic unmatched by any other seafaring Arctic nation.
Affairs at Harvards Kennedy School AND ** Henry A. Kissinger senior fellow for U.S.
foreign policy at the
Russia and U.S. National Interests Why Should Americans Care?, Task Force on
Russia and U.S. National Interests Report, October, http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/files/Russia-and-US-NI_final-web.pdf)
Americans often tend to focus on either Russias strengths or its weaknesses without seeking an integrated
understanding of the real Russia.
This is problematic, because it leads to dangerous assumptions about Russias motives and conduct. For example,
profound insecurity. Conversely, those who concentrate on Russias shortcomings see a defeated power illprepared to resist American pressure or preferences. While these descriptions are clearly caricatures, views like those
described above can produce damaging misjudgments.
Russia is grappling with the contradictions between imperial nostalgia, on the one hand, and the dramatic decline
in its power after the Soviet
costlyand even
devastatingproblems
interests
and priorities. This is true even though most in Russias elite recognize that todays Russia is not sufficiently
strong to challenge
Weitz 11
(Richard,
senior editor
Can We
Conversely, a Russia relatively weaker to the United States would have less capability to challenge the United
States but can provide less assistance for realizing common U.S.-Russian goals. A weaker Russia may also find it
harder to control its WMD assets and become vulnerable to external predators not friendly to the United States (e.
g.. China and Iran). But in all probability Russia will still have sufficiently strong
Russia on a slope
Counter-interpretation we get the USFG and any other country in the literature
Its key to policy education we debate the relationships between USFG policies
and other countries policies, most meaningful internal link to policy education.
No impact to reciprocity neg getting the USFG and one other country doesnt blow
the limits up
Lit checks japans in the literature and so is the USFG combination of the two in
the literature means aff should be prepared to debate it
Tests US keyit forces the aff to defend the US as the central actor for
the resolution.
Neg flexthe aff can have tons of unpredictable advantages and addons
and always has the advantage of specificityinternational fiat is key to
narrow the debate down to US key warrants so that the neg can focus
research.
At worst, reject the argument nor the teamrestores any loss of aff
ground
Disadvant
ages
EnergySkeptic 10 [Blogger, whole article is quotes from an actually qualified source, Armed Forces,
Capabilities and Technologies in the 21st Century Environmental Dimensions of Security, Bundeswher Transportation
Centre, Bundeswher is the German military apparatus, http://energyskeptic.com/2011/german-military-peak-oil-summary/]
Ownership of the arctic isnt settled which could lead to conflicts. The strategic
significance in securing resources and the exploration of new and controversial oilproducing areas may increase the probability of a further build-up of military
arsenals to enforce those claims. Efforts aimed at expanding military
War
capacities for the protection of own claims on the Arctic can already be seen today. Similar considerations apply to
international waters. The growing possibility of deep-sea resources exploration would increasingly bring unsettled territorial
claims as a potential cause of conflict to the
fore, as can currently be seen in the territorial conflicts over the South China Sea. With the exploitation of high sea
deposits,
the
significance of blue water navies would also increase . Natural gas (NG) as an extension of the oil
era NG is seen as a
substitute for oil in many fields and is expected to last longer than oil. [Note:
exaggerated ]. Natural gas will therefore be one of the most important fossil fuels of
the future and will
have to replace oil to a considerable extent. NG cannot simply be shipped but must be transported as
gas via a pipeline or, after compression or liquefaction (liquefied natural gas (LNG)), with special-purpose tankers. Pipeline
systems, however, which currently carry the major part of natural gas produced to the consumers, are regionally restricted.
Instead of one world market for natural gas are several regional markets with limited numbers of suppliers. The pipelines
that carry NG span countries as well political, economic, and cultural regions, which is likely to lead to conflict over the
routes, construction, and a need for increased protection of the pipelines. Methane Hydrates Furthermore,
Mann 13
(Charles C., Atlantic contributing editor since 1984, author of 1491 and 1493 What If We Never Run Out of Oil?,
4/24/13, http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/05/what-if-we-never-run-out-of-oil/309294/?single_page=true) EK
keep feeding the infrastructure, you have to maintain a certain return. Otherwise,
youll abandon it, he told me. For the individual manager of a large installation with a
multimillion-dollar budget, it might be well within your interest, as you go into decline on
deepwater production, to start looking at gas hydrate . If one nation succeeds in producing
commercial quantities of undersea methane, others will follow. U.S.-style
To
governments will slap fees on petroleum importsespecially in Asia, where dependence on foreign
energy is even more irksome than it is here. In addition to North America, the main sources of conventionally extracted
natural gas are Russia, Iran, and Qatar (Saudi
Arabia is also an important producer). All will feel the pinch in a methane-hydrate world.
methane hydrate
becomes plentiful and cheap enough to encourage nations to switch from oil , as the
Japanese hope, the risk pool
will expand to include Brunei, Iraq, Nigeria, the United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, and other petro-states.
The
would be turbulent. Petroleum revenues, if they are large, exercise curious and malign
effects on their
recipients. In 1959, the Netherlands found petroleum on the shores of the North Sea. Money gurgled into the country.
To general surprise, the flood of cash led to an economic freeze. Afterward, economists realized that salaries in the new
petroleum industry were so high that nobody wanted to work anywhere else. To keep employees, companies in other parts
of the economy had to jack up wages, in turn driving up costs. Meanwhile, the surge of foreign money into the Netherlands
raised the exchange rate. Soaring costs and currency made it harder for Dutch firms to compete; manufacturing and
agriculture faltered; unemployment climbed, except in the oil industry. The windfall led to stagnationa phenomenon that
petroleum cognoscenti now call Dutch disease. Some scholars today doubt how much the Netherlands was actually
affected by Dutch disease. Still, the general point is widely accepted.
roof with
because there is an exception: the United States, the only one of the 62 petroleum-producing nations that allows private
entities to control large amounts of oil and gas reserves.) Because the national petroleum company, with its gush of oil
revenues, is the center of national economic power, the ruler typically puts a loyalist in charge, says Michael Ross, a
UCLA political scientist and the author of The Oil Curse (2012). The
kick away the sole, unsteady support of the statea cataclysmic event, especially if it
happens suddenly. Think of Saudi Arabia, says Daron Acemoglu, the MIT economist and a co-author of Why Nations Fail.
How will the royal family contain both the mullahs and
industry, Dutch-disease-style. Similar questions could be asked of other petro-states in Africa, the Arab world, and
central Asia. A
toppled, most Americans would not mourn. But it seems equally fair to say that they would not necessarily be
enthusiastic about their
located in areas of disputed sovereignty. Whenever you find something under the water, you get into
struggles over who it
belongs to, says Terry Karl, a Stanford political scientist and the author of the classic The Paradox of Plenty: Oil
Booms and Petro-States. Think of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic, she says, over which Britain and
Argentina went to war 30 years ago and over which they are threatening to fight again. One of the real reasons
that they are such an issue is the belief that either oil or natural gas is offshore. Methane-hydrate deposits run like
crystalline bands through maritime flash points: the Arctic, and waters off West Africa and Southeast Asia. In a
the regular
global flow of petroleum, the biggest commodity in world trade, is also a powerful stabilizing
force. Nations dislike depending on
working paper, Michael Ross and a colleague, Erik Voeten of Georgetown University, argue that
play nice and obey the rules because they dont want to be cut off . By
contrast, countries with plenty of energy reserves feel free to throw their weight around.
They are less likely than other states to sign major treaties or join intergovernmental
organizations; and they often defy global normson human
international oil, but they
rights, the expropriation of foreign companies, and the financing of foreign terrorism or rebellions. The implication
is sobering:
an energy-
Mann 13
(Charles C., Atlantic contributing editor since 1984, author of 1491 and
1493 What If We Never Run Out of Oil?, 4/24/13,
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/05/what-if-we-never-run-out-ofoil/309294/?single_page=true) EK
In January, 18 years after the Japanese program began, the Chikyu left the Port of Shimizu, midway up the main islands
eastern coastline, to begin a production testan attempt to harvest usefully large volumes of gas, rather than laboratory
samples. Many questions remained to be answered, the project director, Koji Yamamoto, told me before the launch.
JOGMEC hadnt figured out the best way to mine hydrate, or how to ship the resultant natural gas to shore. Costs needed to
be brought down. It will not be ready for 10 years, Yamamoto said. But I believe it will be ready. What would happen
then, he allowed, would be interesting. Already the petroleum industry has been convulsed by hydraulic fracturing, or
frackinga technique for shooting water mixed with sand and chemicals into rock, splitting it open, and releasing
previously inaccessible oil, referred to as tight oil. Still more important, fracking releases natural gas, which, when
yielded from shale, is known as shale gas. (Petroleum is a grab-bag term for all nonsolid hydrocarbon resourcesoil of
various types, natural gas, propane, oil precursors, and so onthat companies draw from beneath the Earths surface. The
stuff that catches fire around stove burners is known by a more precise term, natural gas, referring to methane, a colorless,
odorless gas that has the same chemical makeup no matter what the sourceordinary petroleum wells, shale beds, or
methane hydrate.) Fracking has been attacked as an environmental menace to underground water supplies, and may
eventually be greatly restricted. But it has also unleashed so much petroleum in North America that the International
Energy Agency, a Paris-based consortium of energy-consuming nations, predicted in November that by 2035, the United
States will become all but self-sufficient in net terms. If the Chikyu researchers are successful, methane hydrate could
have similar effects in Japan. And not just in Japan: China, India, Korea, Taiwan, and Norway are looking to unlock these
crystal cages, as are Canada and the United States. Not everyone thinks JOGMEC will succeed. But methane hydrate is
being developed in much the same methodical way that shale gas was developed before it, except by a bigger, more
international group of researchers. Shale gas, too, was subject to skepticism wide and loud. The egg on naysayers faces
suggests that it
would be foolish to ignore the prospects for methane hydrateand more foolish still not to consider the potential
consequences.
If
methane hydrate allows much of the world to switch from oil to gas, the conversion
would undermine
governments that depend on oil revenues, especially petro-autocracies like Russia, Iran,
Venezuela, Iraq,
Unless oil states are exceptionally well run, a gush of petroleum revenues can
1NC Politics
Methane hydrates are politically divisive
Harder 14 [AMY HARDER, energy policy report for WSJ, White House Calls for
New Rules to Cut Methane Emissions Initiative Is Part of Strategy to Address Climate
Change, March 28, 2014,
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB100014240527023046881045794673612496
26076]
WASHINGTONThe Obama administration on Friday directed several federal agencies to clamp down on emissions
of methane, a potent greenhouse gas emitted from natural gas and other industries, fleshing out an initiative that
attempts to address environmental concerns without harming the nation's booming natural-gas industry. The White
House move is part of President Barack
now to new federal regulations targeting the natural-gas industry, which could be
politically
unpopular
. New rules could also contradict the administration's rhetoric and actions supporting natural gas in the
including the Energy Department's conditional approval earlier this week of the seventh U.S. project to export gas.
Reaction from oil and natural-gas companies was muted, while environmentalists cheered the news.
environmental groups have worried more about the effects of natural-gas use on climate change.
The
primary component of
natural gas is methane , which the administration said has a warming effect on the
planet more than 20
times greater than carbon dioxide. Despite mounting skepticism from environmentalists, the administration
has supported natural
gas as an energy source in part because it puts out far fewer carbon emissions than coal or oil.
2NC Politics
Plan is unpopular oil lobbies
Weiss 10 [Daniel J. Weiss, Senior Fellow and Director Climate Strategy at the
Center for American Progress, Oil Dependence Is a Dangerous Habit, Center for
American Progress, January 13, 2010,
http://americanprogress.org/issues/green/report/2010/01/13/7200/oil-dependenceis-a-dangerous-habit/, 6/24/14]
Many major oil companies and their trade association, the American Petroleum
Institute, are some of the most vocal opponents of increasing American energy
independence and reducing global warming pollution.
This is likely because they profit by buying oil from dangerous or unstable states.
This includes importing oil
from Syria, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Mauritania, Iraq, Congo, Colombia, Chad, and Algeria. In 2008 Chevron made a profit of
$23.9 billion while nearly half of its imports138 million barrels of oilcame from these countries. ExxonMobil made $45.2
billion while getting 43 percent of its oil205.6 million barrelsfrom these countries. About one-third of BPs imports
110.6 million barrelswere from these countries in 2008, when the companys profits were $25.6 billion. Approximately 25
percent of ConocoPhillips imports were from dangerous or unstable countries116.7 million barrelsin 2008,
contributing to its $52.7 billion profit. And Shell raked in $31.4 billion that year, also importing one-quarter of its oil61.8
million barrelsfrom these countries. (Note: Shell includes Shell Chemical LP, Shell Chemical Yabucoa Inc, Shell US
Trading Co, Shell Oil Co, and Shell Oil Co Deer Park).
is doing everything
in its power to maintain the status quo. The companies are spending record
amounts on lobbying to
http://www.pollutionsolutions-online.com/news/waterwastewater/17/breaking_news/burning_ice_could_make_fracking_wastewater_drinkable/26651/]
Despite these recent advances, commercial production is still unlikely for at least 10 to 15 years. Japan believes
that commercial production will
conventional methods of
recovering natural gas, the estimated cost of methane hydrate extraction is similar to other unconventional
sources, such as shale gas. The International Energy Agency estimates that once developed, it will cost between
$4.70-$8.60 to extract 1 million British thermal units of methane hydrates. The same studies estimate conventional
costs as low as $0.50 per 1 million British thermal units. Developmental and capital costs are likely to be high, since
the deposits are in difficult, harsh locations (e.g., Artic or deepwater environments) and depending on their
location, new fields could also mean additional capital costs from infrastructure development.
Mann 13 (Charles C., Atlantic contributing editor since 1984, author of 1491 and
1493 What If We Never Run Out of Oil?, 4/24/13,
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/05/what-if-we-never-run-out-ofoil/309294/?single_page=true) EK
On a broader level still, cheap, plentiful natural gas throws a wrench into efforts to combat climate change.
of climate change, scientists increasingly believe, will require a complete phase-out of carbon
emissions over
50 years, in the words of one widely touted scientific estimate that appeared in January. A big, necessary
step toward that goal is moving away from coal, still the second-most-important energy source
worldwide. Natural gas burns so much cleaner than coal that converting power plants from coal to gasa switch promoted
by the deluge of gas from frackinghas already reduced U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions to their lowest levels since Newt
natural gas isnt that clean; burning it produces carbon dioxide. Researchers
view it as a temporary bridge fuel, something that can power nations while they make the
Gingrichs heyday. Yet
enact anti-carbon
policies, says Michael Levi, the director of the Program on Energy Security and Climate Change at the Council on Foreign
Relations, natural
gas could be a bridge from the coal-fired past to the coal-fired future. Methane
hydrate could be a
new energy revolution, Christopher Knittel, a professor of energy economics at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, told me. It
renewable, carbon-free energy around the world just as abundant shale gas from fracking has
already begun to undermine it in the United States. The one path is a boon. The otherIve used words like catastrophe.
He paused; I thought I detected a sigh. I
Wasserman 14
(Harvey,
(AR5) from the IPCC, UN Panel: Renewables, not Nukes, Can Solve Climate Crisis,
http://www.progressive.org/news/2014/04/187639/un-panel-renewables-not-nukes-can-solve-climate-crisis)
anel on
limate
hange
humans
climate. It also effectively says the problem can be solved, and that renewable energy
is the way to do it ,
and that nuclear power is not. The United Nations IPCC is the worlds most respected authority on climate.
IPCC
This
years in the making. It embraces several hundred climate scientists and more than
a thousand
computerized scenarios
definitively
discredited the corporate contention that human-made carbon emissions are not
affecting climate change. To avoid total catastrophe, says the IPCC, we must reduce the
industrial spew of global warming
gasses by 40-70 percent of 2010 levels. Though the warning is dire, the report offers three pieces of good
news. First, we have
green
far
They are also far cheaper, and we have the capital to do it. The fossil fuel industry has long scorned the idea that its
emissions are disrupting our Earths weather. The oil companies and atomic reactor backers have dismissed the
green technologies,
including efficiency and conservation, can in fact handle the job---at a manageable price. It
ability of renewables to provide humankinds energy needs. But the IPCC confirms that
doesnt cost the world to save the planet, says Professor Ottmar Edenhofer, an economist who led the IPCC team. The
IPCC report cites nuclear power as a possible means of lowering industrial carbon emissions. But it also underscores
considerable barriers involving finance and public opposition. Joined with widespread concerns about ecological impacts,
length of implementation, production
uncertainties and unsolved waste issues, the reports positive emphasis on renewables virtually guarantees nuclears
irrelevance. Some climate scientists have recently advocated atomic energy as a solution to global warming. But their
most prominent spokesman, Dr. James Hansen, also expresses serious doubts about the current generation of reactors,
including Fukushima, which he calls that old technology. Instead Hansen advocates a new generation of reactors. But the
designs are untested, with implementation schedules stretching out for decades. Financing is a major obstacle as is waste
disposal and widespread public opposition, now certain to escalate with the IPCCs confirmation that renewables can
provide the power so much cheaper and faster. With its 15-year deadline for massive carbon reductions the IPCC has
effectively timed out any
people are not going to have to sacrifice their aspirations about improved standards of living.
The global technical potential of RE sources will not limit continued growth in the
use of RE. A wide range of
technical potential
potential for solar energy is the highest among the RE sources, but substantial
technical potential exists for all six RE sources. Even in regions with relatively low
levels of technical potential for any individual RE source, there are typically
significant opportunities for increased deployment compared to current
levels. [1.2.2, 2.2, 2.8, 3.2, 4.2, 5.2, 6.2, 6.4, 7.2, 8.2, 8.3, 10.3] In the longer term and at higher deployment levels,
however, technical potentials indicate a limit to the contribution of some individual RE technologies. Factors such as
sustainability concerns [9.3], public acceptance [9.5], system integration and infrastructure constraints [8.2], or economic
factors [10.3] may also limit deployment of RE technologies
Krugman 11
(Paul, nobel prize winner, economist, badass, That's right: Solar power is now cost-effective
http://seattletimes.com/html/opinion/2016712561_krugman08.html)
For decades the story of technology has been dominated, in the popular mind and
to a large extent in reality, by computing and the things you can do with it. Moore's
Law in which the price of computing power falls
roughly 50 percent every 18 months has powered an ever-expanding range of applications, from faxes to
Facebook. Our mastery of the material world, on the other hand, has advanced much more slowly. The sources of
energy, the way we move stuff around, are much the same as they were a generation ago. But that may be about
to change.
you still think of solar power as some kind of hippie fantasy, blame our fossilized
political system, in which fossil-fuel producers have both powerful political allies and a
powerful propaganda machine that
denigrates alternatives. Speaking of propaganda: Before I get to solar, let's talk briefly about hydraulic
fracturing, aka fracking. Fracking
injecting high-pressure fluid into rocks deep underground, inducing the release of fossil fuels is an impressive
technology. But it's also a technology that imposes large costs on the public. We know that it produces toxic (and
radioactive) wastewater that contaminates drinking water; there is reason to suspect, despite industry denials, that it also
contaminates groundwater; and the heavy trucking required for fracking inflicts major damage on roads. Economics 101
tells us that an industry imposing large costs on third parties should be required to "internalize" those costs that is, to
pay for the damage it inflicts, treating that damage as a cost of production. Fracking might still be worth doing given those
costs. But no industry should be held harmless from its impacts on the environment and the nation's infrastructure. Yet
what the industry and its defenders demand is, of course, precisely that it be let off the hook for the damage it causes.
Why? Because we need that energy! For example, the industry-backed organization energyfromshale.org declares that
"there are only two sides in the debate: those who want our oil and natural resources developed in a safe and responsible
way; and those who don't want our oil and natural gas resources developed at all." So it's worth pointing out that special
treatment for fracking makes a mockery of free-market principles. Pro-fracking politicians claim to be against subsidies, yet
letting an industry impose costs without paying compensation is in effect a huge subsidy. They say they oppose having the
government "pick winners," yet they demand special treatment for this industry precisely because they claim it will be a
These days,
mention solar power and you'll probably hear cries of "Solyndra!" Republicans have tried to make
winner. And now for something completely different: The success story you haven't heard about.
the failed solar-panel company both a symbol of government
waste although claims of a major scandal are nonsense and a stick with which to beat renewable energy. But
Solyndra's failure
couldn't keep up with the competition. In fact, progress in solar panels has been so
dramatic and sustained that, as a blog post at Scientific American put it, "there's now
frequent talk of a 'Moore's law'
in solar energy," with prices adjusted for inflation falling around 7 percent a year .
This has already led
, but
from the point at which electricity from solar panels becomes cheaper
than electricity generated by
burning coal. And if we priced coal-fired power right, taking into account the huge
health and other
costs it imposes, it's likely that we would already have passed that tipping point.
But
delay the energy transformation now within reach? Let's face it: A large part of our political class, including
essentially the entire GOP, is deeply invested in an energy sector dominated by fossil fuels, and actively hostile to
alternatives. This political class will do everything it can to ensure subsidies for the extraction and use of fossil
fuels, directly with taxpayers' money and indirectly by letting the industry off the hook for environmental costs,
while ridiculing technologies like solar. So what you need to know is that nothing you hear from these people is
true.
Camus 14
(Gabriel, Reporter at Energy Post, A story of ice and fire: how methane hydrates could change the world,
4/23/14, http://www.energypost.eu/story-ice-fire-methane-hydrates-change-world/)//WL
The truth of the matter is however that, while gas is indeed better than coal , it remains a fossil fuel.
A rush into methane hydrates reserves could therefore hardly be considered a positive signal for the development of the
carbon-free economy that the EU and the
Methane hydrates would simply reveal once again that our economies
favour sailing further and drilling deeper over developing alternatives. A methane
hydrates frenzy would be further evidence that inertia and path dependency are
still predominant and that the easier road is still the one that our growth-oriented
economies invariably opt for, despite the well-known long-term consequences . This
UN champion.
certainly applies to countries whose wealth is already largely based on the exploitation of their fossil fuel resources
(such as the US, Canada,
Turning to this new godsend after conventional and shale reserves are
exhausted would merely mean the continuation of their deeply entrenched economic
model. But, as demonstrated earlier in this
Russia and Norway).
article, those countries would probably be latecomers as far as methane hydrates are concerned. The hydrate revolution
would have an even more detrimental effect on those countries that will lead the way, i.e. the resource-poor ones, such as
Japan, Korea and even India (whose coal mines do not suffice, by far, to quench its thirst for energy). Well aware of the
danger of energy dependency, these countries have all engaged in extensive support programmes for the only domestic
energy sources they have at their disposal: renewable and nuclear energy (at least until
would undoubtedly have a negative impact on these countries so far rather progressive
approach to the international negotiations on climate change. That cannot be good news for anyone
who cares about
Of course, China didn't have nuclear weapons then. Now that it does,
BK 5/2
(Business Korea Methane Hydrate May Ignite New Energy War in Asia, 5/2/14,
http://www.businesskorea.co.kr/article/4389/dream-energy-source-methane-hydrate-may-ignite-new-energy-war-asia)
Worries are mounting that methane hydrate, touted as a dream energy source,
could spark a new
U.S.-based magazine Foreign Policy recently pointed out that, The fact that a bulk of
under the center of Asias territorial dispute is a big misfortune for the surrounding nations,
meaning that
turns out to be a new factor that could exacerbate territorial conflicts among major
energy-importing countries like Korea, China, and Japan. Methane hydrate is a solid
crystal in the form of ice that is formed when water and gas meet at high pressure and
low temperature. It is compressed gas, which in gaseous
form would be 160-170 times that of its solid mass, making it an ideal future energy source. However, some data
points to a rosier outlook in that its massive burial, up to 700,000 trillion cubic feet, is distributed evenly all around
the world, dispelling concerns about the possible
atomic structure of the methane hydrate (or clathrate) lattice. A burning chunk of methane hydrate gives off a
substantial amount of energy. Inlay: The atomic structure of the methane hydrate (or clathrate) lattice. However,
fuel the conflict especially in Asia. This is because Korea, China, and Japan top the
list of countries that
experts cite the Senkaku Islands , the southern part of the South China Sea ,
and the East Sea as
sites,
the epicenter of intense territorial tension. In fact, according to the Nihon Keizai newspaper, Chinas
marine department and geological survey department launched a full-fledged methane
hydrate energy probe
last month in the South China Sea, causing a big backlash from territorial
disputing countries such as
Wittner 11
(Lawrence, Professor of History emeritus at SUNY/Albany Is a Nuclear War With China Possible?, 11/30/11,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lawrence-wittner/nuclear-war-china_b_1116556.html)
While nuclear weapons exist, there remains a danger that they will be used. After all,
for centuries international conflicts have led to wars, with nations employing their
deadliest weapons. The current deterioration of U.S. relations with China might end
up providing us with yet another example of this phenomenon. The gathering
tension between the United States and China is clear enough. Disturbed by China's growing
economic and military strength, the U.S. government recently challenged China's claims in the
South China Sea, increased the U.S. military presence in Australia, and deepened
U.S. military ties with other nations in the Pacific region . According to Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton, the United States was "asserting our own
But need this lead to nuclear war? Not necessarily. And yet, there are signs that it
could. After all, both the United States and China possess large numbers of nuclear weapons. The U.S. government
threatened to attack China with nuclear weapons during the Korean War and, later, during their conflict over the future of
China's offshore islands, Quemoy and Matsu. In the midst of the latter confrontation, President Dwight Eisenhower declared
publicly, and chillingly, that
and Soviet
government officials during the Cold War, when both nations had vast nuclear
arsenals, should convince
weapons prevent wars between nuclear-armed nations; and, admittedly, there haven't been very many -- at least
not yet. But the Kargil War of 1999, between nuclear-armed India and nuclear-armed Pakistan, should convince us
that such wars can occur. Indeed, in that case, the conflict almost slipped into a nuclear war. Pakistan's foreign
secretary threatened that, if the war escalated, his country felt free to use "any weapon" in its arsenal. During the
conflict, Pakistan did move nuclear weapons toward its border, while India, it is claimed, readied its own nuclear
missiles for an attack on Pakistan. At the least, though, don't nuclear weapons deter a nuclear attack? Do they?
Obviously, NATO leaders didn't feel deterred, for, throughout the Cold War, NATO's strategy was to respond to a
Soviet conventional military attack on Western Europe by launching a Western nuclear attack on the nuclear-armed
Soviet Union. Furthermore, if U.S. government officials really believed that nuclear deterrence worked, they would
not have resorted to championing "Star Wars" and its modern variant, national missile defense. Why are these
vastly expensive -- and probably unworkable -- military defense systems needed if other nuclear powers are
deterred from attacking by U.S. nuclear might? Of course, the bottom line for those Americans convinced that
nuclear weapons safeguard them from a Chinese nuclear attack might be that the U.S. nuclear arsenal is far
greater than its Chinese counterpart. Today, it is estimated that the U.S. government possesses over 5,000 nuclear
warheads, while the Chinese government has a total inventory of roughly 300. Moreover, only about 40 of these
Chinese
nuclear weapons can reach the United States. Surely the United States would "win" any nuclear war with China. But
10 million Americans in a great storm of blast and fire, while leaving many
more dying horribly of
sickness and radiation poisoning. The Chinese death toll in a nuclear war would
be far higher. Both nations would be reduced to smoldering, radioactive wastelands.
Also, radioactive debris sent aloft by the nuclear explosions would blot out the sun
and bring on a "nuclear winter" around the globe -- destroying agriculture, creating
worldwide famine, and generating chaos and destruction. Moreover, in another decade
the extent of this catastrophe would be far worse. The Chinese government is
currently expanding its nuclear arsenal, and by the year 2020 it is expected to more
than double its number of
nuclear weapons that can hit the United States. The U.S. government, in turn, has plans to spend
hundreds of billions of dollars "modernizing" its nuclear weapons and nuclear production facilities over the next decade. To
avert the enormous disaster of a U.S.-China nuclear war, there are two obvious actions that can be taken. The first is to get
rid of nuclear weapons, as the nuclear powers have agreed to do but thus far have resisted doing. The second, conducted
while the nuclear disarmament process is occurring, is to improve U.S.-China relations. If the American and Chinese people
are interested in ensuring their survival and that of the world, they should be working to encourage these policies.
Klare 12
(Michael T, Five Colleges professor of Peace and World Security Studies, whose department is located at
Hampshire College, defense correspondent of The Nation magazine, Island Grabbing in Asia, 9/4/12,
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/138093/michael-t-klare/island-grabbing-in-asia)//WL
Last month, Japanese activists planted their country's flag on one of the Senkaku Islands (which the Chinese call the Diaoyu
Islands), a chain claimed by China, Japan, and Taiwan. The move sparked protests in China and inspired headlines in the
West, but the provocation was hardly surprising. The three bodies of water in East Asia -- the Sea of Japan
(bounded by Japan, North Korea, South Korea, and Russia), the East China Sea (bordered by China and Japan's Ryukyu
Islands), and the South China Sea (surrounded by Borneo, China, the Philippines, and
are home to hundreds of disputed islands, atolls, and shoals. And in the last
few years, the diplomatic and militaristic struggles to assert authority have become
increasingly brazen. On one level,
Vietnam) --
patriotism is making things worse. Japan's tussle with China over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, for example, is a touchstone
for those in Japan who fear China's growing political and economic might. Likewise, South Korea's assertion of control over
the Dokdo Islands (known as the Takeshima Islands in Japan) is viewed at home as a patriotic riposte to Japan's 40-year
occupation of the peninsula.
Beyond symbolism,
however, these three bodies of water flow over East Asia's Outer Continental Shelf
and the submerged deltas of
many major river systems -- geological features that suggest the presence of vast deposits of oil and natural gas.
Yet, although
the
resources have been there for millennia, it is only in the last decade that the energy
sector has even started to develop extractive technologies that will eventually
make these reserves accessible. The
disagreement between Japan and South Korea over the Dokdo (Takeshima) Islands has sabotaged U.S. plans for improved
defense ties with the two countries and hurt U.S. efforts to isolate North Korea. Nobody wants to lose out, especially
because East Asia is energy hungry. The region is home to only three percent of the world's proven oil reserves and eight
percent of its natural gas reserves. China, for example, already imports 58 percent of the oil and 22 percent of the gas it
uses each year. Japan is far more dependent, importing nearly all of its oil and gas. According to the U.S. Department of
Energy, in the next 25 years, Asia's energy consumption is expected to grow faster than anywhere else in the world. Eager
for energy security, these countries have long sought to exploit their offshore oil and gas reserves. Until recently, however,
given the difficulty of operating in the blue-water seas, that was all but impossible. But eager to take advantage of oil and
gas reservoirs in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico and offshore Africa, Western energy firms have developed drilling
rigs capable of operating in a mile of water or more. Now that the necessary technology is within reach, powers in Asia are
determined to assert what they argue are their rightful claims to vast amounts of energy. Just who owns the potential
riches, however, is a matter of some contention. Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),
coastal states are allowed to claim a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone extending from their land borders. All of
the countries in the region have done so. But China has also laid claim to virtually all of the South China Sea on the basis
that it has periodically occupied the Spratly and Paracel islands, small clusters of atolls and shoals that take up the
northern and southernmost reaches of the sea. China has further cited provisions of UNCLOS that allow it to develop
exclusively its Outer Continental Shelf (even if the shelf extends beyond 200 miles) and stake out a large stretch of the
East China Sea. Of course, many other countries have claims in those seas, too.
Chinese behavior is a good example of the trend . Beijing's claims on the South
China Sea (and the islands within it) are long-standing, as are its intentions to exploit the
undersea hydrocarbon reserves there. In the
past few years, however, it has stepped up its use of force. In June 2011, it harassed survey ships working for PetroVietnam
in Vietnamese-claimed waters. Then, in April 2012, Chinese ships blocked efforts by the Philippine Navy to combat illegal
fishing by Chinese ships in Philippine-claimed waters. Such belligerence is in line with hard-line elements of the Chinese
military that have recently assumed a more assertive role in
the aggression also coincides with the China National Offshore Oil
Corporation's acquisition of its first deepwater drilling rig and announcement of
plans to operate in the South China
foreign affairs. But
Sea. The Chinese drilling rig, the CNOOC 981, was first deployed in May and sited some 200 miles southeast of Hong
Kong, in an area also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam. As the energy company's chairman, Wang Yilin, put it, "Large
deepwater drilling rigs are our mobile national territory and strategic weapon for promoting the development of the
country's offshore oil industry." The firm also chose the occasion to auction off to foreign and domestic corporations a
number of exploration blocks in areas of the South China Sea situated close to Vietnam. Needless to say, the move
infuriated Hanoi. The Vietnamese, too, want to drill in deeper waters, but their national oil company, PetroVietnam, lacks
the technological capacity to do so on its own. In recent years, it has been teaming up with foreign firms -- including
Chevron and ExxonMobil -- to explore farther offshore. Last October, ExxonMobil reported finding a large natural gas field
off the coast of central Vietnam. The Vietnamese say the field lies within their 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone.
The Chinese have countered by asserting that the land falls within their territory and warning non-Chinese companies to
desist from operating there. To hammer home the message, Chinese ships have, on several occasions, sliced PetroVietnam
cables to underwater sensors. The dispute between South Korea and Japan over the Dokdo/ Takeshima Islands is a
variation on the same theme. So far, the two sides have fought mainly over fishing rights in the area. But the
waters are also thought to harbor vast quantities of methane hydrates -- frozen bubbles of natural gas
trapped in ice crystals on the ocean floor. If harvested safely (methane is a highly potent greenhouse gas, so any
uncontrolled release would accelerate global warming),
suspect that
Beijing, Hanoi, Manila, Seoul, or Tokyo will relent in the coming years . A desire for cheap
and nearby energy will only increase, and as Asian economies grow, nationalistic
impulses will become more
assertive. Government officials have been quick to exploit these impulses for their own political advantage, but they
also recognize that increased tensions and belligerency could undermine efforts to promote economic cooperation in the
region, further slowing growth. Eventually, therefore, they are likely to seek an alternative to violent confrontation. This
could involve joint development of the disputed areas (as Malaysia and Thailand have chosen to do in a disputed chunk of
their own offshore waters) and accelerated development of renewable resources.
Klare 13
(Michael T, Five Colleges professor of Peace and World Security Studies, whose department is located at
Hampshire College, defense correspondent of The Nation magazine, The Next War?, 1/22/13,
http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175640/)//WL
Dont look now, but conditions are deteriorating in the western Pacific. Things are turning ugly, with consequences that
could prove deadly and spell catastrophe for the global economy. In Washington, it is widely assumed that a showdown
with Iran over its nuclear ambitions will be the first major crisis to engulf the next secretary of defense -- whether it be
former Senator Chuck Hagel, as President Obama desires, or someone else if he fails to win Senate confirmation. With few
signs of an imminent breakthrough in talks aimed at peacefully resolving the Iranian nuclear issue, many analysts believe
that military action -- if not by Israel, then by the United States -- could be on this years agenda. Lurking just behind the
Iranian imbroglio, however, is a potential crisis of far greater magnitude, and potentially far more imminent than most of us
potentially globally. Islands, Islands, Everywhere The possibility of an Iranian crisis remains in the spotlight
because of the obvious risk of disorder in the Greater Middle East and its threat to global oil production and shipping.
crisis in the East or South China Seas (essentially, western extensions of the Pacific Ocean) would,
however, pose a greater peril because of the possibility of a
U.S.-China military confrontation and the threat to Asian economic stability . The United
States is bound by treaty to come to the assistance of Japan or the Philippines if either
country is attacked by a third party, so any armed clash between Chinese and Japanese
or Filipino forces could trigger American
military intervention. With so much of the worlds trade focused on Asia, and the American, Chinese, and
Japanese economies tied so
and its neighbors continue to ratchet up the bellicosity of their statements and bolster their military forces in the contested
areas. Washingtons continuing statements about its ongoing plans for a pivot to, or rebalancing of, its forces in the
Pacific have only fueled Chinese intransigence and intensified a rising sense of crisis in the region. Leaders on all sides
continue to affirm their countrys inviolable rights to the contested islands and vow to use any means necessary to resist
encroachment by rival claimants. In the meantime, China has increased the frequency and scale of its naval maneuvers in
waters claimed by Japan, Vietnam, and the Philippines, further enflaming tensions in the region. Ostensibly, these disputes
revolve around the question of who owns a constellation of largely uninhabited atolls and islets claimed by a variety of
nations. In the East China Sea, the islands in contention are called the Diaoyus by China and the Senkakus by Japan. At
present, they are administered by Japan, but both countries claim sovereignty over them. In the South China Sea, several
island groups are in contention, including the Spratly chain and the Paracel Islands (known in China as the Nansha and
Xisha Islands, respectively). China claims all of these
islets, while Vietnam claims some of the Spratlys and Paracels. Brunei, Malaysia, and the Philippines also claim
some of the Spratlys. Far more is, of course, at stake than just the ownership of a few uninhabited islets. The
seabeds surrounding them are believed to sit atop vast reserves
all of these countries desperately desire . Powerful forces of nationalism are also at work: with rising
popular fervor, the Chinese believe that the islands are part of their national territory and any other claims represent a
direct assault on Chinas sovereign rights; the fact that Japan -- Chinas brutal invader and occupier during World War II -- is
a rival claimant to some of them only adds a powerful tinge of victimhood to Chinese nationalism and intransigence on the
issue. By the same token, the Japanese, Vietnamese, and Filipinos, already feeling threatened by Chinas growing wealth
and power, believe no less firmly that not bending on the island disputes is an essential expression of their nationhood.
Long ongoing, these disputes have escalated recently. In May 2011, for instance, the Vietnamese reported that Chinese
warships were harassing oil-exploration vessels operated by the state-owned energy company PetroVietnam in the South
China Sea. In two instances, Vietnamese authorities claimed, cables attached to underwater survey equipment were
purposely slashed. In April 2012, armed Chinese marine surveillance ships blocked efforts by Filipino vessels to inspect
Chinese boats suspected of illegally fishing off Scarborough Shoal, an islet in the South China Sea claimed by both
countries. The East China Sea has similarly witnessed tense encounters of late. Last September, for example, Japanese
authorities arrested 14 Chinese citizens who had attempted to land on one of the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands to press their
countrys claims, provoking widespread anti-Japanese protests across China and a series of naval show-of-force operations
by both sides in the disputed waters. Regional diplomacy, that classic way of settling disputes in a peaceful manner, has
been under growing strain recently thanks to these maritime disputes and the accompanying military encounters. In July
2012, at the annual meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Asian leaders were unable to agree on
a final communiqu, no matter how anodyne -- the first time that had happened in the organizations 46-year history.
Reportedly, consensus on a final document was thwarted when Cambodia, a close ally of Chinas, refused to endorse
compromise language on a proposed code of conduct for resolving disputes in the South China Sea. Two months later,
when Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited Beijing in an attempt to promote negotiations on the disputes, she
was reviled in the Chinese press, while officials there refused to cede any ground at all. As 2012 ended and the New Year
began, the situation only deteriorated. On December 1st, officials in Hainan Province, which administers the Chineseclaimed islands in the South China Sea, announced a new policy for 2013: Chinese warships would now be empowered to
stop, search, or simply repel foreign ships that entered the claimed waters and were suspected of conducting illegal
activities ranging, assumedly, from fishing to oil drilling. This move coincided with an increase in the size and frequency of
Chinese naval deployments in the disputed areas. On December 13th, the Japanese military scrambled F-15 fighter jets
when a Chinese marine surveillance plane flew into airspace near the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands. Another worrisome incident
occurred on January 8th, when four Chinese surveillance ships entered Japanese-controlled waters around those islands for
13 hours. Two days later, Japanese fighter jets were again scrambled when a Chinese surveillance plane returned to the
islands. Chinese fighters then came in pursuit, the first time supersonic jets from both sides flew over the disputed area.
The Chinese clearly have little intention of backing down, having indicated that they will increase their air and naval
deployments in the area, just as the Japanese are doing. Powder Keg in the Pacific While war clouds gather in the Pacific
sky, the question remains: Why, pray tell, is this happening now? Several factors seem to be conspiring to heighten the risk
of confrontation, including leadership changes in China and Japan, and a geopolitical reassessment by the United States. *
In China, a new leadership team is placing renewed emphasis on military strength and on what might be called national
assertiveness. At the 18th Party Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, held last November in Beijing, Xi Jinping
was named both party head and chairman of the Central Military Commission, making him, in effect, the nations foremost
civilian and military official. Since then, Xi has made several heavily publicized visits to assorted Chinese military units, all
clearly intended to demonstrate the Communist Partys determination, under his leadership, to boost the capabilities and
prestige of the countrys army, navy, and air force. He
his country should play a more vigorous and assertive role in the region and the
world. In a speech to soldiers in
the city of Huizhou, for example, Xi spoke of his dream of national rejuvenation: This dream can be said to be a
dream of a strong nation; and for the military, it is the dream of a strong military. Significantly, he used the trip to
visit the Haikou, a destroyer assigned to the fleet responsible for patrolling the disputed waters of the South China
Sea. As he spoke, a Chinese surveillance plane entered disputed air space over the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands in the
East China Sea, prompting Japan to scramble those F-15 fighter jets. *
16th, arch-nationalist Shinzo Abe returned to power as the nations prime minister. Although he campaigned largely
on economic issues,
announced plans to increase military spending and review an official apology made by a former government official to
women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II. These steps are sure to please Japans
rightists, but certain to inflame anti-Japanese sentiment in China, Korea, and other countries it once occupied. Equally
worrisome,
with the Philippines for greater cooperation on enhanced maritime security in the
western Pacific, a move intended to counter growing Chinese assertiveness in the
region. Inevitably, this will spark a harsh Chinese response -- and because the
United States has mutual defense treaties with both countries, it will also increase
the risk of U.S. involvement in future engagements at sea . *
Straight Times 2k
(Ching Cheong, Senior Writer at the Strait Times, No one gains in a war over
China. If Washington were to conclude that splitting China would better serve its national interests, then a fullscale war
becomes unavoidable. Conflict on such a scale would embroil other countries far
and near and -
horror of horrors -raise the possibility of a nuclear war. Beijing has already told the US
and Japan privately that it considers any country providing bases and logistics support to any US forces attacking
China as belligerent parties open to its retaliation. In the region, this means South Korea, Japan, the Philippines and, to
a lesser extent, Singapore.
Asia will be set on fire. And the conflagration may not end there as opportunistic powers
elsewhere may try to
overturn the existing world order. With the US distracted, Russia may seek to redefine Europe's political
landscape. The balance of power in the Middle East may be similarly upset by the likes of Iraq. In south Asia, hostilities
between India and Pakistan, each armed with its own nuclear arsenal, could enter a new and dangerous phase. Will a
full-scale Sino-US war lead to a nuclear war? According to General Matthew Ridgeway, commander of the US Eighth
Army which fought against the Chinese in the Korean War, the US had at the time thought of using nuclear weapons
against China to save the US from military defeat. In his book The Korean War, a personal account of the military and
political aspects of the conflict and its implications on future US foreign policy, Gen Ridgeway said that US was
confronted with two choices in Korea -truce or a broadened war, which could have led to the use of nuclear weapons. If
the US had to resort to nuclear weaponry to defeat China long before the latter acquired a similar capability ,
there
war against China, 50 years later, short of using nuclear weapons. The US estimates
that China possesses about 20 nuclear warheads that can destroy major American cities . Beijing also seems
prepared to go for the nuclear option . A Chinese military officer disclosed recently that Beijing was
considering a review of its "non first use" principle regarding nuclear weapons. Major-General Pan Zhangqiang,
president of the military-funded Institute for Strategic Studies, told a gathering at the Woodrow Wilson International
Centre for Scholars in Washington that although the government still abided by that principle, there were strong
pressures from the military to drop it. He said military leaders considered the use of nuclear weapons mandatory if the
country risked
dismemberment as a result of foreign intervention. Gen Ridgeway said that should that come to pass,
destruction of civilization.
we