Resolved: The USFG should substantially increase alternative energy incentives in the US.

Please bear with me; this is my first-ever debate. I would like to start by thanking my opponent for his provocative and poignant choice of debate topic. And now, for my first-ever argument... Resolved: The USFG should substantially increase alternative energy incentives in the US. I. Alternative energy research and development is already happening at some levels within the Federal Government. a. The United States Air Force, the largest consumer of energy in the Federal Government, is already working on its own alternative energy initiative to help it reduce its dependency on foreign oil. -The plan also mandates tie-ins with the domestic aviation industry, domestic sourcing of fuel, and production on an industrial scale. -These mandates are a direct boost to American industry and aviation. -Domestic sourcing of fuel helps prevent the military from being in the position of having their fuel supply cut off by a foreign nation or nations. (1) II. America's current approach involves letting the states and private industry lead the way in alternative energy source development and conservation. a. There is no national coordination of state efforts, and private sector leadership has proven limited over the past 35 years. b. The result is that the United States has among the highest energy usage per capita on earth and is a massive net importer of energy.(2) c. For instance, although there are Federal solar-power initiatives, the most prominent ones are at the state level, and the states do not coordinate their policies as well as they could. III. America's allies/economic competitors have national energy policies to some extent, have had them for quite some time, and all have achieved success in reducing their dependence on oil.(2) a. Australia, Canada, and Mexico are actually energy self-sufficient. b. The United Kingdom, starting in 1973 in the wake of the oil shock, used grants, loans, tax incentives, and conservation to reduce its demand for energy by 6% in nine years. Although the UK is not self-sufficient, it ranks with Italy as the most efficient users of energy in the developed world. c. Canada made short-term, medium-term, and long term plans to develop indigenous alternative energy sources in response to the oil shock of 1973. - Their solution involved tax incentives, conversion of industrial waste to energy, and use of the forest biomass as an alternative energy source. - Today Canada is fossil-fuel self-sufficient. d. Sweden created a national energy policy in 1975 in response to the oil shock of 1973. Sweden's plan involved a mix of conservation, low-cost loans, grants and tax disincentives to push its industry to use alternative energy sources. e. Finland began researching its energy use in partnership with its private sector in 1980, and completed its report in 1982. Finland also enacted conservation measures. f. France's national strategy involves conservation, use of indigenous resources, and diversification of energy sources. - The private sector can take advantage of low-cost government loans to convert to plants that take advantage of alternative energy sources. g. Greece enforced a national conservation act in 1980 and mandated that industry spend a percentage of their capital investment on making their facilities more efficient. In 1982, Greece made a grant available for companies that wished to switch to alternative energy sources. IV. When there is a pressing national goal, the Federal Government actually has a solid track record in delivering nationwide solutions. a. It is currently fashionable to downplay the competence and success of the Federal Government and to play up the competence and success of private industry. This has been in vogue since the Reagan Administration. Although it is true that the Federal Government can produce shining moments of incompetence like the response to Hurricane Katrina and the government shutdowns of the 1990s, the fact is that when the country is united and is pulling in one direction, the Federal Government can deliver success in its programs. b. When Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan posed a threat to the United States, the US military under the command of the Federal Government was able to deal with the threat in a way that private industry alone or the states alone simply could not. c. The Federal Government successfully built and maintained the Federal Highway system when it became evident that goods and services needed to flow through the country more efficiently. d. The Federal Government successfully put a man on the moon, and the spinoff products from that triumph are still helping society today. e. The Federal Governmemt needed a way to maintain communications between parts of the country during an emergency, and it created DARPA which became the World Wide Web. f. The Federal Government delivered the Social Security program, helping countless millions of people, and its finances are still solid today. g. The Federal Government successfully pursued the Cold War and rolled back Communism, and successfully administered the Marshall Plan which saved Western Europe. A nationwide alternative energy push with as much fanfare and national support as the Space Race or the Berlin Airlift could prove successful here as it has in Britain, France, Canada, Greece, and elsewhere. V. More reliance on US-based alternative energy sources will result in immediate, tangible benefits: a. The US can reduce its exposure to troubled parts of the world. -We can reduce foreign entanglements if we are not addicted to the oil that comes largely from far-flung regions of the world like Central Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. -The US military would be freed from some foreign adventures. The United States is involved in Afghanistan to secure a gas pipeline(4)(5)(6). The United States is in Iraq to secure a source of oil, at least according to former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan (7). The resources spent fighting in these two countries to secure energy sources could be spent more wisely back home if there were a national alternative energy policy that focused on the resources found here in the United States. -The US may finally reach a point where it is a net energy exporter, and then countries will pay the US for energy instead of the other way around. b. The search for indigenous, alternative energy sources can be an engine for growth. The incentives may spur public and private development of workable solutions and create jobs for Americans in the process, as the space program put many engineers to work for years. Although there are substantial state and local-level programs in place as well as private sector programs in place, these have proven not up to the task of freeing the nation from its costly dependence on foreign energy sources. The problem is of a nationwide scope, and the solution should be designed and implemented on a nationwide level as only the Federal Government can do. This dependence is drawing the US military into places it should not be, and is weakening the United States financially. There are several examples around the world of nations who have increased alternative energy incentives and combined these with conservation and have achieved success. Doing so can create jobs in the US, increase American energy independence, and remove the need to patrol foreign territory and engage in foreign wars to ensure American energy sources. In conclusion, The United States should combine searching for indigenous, renewable forms of energy and conservation as part of a Federal-level national strategy to strengthen the United States on many levels. Thank you for your time.