Wind PTC Georgia

Aff Novice Packet

Index
Index............................................................................................................................................................................................................1
Explanation..................................................................................................................................................................................................2
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Inherency – US behind...............................................................................................................................................................................13
Inherency – current PTC fails....................................................................................................................................................................14
Econ – Wind key........................................................................................................................................................................................15
Econ – Wind key to jobs............................................................................................................................................................................16
Econ – winds key to jobs...........................................................................................................................................................................17
Econ – wind solves blackouts....................................................................................................................................................................18
Econ – wind good for growth....................................................................................................................................................................19
Warming – PTC solves..............................................................................................................................................................................20
Warming – wind solves..............................................................................................................................................................................21
Warming – human caused..........................................................................................................................................................................22
Warming Now............................................................................................................................................................................................23
Warming kills the Oceans..........................................................................................................................................................................24
Warming hurts Agriculture.........................................................................................................................................................................25
Solvency – federal incentives key..............................................................................................................................................................26
Solvency – current PTC killing wind.........................................................................................................................................................27
Solvency – wind can meet our needs.........................................................................................................................................................28
Solvency – A2 intermittency......................................................................................................................................................................29
Solvency – A2 – wind can’t meet energy needs........................................................................................................................................30
Solvency – A2 – kills birds........................................................................................................................................................................31

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Explanation
Up until recently the United States federal government offered a Production Tax Credit for wind energy. This allowed people to
deduct the cost of building wind energy turbines and other costs associated with wind energy directly from their taxes. This
applied to both businesses and individuals. So, if a wind turbine cost you 2,000 to set up, you could purchase one and then deduct
it from your taxes that you owed. This was making wind energy super cheap.

However, the tax credit wasn’t extended recently. And, more importantly it was never made a PERMANENT thing. This meant
that people weren’t taking advantage of the tax credit out of fear that the law would be reversed and they wouldn’t get their tax
break.

The plan makes the PTC permanent and gives a huge surge to wind energy in the united states. The advantages are all based off of
wind energy good [however, they are really just basic renewables good arguments with specific win energy solvency cards].

Advantage one is the economy. This is similar to the RPS competitiveness advantage. It isolates that fossil fuels are bad for US
manufacturing and also bad because it risks blackouts which are particularly bad for the economy. A wind PTC would massively
increase employment in the US, would create manufacturing gains, and would eliminate blackout threats. The impact is that the
US economy is needed to prevent a global nuclear war.

Advantage two is global warming. This is probably the advantage most teams expect on this topic. C02 [or carbon dioxide] is
released by the burning of fossil fuels in the status quo. Wind energy has zero carbon emissions which means it is uniquely suited
to eliminate the pollution of the gas that is causing warming. The impact is extinction of the plant through climatic shifts that
makes the world a horrible place to be. There are also some extension cards that discuss all the possible impacts to the agricultural
and oceanic impacts of global warming.

This is a good aff if you want to give a positive incentive for a particular renewable energy. It allows novices to focus on all the
reasons why wind energy is good. I think this is probably the aff that is easiest to understand because it just gives a tax break to
anyone who is willing to use wind energy.

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Contention 1 is the Status Quo
The federal government recently decided to not extend the Production Tax Credit to incentivize wind power in the
United States – this will decimate the industry and force wind projects overseas

GreenDaily, 2008 (Josh Loposer, “Breaking WIND: production tax credits are a big freaking deal,”
June 2, http://www.greendaily.com/2008/06/02/breaking-wind-production-tax-credits-are-a-big-freaking-deal/)

You can't be at a wind conference for very long without hearing about PTCs. It's just not possible. Today, I learned exactly how
heavily what goes on in congress weighs on renewable energy producers. It might seem kind of boring, but the confusing mass of
legislation that's supposed to incentivize the growth of green energy has a way of psyching out investors and killing wind
projects.
The big news right now is that congress dropped the ball. In particular, the House can't seem to agree on the terms of an extension
for the tax credits -- so, there will probably be a lapse between this year's tax credits and when 2009's kick in. According to DOE
Assistant Secretary Alexander Karsner, there's always a drop in wind investments when there's a lapse. That means contracts get
put on hold or canceled -- and green energy goes bust. He seemed plenty pissed off about it.
A lot of the harumphing that went on at the press conference this afternoon calls for the Feds need to get a consistent policy
together that doesn't jerk around developers and screw up progress. Basically, the whole system works backwards. The current
business model involves using the tax credits to encourage developers to build a wind farm, then sell the energy, and then make
use of the tax credits. When they don't get renewed, building slows down big time.
Production tax credits are awarded to energy producers by kWh, but they dictate the progress of the entire wind industry.
Developers don't order turbines when they don't get a tax break, because their profits aren't looking as good. That affects GE,
Vestas and so forth. According to Vic Abate -- GE's Vice President of renewable energy -- that sends projects elsewhere, like
Canada or Europe -- where they can get more bang for the buck.

This is the single biggest barrier to the expansion of wind power

Halverson, 2005 (Matthew, “Blowing It,” Electrical Construction and Maintenance, January, www.ecm.com)

On Oct. 4, 2004, the members of the wind energy industry breathed a collective sigh of relief that could have fueled an entire farm
of turbines for a day. After more than nine months of waiting, they got their wish when President Bush signed a 15-month
extension of the energy production tax credit (PTC). The PTC expired for the third time in five years on Dec. 31, 2003, and as in
previous years its absence had virtually shut down wind farm construction for the first three quarters of 2004. Its renewal,
however, assured contractors, design firms, manufacturers, and industry activists that a turnaround would follow this year.
Arguably the single-most important factor promoting the growth of the wind energy market, the PTC provides a 1.8-cent/kWh
credit for developers and owners of large-capacity wind farms. However, there's a catch: construction must be completed before
the PTC expires for a project to be eligible.
Although significant technological advances throughout the last decade have brought down the capital costs of wind energy, it has
trouble competing with fossil fuels, making the tax incentive a must-have to get most large projects off the ground. And the wind
energy market's movements over the last five years bear out that fact. When the PTC lapsed in 2000, 2002, and 2004, 43MW,
410MW, and 480MW of capacity were installed, respectively (Table on page 34). Installed capacity reached about 1,700MW in
2001 and 2003 when it was in effect, and predictions for 2005 range anywhere from 1,400MW to 2,500MW.
The statistics show the PTC's intermittency is almost single-handedly responsible for that boom-bust cycle, and many believe wind
would account for a much larger portion of the nation's energy supply had a consistent policy been in place. By the end of 2004,
U.S. wind capacity had reached almost 6,800MW--about 1% of the nation's total. Given the flurry of activity that has followed
previous extensions and the fact that the credit will expire again at the end of 2005, the wind market is poised for a busy year, but
experts worry that the market will struggle to gain a good footing without a stable PTC.

PLAN -
The United States federal government should enact a permanent extension of the Production Tax Credit.

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CONTENTION TWO – HARMS

ADVANTAGE ONE – the economy

The latest job market report has crushed consumer confidence and set the stage for a more serious decline in the
economy
Reuters in 8 (“Weak Confidence, Prices Stroke U.S. Stagflation Fears; Housing Worsens. Collapse in Home Prices Accelerates to
Record Pace”, 2-27-08, Lexis-Nexus Academic)

U.S. consumer confidence slumped to its worst in five years this month as a tough job market helped produce the grimmest future
outlook in 17 years, while soaring inflation among producers at the year's start stoked fears of stagflation.
Bad news also poured in from the beleaguered housing market, other data showed yesterday. The collapse in U.S. home prices accelerated to a record pace in the
fourth quarter of 2007, with prices plunging 8.9 per cent last year, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index.
A government report showed U.S. producer prices jumped one per cent in January on rising energy costs and posted the biggest 12-month gain in more than 26
years, which was the last time the U.S. was emerging from a stagflationary period of low growth and high inflation.
The Conference Board said its index of consumer sentiment fell to 75.0 in February, significantly worse than economists' forecasts and its lowest in five years. The
Conference Board's expectations index fell to 57.9 - its lowest in 17 years.
"It looks like there is no confidence in an economy where inflation is getting out of control," said Andrew Brenner, market analyst at MF Global in New York.
"This is a classic stagflation scenario."
It was the biggest monthly drop in the consumer confidence and expectations indexes since September 2005, following Hurricane
Katrina. The present situation index saw its biggest tumble since October 2001, the last time the United States was in recession.
Sentiment suffered amid a worsening view of the jobs market. The measure of "jobs hard to get" rose to 23.8 in February - its
highest since October 2005 - from 20.6 in January.
The measure of "jobs plentiful" fell to 20.6 - its lowest since April 2005 - from 23.8.
The proportion of respondents identifying jobs as plentiful fell by 3.2 percentage points, the biggest drop in a year and a half. The
jobs hard to get response shot up by the most in nearly five years.

In particular, the manufacturing sector is being hit especially hard

Kennedy and Richter in 7—Bloomberg News Staff Writers (*Simon and **Joe, “Rising Oil Prices May Tip U.S. Into a
Recession”, 11-12-07, Bloomberg News, http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/11/bloomberg/bxecon.php)

Manufacturers are among the first to feel the pinch: Rising energy prices are increasing their costs, while drooping consumer and
business confidence erodes demand.
In the United States, the manufacturing index of the Institute for Supply Management fell to a seven-month low in October as
gauges of orders and production declined.
Caterpillar, based in Illinois, the biggest maker of bulldozers and excavators, cut its profit forecast last month and said the U.S.
economy would be "near to, or even in, recession" in 2008.

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The lack of federal policy cripples wind energy growth and raises the risk of price shocks and blackouts
Real de Azua in 1--Communications Coordinator and International Policy Analyst, AmericanWind Energy Association (Christine,
Tulane Environmental Law Journal, “The Future of Wind Energy”, Summer 2001, Lexis Nexis)
From time to time, energy crises draw the nation's attention. The power crisis in California in late 2000 and early 2001 is the most recent example. The 2000-2001 crisis has focused public attention on, among other
The United States wind energy industry argues that investments in wind
issues, the role of wind energy and other renewables as a source of clean, affordable power. 1
energy in areas with a significant wind resource can help prevent future shortages of electricity in California and elsewhere without
additional long-term cost, pollution, or delay. 2
Wind energy has matured and surpasses traditional sources of power on many technological counts. 3 Wind is now the fastest
growing commercial scale energy technology in the world. 4 In 1999, wind energy surpassed nuclear energy worldwide in new
generating capacity installed. 5 However, wind energy generates only a minute fraction of the world's, and less than 1% of U.S.,
electricity. 6
This Essay examines the policies that have shaped the development of wind power in the United States. It argues that for wind
energy to play a more significant role in the nation's energy portfolio, policies overwhelmingly aimed at fostering the development
of conventional technologies, now outweighed by compelling public interests, should be overhauled to favor the development of
cleaner and more reliable technologies such as wind energy.
In addition, it has been shown that the public favors such a realignment of energy policy priorities. 7 For example, in its [*487] Thanksgiving 2000 Sunday edition, the New York Times ran a front page article entitled
Curse of the Wind Turns to Farmer's Blessing. 8 A brilliant color photograph showed a young farmer half-kneeling amid corn stubble in a snow-covered field with high-tech wind turbines behind him wringing
electricity from the bitter winter winds. 9 The farmer, Conrad Schardin, paid off family debts thanks to the revenue he earned for hosting the new, high-tech turbines, while continuing his traditional farming operations.
10
The article illustrates the promise of wind energy in America today: wind energy is revitalizing the economy of rural communities
from Lake Benton, Minnesota to Garrett, Pennsylvania and McCamey, Texas, by blowing cash into farmers' pockets; it can serve
as a buffer for consumers and utilities against volatile natural gas and oil prices; and it responds to a preference of the U.S. public
for clean energy over conventional sources.

Blackouts grind the economy to a halt.

Reuters, ‘7 (Timothy Gardner, “Business Books: Strain on U.S. grid to make blackouts common,” 7-16-2007,
http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSN0718520720070616?pageNumber=2&sp=true)

Most people in the United States only think about where electricity comes from when the lights go out suddenly.
But unless the antiquated transmission grid is fixed, expensive blackouts that bring modern life to a grinding halt will become ever
more common, according to "Lights Out" (Wiley, $27.95), a new book by Jason Makansi.
Before the 1980s, power generating companies were responsible for the entire chain of supply, from securing fuel to transmitting
power to homes. Deregulation, meant to increase competition, has busted that chain apart and left the wires and substations that
deliver electricity as a "neglected stepchild," Makansi writes.
As demand for electricity rises, especially in the hot summer months when air conditioners are humming, the result is an
overstretched grid, exploding transformers, brownouts and blackouts.
Transmission only accounts for about 10 percent of the industry's assets, and for decades utilities and regulators have focused on
more expensive parts of the system. Now, even electricity generated in ultramodern plants is dependent on the brittle transmission
grid. "Imagine driving a Maserati over a road littered with potholes," Makansi writes.

Even without blackouts, power outages cause a continual and significant drag on the economy
IEEE, 7 (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc, “Reliability and Blackouts,” 4-25-2007+,
http://www.electripedia.info/reliability.asp) // SM

Preventing outages and blackouts is of utmost concern to the nation and the world. Some estimates claim that the costs of electric
power outages are $26 billion each year in the US alone and have been increasing as the electric power industry is restructured [2].
The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) estimates that power outages and insufficient power quality cost the US economy
over $119 billion per year [2, 5]. Not enough effort is put towards ensuring reliability; some argue that US electric reliability
improvements have lagged behind other improvements, such as efficiency and conservation, and this lagging has compounded the
occurrence of blackouts [6].

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Despite intermittency, wind energy solves for grid overstretch and blackouts, and cushions the impact of price
spikes
World Watch Institute and Center for American Progress in 6 (American Energy Now, “The Renewable Path to Energy
Security”, September 2006, http://www.worldwatch.org/files/pdf/AmericanEnergy.pdf, pg.16)

All power systems rely on backup generators, since even baseload plants must close occasionally due to technical problems. In the
case of intermittent renewables, wind resources can already be forecast at least two days in advance, and fluctuations in power
output can be reduced if not eliminated by spreading solar or wind generators across a sufficiently wide region. Studies show that
even when wind power alone provides 20 percent of the total electricity on a regional grid— as it does in Denmark and large parts
of Germany—backup capacity is rarely needed. Above that level, some backup capacity may be required, but at much less than a
1:1 ratio. In the future, new technologies like advanced gas turbines and fuel cells, as well as new storage devices, will likely
reduce the cost of providing backup capacity, allowing much higher levels of dependence on intermittent generators.
Renewable energy sources also provide grid operators with real economic benefits (in addition to their peaking value) that are just
beginning to be recognized. Conventional power plants based on coal and nuclear power can take 5–15 years to plan and construct,
a serious disadvantage given the uncertainties of future power demand and the risks of borrowing hundreds of millions of dollars
while the plants are built. Construction lead times for large renewable projects are often in the range of 2–5 years, reducing the risk
to utilities and allowing capacity to be added incrementally to match load growth. According to FPL Energy, it can take as little as
3–6 months from ground breaking to commercial operation with new wind farms. Once on line, renewable facilities can begin
operation more rapidly than conventional power plants after blackouts, reducing associated economic and security costs.
At a time when the price of natural gas, the most popular fuel for recently constructed power plants, has increased significantly,
renewable power has become a valuable component of a utility power portfolio and a hedge against future fuel-price increases.
Wind farms are already competitive with gas and coal, and GE Wind has predicted that wind turbine sales could surpass gas
turbine sales within the next few years.

Economic collapse will cause extinction

Bearden 00, Director of Association of Distinguished American Scientists
[T. E., “The Unnecessary Energy Crisis: How to Solve It Quickly,” Space Energy Access Systems, http://www.seaspower.com/EnergyCrisis-Bearden.htm]

History bears out that desperate nations take desperate actions. Prior to the final economic collapse, the stress on nations will have increased the
intensity and number of their conflicts, to the point where the arsenals of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) now possessed by some 25 nations, are
almost certain to be released. As an example, suppose a starving North Korea launches nuclear weapons upon Japan and South Korea, including
U.S. forces there, in a spasmodic suicidal response. Or suppose a desperate China — whose long-range nuclear missiles (some) can reach the United States —
attacks Taiwan. In addition to immediate responses, the mutual treaties involved in such scenarios will quickly draw other nations into the conflict,
escalating it significantly. Strategic nuclear studies have shown for decades that, under such extreme stress conditions, once a few nukes are launched,
adversaries and potential adversaries are then compelled to launch on perception of preparations by one's adversary. The real legacy of the MAD concept is this
side of the MAD coin that is almost never discussed. Without effective defense, the only chance a nation has to survive at all is to launch immediate full-bore pre-
emptive strikes and try to take out its perceived foes as rapidly and massively as possible. As the studies showed, rapid escalation to full WMD exchange occurs.
Today, a great percent of the WMD arsenals that will be unleashed, are already on site within the United States itself. The resulting great Armageddon will
destroy civilization as we know it, and perhaps most of the biosphere, at least for many decades.

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ADVANTAGE TWO – warming

Warming is human caused and greenhouse emissions play a critical role

Brown, Director and Founder of the global institute of Environment in the U.S., 2008
Lester E. Brown, “Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization”]

Scientists at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) gather data
from a global network of some 800 climate-monitoring stations to measure changes in the earth's average temperature. Their direct
measurements go back to 1880.6 Since 1970, the earth's average temperature has risen by 0.6 degrees Celsius, or 1 degree
Fahrenheit. Meteorologists note that the 23 warmest years on record have come since 1980. And the seven warmest years since
recordkeeping began in 1880 have come in the last nine years. Four of these-2002, 2003, 2005, and 2006-were years in which
major food-producing regions saw their crops wither in the face of record temperatures. The amount of carbon dioxide (C02) in the
atmosphere has risen substantially since the start of the Industrial Revolution, growing from 277 parts per million (ppm) to 384
ppm in 2007. The annual rise in the atmospheric C02 level, one of the world's most predictable environmental trends, is the
result of the annual discharge into the atmosphere of 7.5 billion tons of carbon from burning fossil fuels and 1.5 billion tons from
deforestation. The current annual rise is nearly four times what it was in the 1950s, largely because of increased emissions from
burning fossil fuels. As more C02 accumulates in the atmosphere, temperatures go up.

The electricity industry is the biggest source of greenhouse emissions – we must target this energy sector to solve
warming
Casten, 8 – President & CEO of Recycled Energy Development, a company dedicated to the profitable reduction of
greenhouse gas emissions. Past President/CEO of Turbosteam Corporation, and 2007 Chair of the US Combined Heat &
Power Association
(Sean, “Beyond coal,” 6/5/08, http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/6/4/123223/5089)

The Electric Sector's Role in Greenhouse Gas Emissions

In the United States, coal is primarily a power plant fuel, and the electricity sector is our single biggest source of greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions. As a result, any discussion of greenhouse gas reduction must confront coal-based electricity. Figure 1 shows total US greenhouse gas emissions by
sector, and Figure 2 shows how the electric sector has steadily increased its share thereof. The trends seen in Figure 2 reflect our nation's steady and inexorable
electrification -- first as we switched from candles to electric light, then as we shifted away from mechanical power, then later as waves of computerization and air
conditioning enabled great leaps in our national standard of living. As we now shift from a manufacturing- to a service-intensive economy, this
trend will undoubtedly continue -- and so we will increasingly find that efforts to curtail greenhouse gas emissions must focus on
our electric sector. For rather perverse reasons, this is good news. The electric sector today is only half as fuel efficient as it was in 1910, implying that we
could cut CO2 emission from the electric sector in half and lower electricity costs simply by deploying century-old technologies and regulatory models.

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We must act now – delaying even a year will make solving warming impossible
Hansen, head of NASA Goddard Institute and professor of Environmental Sciences, Columbia University, 2008
(James E. Hanson. Head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City and adjunct professor in the
Department of Earth and Environmental Science at Columbia University. Al Gore’s science advisor. Briefing before the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global
Warming, US House of Representatives. Twenty years later: tipping points near on global warming. June 23, 2008.
http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/2008/TwentyYearsLater_20080623.pdf)

The difference is that now we have used up all slack in the schedule for actions needed to defuse the global warming time bomb. The next
president and Congress must define a course next year in which the United States exerts leadership commensurate with our responsibility for the present
dangerous situation.
Otherwise it will become impractical to constrain atmospheric carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas produced in burning fossil fuels, to a level that
prevents the climate system from passing tipping points that lead to disastrous climate changes that spiral dynamically out of
humanity's control.
Changes needed to preserve creation, the planet on which civilisation developed, are clear. But the changes have been blocked by special interests, focused on short-term
profits, who hold sway in Washington and other capitals.
I argue that a
path yielding energy independence and a healthier environment is, barely, still possible. It requires a transformative
change of direction in Washington in the next year.
On 23 June 1988 I testified to a hearing, chaired by Senator Tim Wirth of Colorado, that the Earth had entered a long-term warming trend and that human-made greenhouse gases almost
surely were responsible. I noted that global warming enhanced both extremes of the water cycle, meaning stronger droughts and forest fires, on the one hand, but also heavier rains and
floods.
My testimony two decades ago was greeted with scepticism. But while scepticism is the lifeblood of science, it can confuse the public. As scientists examine a topic from all perspectives,
it may appear that nothing is known with confidence. But from such broad open-minded study of all data, valid conclusions can be drawn.
My conclusions in 1988 were built on a wide range of inputs from basic physics, planetary studies, observations of on-going changes, and climate models. The evidence was strong
enough that I could say it was time to "stop waffling". I was sure that time would bring the scientific community to a similar consensus, as it has.
While international recognition of global warming was swift, actions have faltered. The US refused to place limits on its emissions, and developing countries such as China and India
rapidly increased their emissions.
What is at stake? Warming so far, about 2F over land areas, seems almost innocuous, being less than day-to-day weather fluctuations. But more
warming is already "in-the-
pipeline", delayed only by the great inertia of the world ocean. And climate is nearing dangerous tipping points. Elements of a "perfect storm", a
global cataclysm, are assembled.
Climate can reach points such that amplifying feedbacks spur large rapid changes. Arctic sea ice is a current example. Global warming initiated sea ice melt, exposing darker ocean that
absorbs more sunlight, melting more ice. As a result, without any additional greenhouse gases, the Arctic soon will be ice-free in the summer.
More ominous tipping points loom. West Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets are vulnerable to even small additional warming. These two-mile-thick
behemoths respond slowly at first, but if disintegration gets well underway it will become unstoppable. Debate among scientists is only about how much sea level would rise by a given
date. In my opinion, if emissions
follow a business-as-usual scenario, sea level rise of at least two meters is likely this century. Hundreds
of millions of people would become refugees. No stable shoreline would be reestablished in any time frame that humanity can
conceive.

Climate Change is the greatest threat to human survival. Far more likely to cause extinction than nuclear war
because nuclear weapons have become more about precision than magnitude
The New York End Times 2006
(The New York End Times is a non-partisan, non-religious, non-ideological, free news filter. We monitor world trends and events as they pertain to two vital threats - war and
extinction. We use a proprietary methodology to quantify movements between the extremes of war and peace, harmony and extinction.
http://newyorkendtimes.com/extinctionscale.asp)

We rate Global Climate Change as a greater threat for human extinction in this century. Most scientists forecast disruptions and
dislocations, if current trends persist. The extinction danger is more likely if we alter an environmental process that causes harmful
effects and leads to conditions that make the planet uninhabitable to humans. Considering that there is so much that is unknown
about global systems, we consider climate change to be the greatest danger to human extinction. However, there is no evidence of
imminent danger.
Nuclear war at some point in this century might happen. It is unlikely to cause human extinction though. While several countries
have nuclear weapons, there are few with the firepower to annihilate the world. For those nations it would be suicidal to exercise
that option. The pattern is that the more destructive technology a nation has, the more it tends towards rational behavior.
Sophisticated precision weapons then become better tactical options. The bigger danger comes from nuclear weapons in the hands
of terrorists with the help of a rogue state, such as North Korea. The size of such an explosion would not be sufficient to threaten
humanity as a whole. Instead it could trigger a major war or even world war. Under this scenario human extinction would only be
possible if other threats were present, such as disease and climate change. We monitor war separately. However we also need to
incorporate the dangers here.

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Expanding wind power solves
AWEA 7.(American Wind Energy Association, “A proposal for a strategic initiative”, http://www.awea.org/policy/ccwp.html,
7/6/07)

Executive Summary
The United States faces a formidable challenge in seeking to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2010.
Current projections indicate that it will fall far short, with emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the electric utility sector alone
exceeding 1990 levels by more than half a billion metric tons.
Wind energy is a clean, abundant U.S. resource that produces electricity with virtually no CO2 emissions. Given strong policy
support, the wind industry can ramp up production rapidly and can, through displacing emissions from coal, make a significant
contribution toward helping the utility sector meet its share of the 2010 objective. The American Wind Energy Association
(AWEA) estimates that U.S. installed wind capacity can reach 30,000 megawatts (MW) in 2010 (compared to just 1,700 MW
today), generating 105 billion kWh annually. This is enough electricity to meet the needs of more than 10 million homes, and to
displace 100 million metric tons of CO2, or 18% of the utility sector's excess emissions.

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CONTENTION THREE – solvency

PTC is necessary to boost renewables manufacturing, investment, and employment—now is the key time for long-
term extension
Clayton in 8 (Mark, Christian Science Monitor, “Wind, Solar Tax Credits to Expire”, 01-22-08,
http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2008/01/22/wind-solar-tax-credits-to-expire/)

With a big new solar power plant in the Nevada desert and thousands of wind turbines sprouting nationwide, US renewable energy
seems poised for a boom as long as federal tax credits don’t suddenly evaporate.
After years of start-and-stop growth, wind-and solar- power industries soared in 2007, thanks to three consecutive years of tax
credits that provided a critical lift for both sectors.
But whether the fledgling industries can fly without tax credits, due to expire at the end of this year, is a question being debated on
Capitol Hill this week.
As demand grows for a stimulus package for the faltering US economy, green-energy advocates argue that wind and solar – both
left out of the new energy law passed last month – should be part of the package.
“The wind and solar investment project decisions made in this quarter will be halted without these critical tax credits,” says Anna
Aurilio, federal legislative director for US Public Interest Research Group in Washington. “It would be a tragedy to bypass
industries that are going to meet US energy needs and create jobs.
The 2005 energy bill provided exactly the kind of multiyear support the wind industry says it needs. The impact has been dramatic.
Nearly one-third of all US power capacity added last year – about 5,244 megawatts – was in wind. Overall wind-generating
capacity soared 45 percent last year, adding the clean-energy equivalent of 10 large coal-fired power plants, the American Wind
Energy Association (AWEA) reported last week.
Wind power injected $9 billion into the US economy and now employs 20,000 people directly, the industry says. Plans for at least
eight new US wind-power manufacturing plants employing 5,000 workers were announced last year, AWEA officials say.
“This is a critical time for extending the production tax credit for wind,” says Joshua Magee, research director for wind energy at
Emerging Energy Research, a Boston-based research firm. “If we move into 2009 and it hasn’t been extended, new orders will
shrink and it will be a major blow to these new US [wind] manufacturing, investment, and jobs across many states.”

Federal leadership is critical to access investor perception – our evidence is comparative to state policies
Sibelius 8, Governor of Kansas
(Kathleen, SEBELIUS PROMOTES KANSAS AT NATIONAL WIND POWER CONFERENCE; GOVERNOR HIGHLIGHTS STRONG BUSINESS CLIMATE AND
POPULARITY OF KANSAS WIND, States News Service, June 2nd, L/n, rday)

"The mood of the heartland is changing and Kansans want a comprehensive energy strategy which includes maximizing our wind resources.
"Weave also concentrated on creating a business climate suitable to industry growth and expansion.
"Weave eliminated the taxes on new business machinery and equipment.
"Weave eliminated the Franchise Tax for approximately 16,000 small businesses by raising the net worth exemption to one million dollars.
"Weave reduced unemployment insurance taxes for employers by $80 million, and have one of the lowest workersa compensation rates in the country.
"Weave got a great business climate and people are noticing.
"For the third straight year, Area Development magazine has named Kansas the winner of the Silver Shovel Award for job creation and capital investment.
"Pollina Corporate Real Estate named Kansas a Top 10 pro-business state and Site Selection magazine named Kansas a Top 10 state in its annual Competiveness
Awards.
"But even with positive business climates in states like Kansas, there is a lot that the Federal Government can do to ensure the
wind industry thrives nation wide.
"We need our leaders in Congress and in the White House to make renewable energy a priority.
"The Department of Energy' goal for 20 percent wind power by 2030 is a step in the right direction - but the timetable should be
significantly accelerated.
"Congress must renew the Production Tax Credits AND make it clear to investors that this incentive will last for several years.
"The market will work effectively and competitively as long as investors know their long-term investments are prudent.
"Transmission lines and wind farms take years to develop and single-year credits send the wrong signal about our commitment to
diversifying America' long-term energy portfolio.
"A national RPS would help to give clear policy guidelines to the financial community, allowing market investments to flourish.
"Creating a patchwork of regulatory interventions on a state-by-state basis is not a good approach to the national challenge of reducing green house gas emissions.
"To reduce pollution and increase wind energy, we need clear federal rules about the cost of CO2.
"And, we need to make sure that any charge for CO2 emissions is invested in research and production of cleaner alternative energy sources, like wind.
"While states have made great strides, we need clear leadership at the federal level with a commitment to stepping up our
development of our alternative energy resources.

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PTC non-renewal destroys the wind industry – a long-term extension of the PTC would revive the domestic wind
sector – this evidence is comparative and surveys industry leaders
Dr. Wiser, 2007 – Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory Electricity Markets and Policy Group scientist
(Ryan, “Wind Power and the Production Tax Credit: An Overview of Research Results,” Testimony Prepared for a Hearing on “Clean Energy: From the Margins to the
Mainstream,” Senate Finance Committee, March 29, http://eetd.lbl.gov/ea/EMS/reports/wiser-senate-test-4-07.pdf)

Impact of the PTC on Wind Power Development to Date

The PTC reduces the cost of wind power by roughly one-third (~ 2 cents/kWh), thereby making wind more attractive to electric
utilities and other investors. In fact, with the PTC, wind power is now economically attractive in some regions of the country relative to more-conventional electricity sources. The PTC, coupled with
the rising cost of conventional fuels, R&D advances, and a variety of state policies, has stimulated significant growth in the use of wind power over the past 10 years, as shown in Figure 3. It is difficult to
overstate the importance of the PTC to the wind industry over this timeframe, as well as the negative consequences of PTC expiration
for the industry in 2000, 2002, and 2004.
In part as a direct result of the PTC, the U.S. has led the world in wind power additions for the last two years, with roughly 16% of the
worldwide wind capacity installed in 2006 coming from the United States. Moreover, nearly $4 billion was invested in U.S.-based wind capital additions in 2006 alone. Since the PTC began in
1994, wind plant additions in the U.S. have resulted in an aggregate investment of roughly $13 billion.
As shown in Table 2, major state beneficiaries of the PTC are regionally diverse, and include Texas, Washington, California, Iowa, Minnesota, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and New York. A total of 20 states had more than
50 MW of wind power capacity at the end of 2006.
As evidence of the importance of the PTC to the U.S. wind sector, wind capacity additions have seen pronounced lulls in 2000, 2002, and 2004 (see Figure 3). In each of these years, the PTC expired for some period of
Though some wind development will surely occur even without the Federal PTC, this historical
time before being subsequently extended.
experience suggests that the PTC, or some alternative policy, is crucial if significant near-term growth of the wind market in
desired.
The Boom-and-Bust Cycle of Development
Though the historical impacts of the PTC are well known, somewhat less recognized is the fact that the frequent expiration/extension cycle that we have
seen since 1999 has had several negative consequences for the growth of wind power. Due to the series of shorter-term, 1- to 2- year
PTC extensions, growing demand for wind power has been compressed into tight and frenzied windows of development. This has
led to boom and bust cycles in renewable energy development, under-investment in manufacturing capacity in the U.S., and
variability in equipment and supply costs. Recent work at Berkeley Lab suggests that this boom-and-bust cycle has made the PTC
less effective in stimulating low-cost wind development than might be the case if a longer term and more stable policy were
established.
More specifically, some of the potentially negative impacts of the shorter-term, 1- to 2-year extensions of the PTC on the wind industry are
as follows:
1. Slowed Wind Development: Data in Figure 3 demonstrate that the risk of PTC expiration can slow wind development in certain years. Even in years
in which the PTC is secure, uncertainty in the future availability of the PTC may undermine rational industry planning, project
development, and manufacturing investments, thereby leading to lower levels of new wind project capacity additions.
2. Higher Costs: Wind project costs in the U.S. decreased substantially from the early 1980s to the early 2000s, demonstrating the success of public and private R&D investments and the commercial success
of the technology. Since 2002, however, costs have risen. Based on data collected by Berkeley Lab, the average installed cost of wind projects in the U.S. in 2006 was roughly $1,600/kW, up from roughly $1,300/kW in
2002. There is reason to believe that these increased prices have been caused, in part, by the erratic market cycle of frenzied investment alternated with market collapse that has been created by the 1- to 2-year
extensions of the PTC in recent years.
3. Greater Reliance on Foreign Manufacturing: Uncertainty in the future scale of the U.S. wind power market has limited the
interest of both U.S. and foreign firms in investing in wind turbine and component manufacturing infrastructure in the U.S. Instead, the
U.S. remains reliant, to a significant degree, on wind turbines and components manufactured in Europe and, in the future, perhaps China and elsewhere, thereby reducing opportunities to grow the domestic
manufacturing sector.
4. Difficult to Rationally Plan Transmission Expansion: Accessing substantial amounts of wind energy will require investments in the transmission grid, and most analysts believe
that the U.S. has under-invested in transmission in recent years. Uncertainty in the future of the PTC makes transmission planning for wind particularly challenging because the economic attractiveness of wind projects
(and therefore of expanding the transmission system for those projects) hinges in many cases on the PTC. In turn, since transmission projects take many years to plan, permit, finance, and construct, uncertain demand
for the line itself may prevent needed transmission projects from taking place.
5. Reduced Private R&D Expenditure: Shorter-term PTC extensions may lower the willingness of private industry to engage and
invest in long-term wind technology R&D that is unlikely to pay off within a 1- to 2-year PTC cycle, given uncertainty in the
future domestic market demand for those advanced technologies.
Potential Benefits of a Longer-Term PTC Extension
Recent research at Berkeley Lab and elsewhere has sought to investigate, with more specificity, some of the possible benefits of a longer-term (5-10 year) PTC extension, or other more-stable form of promotional
Preliminary analysis in late 2006 by Berkeley Lab, for example, suggested that a longer-term PTC extension may be able to drive the installed
policy.
cost of wind down by 5% to more than 15%, relative to a continuation of the present cycle of 1- to 2-year extensions.

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More recent analysis of historical wind capital costs also suggests the possibility of a capital cost premium of up to 12% as a result of the present boom-and-bust cycle.
Because these initial analyses were crude, and the resulting estimates uncertain, we also sought to confirm the results through a survey of wind industry members. Through the survey, we also hoped to develop a better
understanding of some of the specific benefits of a longer-term PTC extension (or alternative policies that would bring more long-term certainty to the industry). Importantly, this was an industry survey, and did not seek
to address other relevant perspectives on the benefits and drawbacks of longer-term PTC renewal. I therefore encourage you to think of the results as useful inputs to policy determination, but by no means a
comprehensive analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of such an extension.
Survey respondents represent a diverse set of industry stakeholders, including two wind turbine manufacturers, three components suppliers, four developers/O&M providers, and one construction contractor. We may
receive more responses in the weeks ahead, so the results presented here should be considered preliminary.
Some of the key findings of this work are provided below.
Finding #1: The Benefits to the Wind Industry of a 5- to 10-Year PTC Extension Are
Expected to be Diverse
Survey respondents ranked a number of potential benefits from a 5- to 10-year PTC extension, relative to a continuation of the current 1- to 2-year extension cycle. Respondents were asked to respond to the question
from an aggregate industry perspective.
Survey respondents view the most important benefit of a 5- to 10-year PTC extension to be the greater number of wind
installations expected to result from that policy stability (Figure 4). Other major benefits include more rational transmission planning,
reductions in installed project costs, and enhanced private R&D. Though expectations for reductions in project costs are not surprising, it is interesting to note the perceived
importance of a 5- to 10-year PTC extension on transmission planning and private R&D investments. Neither of these potential benefits has typically been emphasized in discussions over PTC extension, at least to my
knowledge.
Finding #2: A 5- to 10-Year PTC Extension May Encourage Growth in Domestic Wind
Turbine Manufacturing
U.S.-based manufacturing of wind turbines and components remains somewhat limited, in part because of the uncertain availability of the Federal PTC. This is true despite recent announcements and investments to
increase local manufacturing of certain components by both domestic and international firms. In 2006, for example, new wind-related manufacturing plants were established in Iowa (Clipper Windpower), Minnesota
(Suzlon), and Pennsylvania (Gamesa). And GE Energy, the Nation’s most prominent wind turbine manufacturer, captured 47% of domestic wind turbine sales in 2006.
Industry members were asked to estimate the proportion of U.S. wind project costs currently sourced from or manufactured in the United States, as well as expected trends in domestic manufacturing in the coming ten
years under both an uncertain PTC environment and under a 10-year PTC extension.
directional consistency is clear: a longer-term PTC extension is expected
Though responses show a range of opinions on the magnitude of future domestic manufacturing,
by industry to yield a sizable increase in domestic wind turbine and component manufacturing (Figure 5).
Under the present uncertain PTC extension path, domestic manufacturing is expected to remain largely constant over time, and not
grow substantially from its current base of roughly 30%. As one point of reference, the nascent wind power market in China has already achieved a 70% local manufacturing share,
with virtually all of the major turbine manufacturers (including GE) making substantial manufacturing investments in that market. A 10-year PTC extension, on the other hand, yields a median expected domestic
manufacturing share of over 70%, on par with China’s current share, bringing with it jobs and local economic development benefits.
Finding #3: Installed Cost Reduction Potential Is Significant, at 8% (5-year extension) to 15% (10-year extension), on Average
All of the industry stakeholders that responded to the survey agreed that a longer term extension of the PTC could help reduce the installed cost of wind in the United States, but there is some disagreement on the
magnitude of those possible cost reductions.
Almost universally, survey respondents believe that the potential cost reduction is greater under a 10-year extension than under a 5-year extension. Under a 10-year extension, projected cost reductions range from a low
of 5-10% to as high as 20-25%; under a 5-year extension, cost reductions are projected to range from 0-5% to 10-15%. Averaged over all responses, a 5-year extension is projected to yield cost reductions in the 8%
(~$135/kW) range, while a 10-year extension may result in ~15% reductions in installed wind project costs (~$255/kW). Other survey results, not presented here, suggest that these savings estimates might be
considered a conservative lower bound. Either way, these results are reasonably consistent with those estimated earlier by Berkeley Lab.
Respondents believe that the most important cost-reducing influences that may come from a 5- to 10-year extension include:
1. More efficient labor deployment and greater investment in supply-chain capital; lower risk premiums for capital investment in
the supply chain.
2. Enhanced private R&D expenditures that improve wind technology.
3. Cost savings from a de-linking of U.S. prices to the Euro-US dollar exchange rate, due to increased domestic manufacturing.
4. Transportation savings created by increased domestic manufacturing of turbines and components.
5. Reductions in other project development and financing costs that are driven higher by currently rushed development schedules
Summary of Findings
The findings reported above suggest that the benefits of a longer-term PTC renewal may be significant, and that the benefits of a
10-year extension are likely to be greater than those of a 5- year extension. I want to very clearly acknowledge, however, that these possible benefits must be judged
against the costs to the Treasury of a longer-term PTC extension, as well as the alternative uses of the funds required to support such an extension. In addition, it should be understood that the above survey results derive
from the views of wind industry participants, who have a natural self-interest in a PTC extension.

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Inherency – US behind

Even if the US produces the most wind-megawatts, percentage-wise we’re still behind

Moskowitz, 8 (Clara Moskowitz, Staff Writer for Live Science, Science Communication Graduate at University of California,
“US Takes Global Lead in Wind Energy Production,” July 23, 2008) http://www.livescience.com/environment/080723-us-wind-
energy.html

Though we are winning the race in terms of volume of wind energy produced, we are far behind when it comes to the proportion of
our total energy we get from wind.
While wind currently supplies about 1.2 percent of the United States' power, it accounts for about 7 percent of Germany's total
energy consumption. And the even-smaller country of Denmark gets roughly 20 percent of its energy form wind.
Most of America's wind power is being collected in Texas (which provides more than 25 percent of the country's wind-generated
electricity), the Midwest, and West Coast, Swisher said.
The main issue with ramping up our use of wind power is not a lack of wind — have you seen how gusty it gets on the plains of
Iowa? — but a lack of good ways to transport that energy from where it's collected to homes and offices and factories where it will
be used.
"The major constraint is the transmission infrastructure," Swisher said. "To be able to build more turbines we have to build more
transmission lines to carry the electricity from where it's generated to major areas where energy is being used."
Though America's wind energy use is certainly ramping up, we still have a ways to go toward harnessing its full potential.

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Inherency – current PTC fails

Extending the PTC is critical to prevent a massive decrease in wind power and spur long-term investment in the industry

UPI, 8 (Megan Harris, United Press International, “Analysis: U.S. wind market's mixed signals,” 5-6-2008,
http://www.upi.com/International_Security/Energy/Analysis/2008/05/06/analysis_us_wind_markets_mixed_signals/3295/) // JMP
HANOVER, Germany, May 6 (UPI) -- The wind energy industry is beginning to repower existing turbines for greater efficiency and expanding to offshore locations in Europe, and
despite unstable incentives for wind power in the United States, strong
growth potential and the weak dollar are buoying interest in the U.S. market.
For most firms, the
biggest barrier to the U.S. market is the lack of stable incentives.
The Production Tax Credit, which was due to expire at the end of 2007, was renewed in 2006 for one year until the end of 2008. It provides a 2 cent per kilowatt-hour credit to
project developers for the first 10 years of operation but has expired three times since it was first created in 1992.
"If it is allowed to expire, the industry and investors worry that growth will fall off -- although 25 states and the District of Columbia have their own
renewable electricity standards and that could provide somewhat of a cushion," Aaron Severn, legislative representative for the American Wind Energy Association, told United Press
International at the Hanover Innovation Fair from April 21-25.
"That's an experiment we don't want to undertake. Very
dramatic decreases in the amount of installed wind energy occurred in the past when the
PTC expired. Our member companies say that projects would be put on hold and investment would flow into more stable markets if the PTC is not extended immediately," he said.
"Developers want long-term market stability," he added, emphasizing the importance of long-term, robust incentives.

Current PTC Policy Creates Uncertainty and Undermines Investor Confidence

AP 8 (“ Tax credit seen vital for wind industry growth”, 6/2/08,

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/printarticle.aspx?feed=AP&date=20080602&id=8716988)\\TM

HOUSTON (AP) - Renewal of federal tax credits expiring at the end of the year is critical to U.S. investment in the wind-energy industry, executives and officials said Monday. Congress
is debating whether to renew, and how to pay for, production tax credits that help subsidize the growing industry. The existing subsidy of 2 cents per kilowatt hour for wind developers is
set to expire in December, and the uncertainty has prompted some to delay investments beyond 2008, industry executives say. The tax credits were a hot topic at Windpower 2008, a four-
day gathering of more than 10,000 policymakers and energy professionals that began Sunday. Vic Abate, vice
president for renewables at GE Energy, an arm of General
"We're already starting to see some
Electric Co., said failure to renew the tax credit will almost certainly slow GE's business of supplying turbines to wind farms.
customers ask, 'If this (credit) doesn't happen, can we put these in Canada or South America,'" Abate said. The credits expired in 1999,
2001 and 2003, and wind-power installation fell significantly in each of the following years, advocates of the tax credits note.
Despite the subsidy question, legendary oilman T. Boone Pickens' Mesa Power said last month it ordered 667 wind turbines from GE for a mammoth wind farm in the Texas Panhandle —
a $2 billion bet on what Pickens hopes will become "the wind capital of the world." The entire project, whose cost could grow to $12 billion, is forecast to be finished in 2014.
Pickens acknowledged that questions over the subsidy made the GE order a bit harrowing but he said he's confident Congress will
understand the consequences if it doesn't OK the credit. Based on a price $125 a barrel for crude oil, Pickens estimates the U.S. will spend $700 billion a year for
foreign oil — a tab he said is not sustainable. "People may say I'm foolish to have that kind of confidence in Congress, but I do because the $700 billion is so overwhelming," he told The
Associated Press. "We're going to have to go to all the alternatives that we can." Wind energy today accounts for about 1 percent of the nation's electricity, but the industry has been on a
growth spurt. More than $9 billion in investments helped U.S. wind capacity grow by 45 percent last year, and 2008 is poised to match those levels, according to the American Wind
Energy Association. A report released last month — a collaboration between the Energy Department and industry — concluded wind energy could generate 20 percent of the nation's
electricity by 2030, about the same share now produced by nuclear reactors. Andy Karsner, the Energy Department's assistant secretary for efficiency and renewable energy, said Monday
that Congress should look beyond the current tax-credit subsidy and create a policy that encourages investment in a variety of clean-energy industries. Ideally, he said, it would be a
"technology neutral" policy that helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions growth regardless of the source — wind, nuclear, solar, or some other. For now, however, he said it's important for
"This is the tool we've got in the tool kit," Karsner said. "Playing with it right now is not the answer."
Congress to renew the tax credit.
Hunter Armistead, who helps oversee wind-farm projects for developer Babcock & Brown Ltd., agreed a policy that extends
beyond two years was far more desirable for the industry. "We see it as a bridge to something more permanent," Armistead said.
"For now, though, it's what we've got."

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Econ – Wind key
Wind is key to competitiveness – the U.S. must expand the industry to take advantage of a growing global market

AWEA, 4 (American Wind Energy Association, “Wind Energy and the Economy,” 10-26-2004,
www.awea.org/faq/tutorial/wwt_economy.html)

Wind power supplies affordable, inexhaustible energy to the economy. It also provides jobs and other sources of income. Best of all,
wind powers the economy without causing pollution, generating hazardous wastes, or depleting natural resources—it has no "hidden costs." Finally, wind energy depends on a free fuel
source—the wind—and so it is relatively immune to inflation.
What are America's current sources of electricity?
Coal, the most polluting fuel and the largest source of the leading greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide (CO2), is currently used to generate more than half of all of the electricity (52%) used in
the United States. Other sources of electricity are: natural gas (16%), oil (3%), nuclear (20%), and hydropower (7%).
How many people work in the U.S. wind industry?
The U.S. wind industry currently directly employs more than 2,000 people. The
wind industry contributes directly to the economies of 46 states, with
power plants and manufacturing facilities that produce wind turbines, blades, electronic components, gearboxes, generators, and a
wide range of other equipment.
The Renewable Energy Policy Project (REPP) estimates that every megawatt of installed wind capacity creates about 4.8 job-years of employment, both direct (manufacturing,
construction, operations) and indirect (advertising, office support, etc.). This means that a 50-MW wind farm creates 240 job-years of employment.
Wind and solar energy are likely to furnish one of the largest sources of new manufacturing jobs worldwide during the 21st
Century.
What is the value of export markets for wind?
Export markets are growing rapidly. Overseas markets account for about half of the business of U.S. manufacturers of small wind
turbines and wind energy developers. Small wind turbine markets are diverse and include many applications, both on-grid (connected to a utility system) and off-grid
(stand-alone). A recent market study predicts that small wind turbine sales will increase fivefold by 2005.
The potential economic benefits from wind are enormous. At a time when U.S. manufacturing employment is generally on the
decline, the production of wind equipment is one of the few potentially large sources of new manufacturing jobs on the horizon.
AWEA estimates that wind installations worldwide will total more than 75,000 megawatts over the next decade, or more than $75
billion worth of business. If the U.S. industry could capture a 25% share of the global wind market through the year 2013, many
thousands of new jobs would be created.

Wind creates key export markets – huge opportunities exist

AWEA 7 (American Wind Energy Association http://www.awea.org/faq/wwt_economy.html, AM)

Export markets are growing rapidly. Overseas markets account for about half of the business of U.S. manufacturers of small wind
turbines and wind energy developers. Small wind turbine markets are diverse and include many applications, both on-grid
(connected to a utility system) and off-grid (stand-alone). The potential economic benefits from wind are enormous. At a time
when U.S. manufacturing employment is generally on the decline, the production of wind equipment is one of the few potentially
large sources of new manufacturing jobs on the horizon. AWEA estimates that wind installations worldwide will total more than
100,000 megawatts over the next decade, or more than $100 billion worth of business. If the U.S. industry could capture a 25%
share of the global wind market through the year 2015, many thousands of new jobs would be created.

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Econ – Wind key to jobs
Wind power would massively increase employment

AWEA 7 (American Wind Energy Association http://www.awea.org/faq/wwt_economy.html, AM)

The U.S. wind industry currently directly employs more than 2,000 people. The wind industry contributes directly to the
economies of 46 states, with power plants and manufacturing facilities that produce wind turbines, blades, electronic components,
gearboxes, generators, and a wide range of other equipment. The Renewable Energy Policy Project (REPP) estimates that every
megawatt of installed wind capacity creates about 4.8 job-years of employment, both direct (manufacturing, construction,
operations) and indirect (advertising, office support, etc.). This means that a 50-MW wind farm creates 240 job-years of
employment. According to a REPP study released in October 2004, boosting U.S. wind energy installations to approximately eight
times today's levels could create 150,000 manufacturing jobs nationwide, with most jobs being added in the 20 states that have lost
the most in recent years. According to REPP, some 90 companies in 25 states currently manufacture wind turbine components, and
over 16,000 companies in all 50 states have the technical potential to enter the wind turbine market. The full report is available on
the REPP Web site at: http://www.repp.org/articles/static/1/binaries/WindLocator.pdf Wind and solar energy are likely to be among
the largest sources of new manufacturing jobs worldwide during the 21st Century. What is the value of export markets for wind?
Export markets are growing rapidly. Overseas markets account for about half of the business of U.S. manufacturers of small wind
turbines and wind energy developers. Small wind turbine markets are diverse and include many applications, both on-grid
(connected to a utility system) and off-grid (stand-alone). The potential economic benefits from wind are enormous. At a time
when U.S. manufacturing employment is generally on the decline, the production of wind equipment is one of the few potentially
large sources of new manufacturing jobs on the horizon. AWEA estimates that wind installations worldwide will total more than
100,000 megawatts over the next decade, or more than $100 billion worth of business. If the U.S. industry could capture a 25%
share of the global wind market through the year 2015, many thousands of new jobs would be created.

Wind power would spur 500,000 jobs

AWEA 08 (American Wind Energy Association, “MAJOR NEW TECHNICAL REPORT FINDS WIND CAN PROVIDE 20% OF
U.S. ELECTRICITY NEEDS BY 2030”, May 12,
http://www.awea.org/newsroom/releases/20percent_Wind_Report_12May2008.html)

“Wind is an important part of BP Alternative Energy’s business and of BP’s diverse energy portfolio. Siting and wildlife issues will
be a challenge, but AWEA and industry leaders are committed to working with stakeholders to make wind the environmental
electricity choice,” said Bob Lukefahr, President, Power Americas, BP Alternative Energy North America. “This report
underscores the benefits of diversifying our electricity sources. Growing to 20% wind requires investment in new manufacturing
and capital projects, an estimated 500,000 jobs, and brings rural economic development across the country.”

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Econ – winds key to jobs
Expanding wind energy would create 10 times as many jobs as fossil fuel expansion, stabilize energy prices, reduce
consumer costs, and increase capital investment

World Watch Institute and Center for American Progress in 6 (American Energy Now, “The Renewable Path to Energy
Security”, September 2006, http://www.worldwatch.org/files/pdf/AmericanEnergy.pdf, pg.10)

Expanding the use of renewable energy will have a positive impact on employment, according to more than a dozen independent
studies analyzing the impact of clean energy on the economy. Renewable energy creates more jobs per unit of energy produced and
per dollar spent than fossil fuel technologies do. Several studies have shown that greater reliance on renewable energy would have large,
positive impacts on the U.S. economy, creating significant numbers of new jobs, driving major capital investment, stabilizing
energy prices, and reducing consumer costs.
A transition away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy would create both winners and losers, but most studies show that many more jobs would be created than
lost. A 2004 analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists found that increasing the share of renewable energy in the U.S. electricity system to 20 percent—adding more than 160,000
megawatts (MW) of new renewable energy facilities by 2020—would create more than 355,000 new U.S. jobs.
If the increased use of renewable energy led to significant reductions in fossil fuel prices, consumer savings on electricity and
natural gas bills would ripple through the U.S. economy, spawning even more jobs. It would also provide a tremendous economic
boost to rural communities. Most of the jobs created in renewable energy would be high-paying positions for skilled workers, in
fields such as manufacturing, sales, construction, installation, and maintenance.
A 2004 Renewable Energy Policy Project study determined that increasing U.S. wind capacity to 50,000 MW—about five times today’s level—would
create 150,000 manufacturing jobs, while pumping $20 billion in investment into the national economy. Renewable heating and biofuels also
offer significant employment opportunities. The U.S. ethanol industry created nearly 154,000 jobs throughout the nation’s economy in 2005 alone, boosting household income by $5.7
billion

Wind power creates more jobs than fossil fuels

US Department of Energy 4 (“Wind Energy For Rural Economic Development”, August (No Date) 4,
http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy04osti/33590.pdf, AM)

Wind energy projects create new jobs in rural communities in manufacturing, transportation, and project construction. New projects in
the Great Plains prompted Denmark’s LM Glasfiber to open a rotor blade manufacturing plant in North Dakota. Wind turbine tower and component manufacturing
plants have created new jobs in several states, including Washington, North Dakota, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. Local labor is often used for project
construction, like building roads and erecting turbines. Once the projects are complete, jobs are created in the operation and maintenance of
the projects. The wind power plant in Lake Benton, Minnesota, is now the second largest employer in town. Construction on Iowa’s major wind farms provided 200 six-month
construction jobs and 40 permanent operations and maintenance jobs at an average wage of $16 per hour. Wind energy projects generate more new jobs than
conventional fossil fuel projects. According to a study by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, wind
energy produces 27% more jobs per kilowatthour than coal plants and 66% more jobs than natural gas plants.

Wind power offsets carbon dioxide and fossil fuel demand, and creates jobs and revenue.

World Watch Institute and Center for American Progress in 6 (American Energy Now, “The Renewable Path to Energy
Security”, September 2006, http://www.worldwatch.org/files/pdf/AmericanEnergy.pdf, pg.26-27)

On balance, the environmental, economic, and social benefits of wind power outweigh the costs. During 2005, wind turbines
operating in the United States offset the emission of 3.5 million tons of carbon dioxide, while reducing natural gas demand for
power generation by 4–5 percent. Wind farms can be permitted and built far faster than conventional power plants. And by some
estimates, every 100 MW of wind capacity creates 200 construction jobs, 2–5 permanent jobs, and up to $1 million in local
property tax revenue.

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Econ – wind solves blackouts
Wind energy solves grid failure and blackouts

Gleitz 06 (Robert, Wind Product line leader at GE, “The Case for Wind”,
http://www.gepower.com/prod_serv/products/tech_docs/en/downloads/ger4264_casewind.pdf)

To take full advantage of this country’s vast wind resources, costly new transmission lines will be necessary, and even with no
upgrades to the transmission lines, a much greater penetration of Wind is possible.
It was announced in early March that Arizona Public Service Company (APS), National Grid USA, and the Wyoming Infrastructure Authority signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate in development of new transmission lines between Wyoming and Arizona. While this is only being studied
at this point, APS—and other utilities—are attracted to Wyoming’s wind and coal resources. In addition, it was recently announced that seven utilities, including
PG&E, would work with state government officials in the four states to determine the feasibility of the Frontier Line—which is proposed to feed the growing
energy needs of the West. The line is proposed from Wyoming through Utah, and Nevada to California.
Recent experiences in the US (e.g., the Northeast Blackout of August 14, 2003) have shown that the growth of the US electric power grid presents an ongoing
challenge. The grid is organic, with a continuous process of new transmission and generation being added, and older uneconomic and environmentally detrimental
infrastructure being retired.
Accommodation of new wind generation fits within this process. New techniques and business arrangements are being developed to make the
most of existing transmission. For example, Bonneville Power Administration is developing new transmission access
arrangements that will increase the use of federally administered transmission for wind power, without requiring new
construction. Ultimately, new transmission is required to accommodate large amounts of new wind generation. In many instances,
where wind resources are best, the existing transmission is relatively weak. Improvements in the transmission for these regions
adds system reliability for the customers served there. It is important to note that the development of any type of large new
generation needed to meet America’s energy needs will require new transmission. For the most part, in the future, large new
generation will be forced to site even farther from large population and load centers. This issue is by no means unique to wind
energy.
Increased penetration of wind generation will also affect the requirements of other generation. As new generation power by other
fuels (such as natural gas, coal and nuclear), are inevitably developed, they will need to complement the variable characteristic of
the wind generation. The technology necessary to provide this functionality is available. With a coherent and long-range wind
energy policy, the market and grid planning systems will be able to adapt to these needs. Lastly, other emerging technologies, such
as energy storage (i.e., water towers, batteries), will provide additional operational flexibility to economically meet the reliability
needs of the grid.

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Econ – wind good for growth
Wind energy helps the economy
Gleitz 06 (Robert, Wind Product line leader at GE, “The Case for Wind”,
http://www.gepower.com/prod_serv/products/tech_docs/en/downloads/ger4264_casewind.pdf)

GE Energy believes that the entire value chain benefits from increased penetration of wind turbines in the US: manufacturers,
suppliers, utilities, government, society, and consumers. The Danish Wind Manufacturers Association estimates that for every
added MW of installed wind capacity there are 22 direct and indirect job-years created. Benefits are realized through supply chain
manufacturing, turbine assembly, construction, operations, maintenance, property tax revenues, land owner revenues, and
community economic multiplier effects. The economic impact of wind energy has been studied in several US states and shows
wind energy has a greater positive economic impact than either coal or gas sources of energy.
As most wind turbines are placed in rural areas, property tax from the wind turbine farms provide much needed revenue for
building schools, roads, bridges, and other needed infrastructure. A typical 100 MW farm can create $500 thousand to $1 million
per year in local tax revenue. Rural land owners also benefit through land lease payments that can generate $2500 to
$4000/MW/year. The American Corn Growers Foundation and Association support wind power farming as an alternative income
stream for farmers and landowners and as an economic development opportunity for rural areas.

Wind energy key to the economy and solving transmission grid overload – 7 reasons

Brisman in 5 -- Law clerk to the Honorable Alan S. Gold, United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. J.D.,
2003, University of Connecticut School of Law; M.F.A., 2000, Pratt Institute; B.A., 1997, Oberlin College (Avi, New York
University Environmental Law Journal, ARTICLE: THE AESTHETICS OF WIND ENERGY SYSTEMS, Lexis Nexis)

While farmers who lease their land for wind projects certainly benefit from these undertakings, such arrangements also expand the
local tax base, "keeping energy dollars in the local community instead of spending them to pay for coal and gas produced
elsewhere." 117 For example, if NedPower is successful [*52] in building its 200-turbine wind farm in Grant County, West
Virginia, it will pay $ 500,000 in local taxes, which would make it the fifth-largest taxpayer in the county. 118 Similarly, the
proposed wind farm project on the ridge of Mars Hill Mountain in Maine could increase the town of Mars Hill's tax revenue "by as
much as half when the $ 68 million project is finished." 119 In some cases, the expansion of the local tax base can help stave off
undesired urban development. 120
In addition to the economic benefits to rural communities, "the production of wind equipment is one of the few potentially large
sources of new manufacturing jobs on the horizon," 121 which [*53] is especially important given that so many manufacturing
jobs in the United States have disappeared, as companies seek cheaper labor overseas. 122 According to the American Wind
Energy Association (AWEA), a national trade association representing wind power developers, wind turbine manufacturers,
utilities, and others involved in the wind industry, every megawatt of installed wind capacity creates about 2.5 job-years of direct
employment (short-term construction and long-term operations and maintenance jobs) and about 8 job-years of total employment
(direct and indirect). This means that a 50-MW wind farm creates 125 job-years of direct employment and 400 job-years of total
employment. 123
[*54] Wind power can also provide an economic benefit to power utilities. Reeves and Beck note that, "by further diversifying
the energy mix, wind energy reduces dependence on conventional fuels that are subject to price and supply volatility." 124
Furthermore, wind energy can "provide generation capacity in geographic areas that are underserved by existing generation
capacity. This can help to maintain proper voltage and current levels throughout the grid and reduce the need for upgrades to the
transmission grid." 125
Finally, wind energy benefits the national economy by [*55] "reducing "hidden costs' resulting from air pollution and health
care." 126 To illustrate, particulate matter, as discussed in Part II, has been linked to increases in asthma and respiratory ailments,
resulting in a proliferation of hospitalizations and emergency room visits. 127 These visits translate into millions of dollars of lost
wages from lost days of work. 128 Wind energy, however, does not create this same financial loss because it is cleaner than fossil
fuels and thus does not result in or exacerbate asthma and respiratory ailments that require hospitalization.

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Warming – PTC solves
A PTC extension would allow us to cut GHG emissions and effectively create a domestic market for wind energy
AWEA 7 (American Wind Energy Association, “A proposal for a strategic initiative”, http://www.awea.org/policy/ccwp.html,
7/6/07)

Wind technology provides an outstanding opportunity to cut carbon dioxide output at an extremely reasonable cost. Wind costs are
expected to be among the lowest of generating technologies by early in the next century,[6] when most of the new wind capacity would be installed. Wind energy is already within a cost-
The levelized cost of power from a wind project is now
competitive range if its cost is examined on a true life-cycle basis over the lifetime of a typical wind plant.
about 4.5 cents/kWh, compared with levelized coal plant costs of about 3.9 cents/kWh.[7]
The cost of avoiding carbon dioxide emissions with wind technology is currently about $6 per ton avoided,[8] and will decline even further over the next decade, perhaps even to zero if
wind achieves cost parity with fossil fuels, as the industry is now seeking to do. The goal for wind technology is to have winds total costs equal to the variable cost (i.e., the fuel and O&M
costs) of its fossil fuel competitors. That goal can be reached within 5-10 years if a high growth path for wind is chosen. Over recent years, wind technology has consistently beaten
predictions about future cost improvements. 30,000 MW--An Achievable Goal? To reach 30,000 MW by the year 2010, installed wind capacity would have to expand at a compound
growth rate of 25% annually. This rate is achievable, but must be stimulated by policies that are steady and consistent[9] so that investment in new production capacity can be made as
needed. We know that it is achievable because: * The global wind industry has been expanding at a similar rate or higher for the past five years. While the U.S. wind market has
stagnated since 1991, the world market has accelerated swiftly enough to make wind the world's fastest-growing energy technology. Capacity additions outside the U.S. jumped by 40% in
1994, 65% in 1995, and 35% in 1996, and the pace of growth is expected to gather momentum again in the 1999-2000 time frame. * AWEA's detailed global market projections, which
are conservative, indicate that new worldwide installations will total 30,000 MW in the next 10 years, which again suggests that the Strategic Wind Energy Initiative's goal of boosting
U.S. installations by 28,300 MW over the next 13 years is ambitious, but achievable.[10] * In 1991, the European Wind Energy Association set a goal for European installations of
4,000 MW by the year 2000. That target has already been achieved; recently the Association established new goals, of 8,000 MW by the year 2000 and 40,000 MW by 2010.[11] European
domestic policies have fueled strong market growth in Europe and elsewhere[12] --the U.S. can do the same for its domestic market while also encouraging continued rapid growth in the
global market.
New wind projects can start going up within one to three years after new policies or incentives encouraging wind are put in place. Wind
turbines themselves are modular and are composed of factory-built components which are already mass- produced or can be mass-produced when a
market develops. Industry experts compare the manufacture of wind turbines to that of trucks, and expect manufacturing capacity
to ramp up rapidly to respond to market demand.
The Price of Inaction
Should the necessary policy support for wind not be forthcoming, development would lag, resulting in AWEA's "base case" projection, which
forecasts cumulative installations of 7,875 MW for the U.S. by 2010. This still assumes very moderate but clear policy changes to
encourage development of wind projects in the U.S. However, 7,875 MW of wind capacity makes only a small contribution to achieving CO2
emissions reductions in 2010, a date by which substantial progress needs to be made if the U.S. ever hopes to stabilize emissions at
1990 levels. It is therefore essential to take more significant policy steps so that AWEA's "high growth" scenario, under which wind reaches 30,000
MW installed by 2010, takes place.[13]

The use of wind energy will lead to 100 million metric tons less of CO2 per year
AWEA 7 (American Wind Energy Association, “A proposal for a strategic initiative”, http://www.awea.org/policy/ccwp.html,
7/6/07)

The United States is currently expected to fall far short of reducing CO2 emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2010, according to
projections from the Energy Information Agency (EIA). In fact, emissions in that year from the electric utility sector alone (which
produces about a third of the nation's overall CO2 emissions) are predicted to exceed those in 1990 by some 548 million metric
tons (MMT).[3]Every 10,000 MW of wind installed can reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 33 MMT annually if it replaces
coal-fired generating capacity, or 21 MMT if it replaces generation from the U.S. average fuel mix.[4] The American Wind Energy
Association (AWEA) estimates that wind energy, if encouraged vigorously, could reach 30,000 megawatts (MW) of installed
generating capacity in the U.S. by 2010 (compared to current capacity of 1,700 MW). If this target is achieved, wind would reduce
national CO2 emissions by 100 MMT annually, or more than 18% of the 548-MMT excess [based on displacement of coal-fired
generation].[5]

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Warming – wind solves
Wind energy has the potential to be bigger than the internet—it is the solution to climate change
Truini 7 (Joe Truini, Waste News, 6/11/07, Lexis Nexis)

Los Angeles --The time is ripe for wind power, and it is well-positioned to take advantage of a positive political and social climate.
``The stars seemed to be aligned,'' said Karl Rabago, director of government and regulatory affairs for Arlington, Va.-based AES
Corp.
Despite a slow start, U.S. wind energy is poised to take the global lead in installed generation capacity by 2010, perhaps sooner,
said Steve Sawyer, secretary general of the Global Wind Energy Council.
``The Europeans know it. They'll soon be eating your dust,'' he said.
Political and public opinion is shifting toward adopting carbon regulations to address climate change, and wind power is the only
form of affordable energy positioned to help, Sawyer said.
New nuclear plants would be impossible to site and build by 2020, and commercial carbon capture technology for coal-fired power
plants is at least 10 to 15 years away, which is the critical time to address climate change, he said.
``I believe the key to this 21st century energy challenge begins and ends with renewable energy, especially wind power,'' said Iowa
Gov. Chet Culver during the Windpower 2007 Conference & Exhibition June 3-6 in Los Angeles.
``A new economy is being born,'' said Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club. ``Wind is going to be part of that economy.''
But the industry has to meet the challenge, or it will be a major opportunity squandered, said Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer.
``If you get it right, you will be known as the greatest generation,'' Schweitzer said. ``And if you get it wrong, your grandkids will
fight a war someplace else.''
Climate change is the catalyst that is increasing demand for wind energy and creating a favorable environment for wind power
development on Capitol Hill and Wall Street, said former Democratic Sen. Tom Daschle.
``I actually think it could be bigger than the entire dot-com revolution,'' he said.
Global warming is hitting closer to home as political and even religious leaders increasingly recognize the threat, said Rep. Jerry
McNerney, D-Calif.
``In the past, we've relied on fear to cooperate on threats of national and global significance,'' he said. ``If we follow that path of
cooperation, we will open up a new chapter in human history.''
A large-scale transition to wind energy could be the greatest economic boon the nation's ever seen, improving the nation's energy
security while creating manufacturing jobs, Schweitzer said.
He has a plan to develop 3,500 megawatts of wind generation capacity in Montana to sell electricity to Los Angeles, Las Vegas and
Phoenix. Montana already exports most of its electricity and will take advantage of its status of windiest state to sell more, he said.
``Wind power is not just for hippies sitting on mountaintops smoking marijuana,'' Schweitzer said. ``The market wants it and we'll
supply it.''

Wind solves global warming

AWEA 08 (American Wind Energy Association, “MAJOR NEW TECHNICAL REPORT FINDS WIND CAN PROVIDE 20% OF
U.S. ELECTRICITY NEEDS BY 2030”, May 12,
http://www.awea.org/newsroom/releases/20percent_Wind_Report_12May2008.html)

"DOE's wind report is a thorough look at America's wind resource, its industrial capabilities, and future energy prices, and confirms the viability and commercial maturity of wind as a
major contributor to America's energy needs, now and in the future," DOE Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy for the U.S. Department of Energy Andy
Karsner, said. "To
dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance our energy security, clean power generation at the
gigawatt-scale will be necessary, and will require us to take a comprehensive approach to scaling renewable wind power,
streamlining siting and permitting processes, and expanding the domestic wind manufacturing base." Included in the report are an examination
of America’s technological and manufacturing capabilities, the future costs of energy sources, U.S. wind energy resources, and the environmental and economic impacts of wind
development. Under the 20% wind scenario, installations of new wind power capacity would increase to more than 16,000 megawatts per year by 2018, and continue at that rate through
2030.
“The report shows that wind power can provide 20% of the nation’s electricity by 2030, and be a critical part of the solution to
global warming,” said AWEA Executive Director Randall Swisher. “This level of wind power is the equivalent of taking 140 million cars off the
road,” he said. “The report identifies the central constraints to achieving 20% - transmission, siting, manufacturing and technology - and demonstrates how each can be overcome. As
an inexhaustible domestic resource, wind strengthens our energy security, improves the quality of the air we breathe, slows climate change,
and revitalizes rural communities.”
The report finds that achieving a 20 percent wind contribution to U.S. electricity supply would:
Reduce carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation by 25 percent in 2030.

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Warming – human caused

Warming is anthropogenic
Brown, Director and Founder of the global institute of Environment in the U.S., 2008
[Lester E. Brown, “Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization”]
Scientists at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) gather data from a global network of some 800 climate-monitoring stations to measure changes in
the earth's average temperature. Their direct measurements go back to 1880.6
Since 1970, the earth's average temperature has risen by 0.6 degrees Celsius, or 1 degree Fahrenheit. Meteorologists
note that the 23 warmest years on record have come since 1980. And the seven warmest years since recordkeeping
began in 1880 have come in the last nine years. Four of these-2002, 2003, 2005, and 2006-were years in which major food-
producing regions saw their crops wither in the face of record temperatures.
The amount of carbon dioxide (C02) in the atmosphere has risen substantially since the start of the Industrial
Revolution, growing from 277 parts per million (ppm) to 384 ppm in 2007. The annual rise in the atmospheric C02
level, one of the world's most predictable environmental trends, is the result of the annual discharge into
the atmosphere of 7.5 billion tons of carbon from burning fossil fuels and 1.5 billion tons from deforestation. The
current annual rise is nearly four times what it was in the 1950s, largely because of increased emissions from
burning fossil fuels. As more C02 accumulates in the atmosphere, temperatures go up.

Human action responsible for the past three decades of global warming
Bernstein, PhD Chemical Engineering @ Purdue and President of the CMC, 2007
(Lenny, IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/ar4-syr.htm, More Authors on Draft Team, CBato)
A synthesis of studies strongly demonstrates that the spatial agreement between regions of significant warming
across the globe and the locations of significant observed changes in many natural systems consistent with warming is very
unlikely to be due solely to natural variability of temperatures or natural variability of the systems. Several
modelling studies have linked some specific responses in physical and biological systems to anthropogenic
warming, but only a few such studies have been performed. Taken together with evidence of significant
anthropogenic warming over the past 50 years averaged over each continent (except Antarctica), it is likely that
anthropogenic warming over the last three decades has had a discernible influence on many natural systems.

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Warming Now
Multiple Factors Prove Warming Happening Now
New York Times 2008
(3-21, “Climate Change? Been There, Done That”, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/21/books/21book.html,CBato)
Mr. Fagan, an anthropologist who has written on climate change in “The Long Summer” and “The Little Ice Age,”
proceeds methodically, working his way across the globe and reading the evidence provided by tree rings,
deep-sea cores, coral samples, computer weather models and satellite photos. The picture that emerges
remains blurry — scientists still understand little about such weather-changers as El Niño and La Niña — but it has
sharpened considerably over the past 40 years, enough for Mr. Fagan to present a coherent account of profound
changes in human societies from the American Southwest to the Huang He River basin in China.
Longer summers and milder winters in Europe, especially stable from 1100 to 1300, allowed Norse explorers to range as
far as Greenland and Labrador. At the same time a population boom in the rest of Europe led to radical deforestation, as trees were
cleared to create farmland. By the end of the Medieval Warm Period half the forests that covered four-fifths of
Western and Central Europe in A.D. 500 had disappeared. Across vast swaths of the globe, however, severe,
persistent droughts lasted not just for years but for generations. The Sierras of modern-day California experienced the
severest droughts of the past 4,000 to 7,000 years. Acorn trees died, and along with them peoples largely dependent on acorns for
food. Although data remain sketchy, it seems probable that extended droughts dried up pastureland on the Central Asian steppe,
propelling the armies of Genghis Khan westward. In the southern Yucatan arid conditions proved too much for the elaborate
reservoirs, called “water mountains,” that the Maya used to irrigate their fields. Mr. Fagan permits himself an ominous aside: “The
analogies to modern-day California, with its aqueducts for water-hungry Los Angeles, or to cities such as Tucson, Ariz., with its
shrinking aquifers and falling water table, are irresistible.” For a spark of hope Mr. Fagan offers the example of Chimor, a
kingdom in coastal Peru tormented by El Niño flooding and severe droughts throughout the Medieval Warm
Period. The Chimu people thrived nonetheless by diversifying their food supply and protecting their scarce water resources. In a
historically arid region with uncertain food supplies, they successfully tapped their centuries of experience with irrigation, soil
conservation and water management. Look no further for a global-warming role model.

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Warming kills the Oceans
A) C02 Turning the Oceans to acid killing all marine ecosystems
Nicholas Stern—Head of the British Government Economic Service—2007
(Former Head Economist for the World Bank, I.G. Patel Chair at the London School of Economics and Political Science, “The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review”,
The report of a team commissioned by the British Government to study the economics of climate change led by Siobhan Peters, Head of G8 and International Climate Change
Policy Unit, Cambridge University Press, p. 72)

Ocean acidification, a direct result of rising carbon dioxide levels, will have major effects on marine ecosystems, with possible
adverse consequences on fish stocks. For fisheries, information on the likely impacts of climate change is very limited – a major
gap in knowledge considering that about one billion people worldwide (one-sixth of the world’s population) rely on fish as their
primary source of animal protein. While higher ocean temperatures may increase growth rates of some fish, reduced nutrient
supplies due to warming may limit growth. Ocean acidification is likely to be particularly damaging. The oceans have become
more acidic in the past 200 years, because of chemical changes caused by increasing amounts of carbon dioxide dissolving in
seawater.44 If global emissions continue to rise on current trends, ocean acidity is likely to increase further, with pH declining by
an additional 0.15 units if carbon dioxide levels double (to 560 ppm) relative to pre-industrial and an additional 0.3 units if carbon
dioxide levels treble (to 840 ppm).45 Changes on this scale have not been experienced for hundreds of thousands of years and are
occurring at an extremely rapid rate. Increasing ocean acidity makes it harder for many ocean creatures to form shells and
skeletons from calcium carbonate. These chemical changes have the potential to disrupt marine ecosystems irreversibly - at the
very least halting the growth of corals, which provide important nursery grounds for commercial fish, and damaging molluscs and
certain types of plankton at the base of the food chain. Plankton and marine snails are critical to sustaining species such as salmon,
mackerel and baleen whales, and such changes are expected to have serious but as-yet-unquantified wider impacts.

B) Ocean biodiversity key to solve extinction

Craig, Associate Prof Law, Indiana U School Law, 2003
(McGeorge Law Review, 34 McGeorge L. Rev. 155 Lexis)

Biodiversity and ecosystem function arguments for conserving marine ecosystems also exist, just as they do for terrestrial
ecosystems, but these arguments have thus far rarely been raised in political debates. For example, besides significant tourism
values - the most economically valuable ecosystem service coral reefs provide, worldwide - coral reefs protect against storms and
dampen other environmental fluctuations, services worth more than ten times the reefs' value for food production. n856 Waste
treatment is another significant, non-extractive ecosystem function that intact coral reef ecosystems provide. n857 More generally,
"ocean ecosystems play a major role in the global geochemical cycling of all the elements that represent the basic building blocks
of living organisms, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur, as well as other less abundant but necessary elements."
n858 In a very real and direct sense, therefore, human degradation of marine ecosystems impairs the planet's ability to support life.
Maintaining biodiversity is often critical to maintaining the functions of marine ecosystems. Current evidence shows that, in
general, an ecosystem's ability to keep functioning in the face of disturbance is strongly dependent on its biodiversity, "indicating
that more diverse ecosystems are more stable." n859 Coral reef ecosystems are particularly dependent on their biodiversity.
[*265] Most ecologists agree that the complexity of interactions and degree of interrelatedness among component species is
higher on coral reefs than in any other marine environment. This implies that the ecosystem functioning that produces the most
highly valued components is also complex and that many otherwise insignificant species have strong effects on sustaining the rest
of the reef system. n860 Thus, maintaining and restoring the biodiversity of marine ecosystems is critical to maintaining and
restoring the ecosystem services that they provide. Non-use biodiversity values for marine ecosystems have been calculated in the
wake of marine disasters, like the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. n861 Similar calculations could derive preservation values for
marine wilderness. However, economic value, or economic value equivalents, should not be "the sole or even primary justification
for conservation of ocean ecosystems. Ethical arguments also have considerable force and merit." n862 At the forefront of such
arguments should be a recognition of how little we know about the sea - and about the actual effect of human activities on marine
ecosystems. The United States has traditionally failed to protect marine ecosystems because it was difficult to detect anthropogenic
harm to the oceans, but we now know that such harm is occurring - even though we are not completely sure about causation or
about how to fix every problem. Ecosystems like the NWHI coral reef ecosystem should inspire lawmakers and policymakers to
admit that most of the time we really do not know what we are doing to the sea and hence should be preserving marine wilderness
whenever we can - especially when the United States has within its territory relatively pristine marine ecosystems that may be
unique in the world. We may not know much about the sea, but we do know this much: if we kill the ocean we kill ourselves, and
we will take most of the biosphere with us.

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Warming hurts Agriculture
Global warming devastates crop production, leading to widespread famine and human extinction
British Council, April 18 2008
(ChallengeEurope, a three year campaign that aspires to make a definite and lasting impact on the climate change debate, “Effects
of Global Warming – Ecosystem”, http://challengeeurope.britishcouncil.org/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=18)

The earth's ecosystem is an incredibly diverse web of interrelationships and dependencies that has evolved over
millennia. Rapid climate change associated with global warming threatens to undermine this balance by introducing
new stress to the system at a pace that far outstrips evolutionary adaptation. In practical terms any living thing
that is dependent for survival on the type of climate they currently inhabit may well be faced with a stark choice between
migration or extinction. The poignant plight of the Polar bear struggling to survive as its habitat melts away is just one of
many creatures with no where to go. If we manage to control emissions at present rates estimates still place rates of extinction
among animals and plants as high as 37% by 2050, any increase could take this figure as high as 50%. Even if we were able to
accept this ecological tragedy, the implications for the survival of mankind are equally profound. Our ability to
feed ourselves is intimately dependent on the climate. As the earth warms a disproportionate impact will be
felt in many of the poorest countries, where drought will afflict agricultural production. Crops that once
flourished will fail and our capacity to produce food will decrease bringing with it the likelihood of famine.
Although more northerly regions may benefit from a longer growing season, they will also play host to some unwelcome climate
migrants. Diseases like malaria and dengue fever once confined to the tropics are already spreading northwards as mosquitoes
follow the more temperate climate. Agricultural pest are also on the move, leading to a potentially greater
dependency on polluting pesticides. Although it is difficult to gather data, the oceans too are threatened by climate
change. Spectacular coral reefs, are particularly sensitive to temperature rises and have been decimated, with more than a quarter
already destroyed. The tiniest marine plants, photoplankton and zooplankton die off if the water becomes too
warm. These creature are the staple food of many species of fish and their absence can decimate fisheries.
These delicate food chains, easily disrupted by temperature rises could well have a potentially catastrophic
effect on our ability to feed an ever growing population.

Warming creates shorter farming seasons and declining crop yields creating global starvation
Nicholas Stern—Head of the British Government Economic Service—2007
(Former Head Economist for the World Bank, I.G. Patel Chair at the London School of Economics and Political Science, “The
Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review”, The report of a team commissioned by the British Government to study the
economics of climate change led by Siobhan Peters, Head of G8 and International Climate Change Policy Unit, Cambridge
University Press, p. 72)

Declining crop yields are likely to leave hundreds of millions without the ability to produce or purchase
sufficient food, particularly in the poorest parts of the world. Around 800 million people are currently at risk
of hunger (~ 12% of world’s population),41 and malnutrition causes around 4 million deaths annually, almost half in Africa .42
According to one study, temperature rises of 2 to 3°C will increase the people at risk of hunger, potentially by 30 -
200 million (if the carbon fertilisation effect is small) (Figure 3.6).43 Once temperatures increase by 3°C, 250 - 550
million additional people may be at risk – over half in Africa and Western Asia, where (1) the declines in yield are
greatest, (2) dependence on agriculture highest, and (3) purchasing power most limited. If crop responses to carbon
dioxide are stronger, the effects of warming on risk of hunger will be considerably smaller. But at even higher temperatures,
the impacts are likely to be damaging regardless of the carbon fertilisation effect, as large parts of the world
become too hot or too dry for agricultural production, such as parts of Africa and even Western Australia.

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Solvency – federal incentives key
Federal incentives provide uniform financial support for renewables – they are the most efficient and cost effective

Ralls, 6 – Senior Regulatory Counsel at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
(Mary Ann, Energy Law Journal, “Congress Got it Right: There’s No Need to Mandate Renewable Portfolio Standards,” Vol. 27,
no. 2, p.451, Proquest) // JMP

C. Financial Incentives
Financial incentives are in place at the federal, state, and local levels, including tax credits for renewable development and other
production incentives, customer rebates, and research, and development grants. The importance of these programs in providing encouragement,
inducement, and support for renewable technologies, research and project development cannot be overstated. At the federal level, EPAct 2005 enhances these opportunities by, among
other things, amending renewable production incentives that are set forth in the Energy Policy Act of 1992.64 Under EPAct 2005, the
renewable energy production tax
credit (PTC) is extended through 2007, and includes incremental and new hydropower and Indian coal as qualifying energy resources.65 The American Wind Energy
Association (AWEA) estimated that up to 2,500 MW of wind energy capacity was scheduled to go on line by 2005, and that the
extension of the PTC would continue this strong growth momentum.66 Also, as a result of the Act, electric cooperatives and public power
systems have the ability to issue "Clean Renewable Energy Bonds" (CREB).67 A CREB, known as a tax credit bond, delivers to co-
ops, municipalities, and Indian Tribes for the first time an incentive comparable to the PTC, offering an interest-free loan for financing qualified
renewable energy projects for a limited term.68 To date, electric cooperatives have made application to the United States Treasury Department for almost $500 million in CREBS to
finance fifty-eight renewable projects across America.69 Section 1306 of the Act establishes a production tax credit for new advanced nuclear power facilities with a credit amount of 1.8
cents per KWh for electricity produced over an eight-year term. Section 202 reauthorizes the Renewable Energy Production Incentive until 2026. Section 203 sets goals for federal
purchasing of renewable energy up to 7.5% in fiscal year 2013 and each fiscal year thereafter. Sections 124 and 206, respectively, establish rebates for residential consumers who satisfy
qualified state energy efficient appliance programs (up to $50 million annually through 2010), and for consumers who install renewable energy systems to homes or small businesses (with
an annual cap of $150 million in 2006 and $250 million by 2010).70 A few other federal bills also provide for funding for renewable energy and ancillary purposes. The Fiscal Year (FY)
2006 Appropriations Act for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) includes $23 million in funding for the USDA's renewable energy loan program and the DOE Appropriations Act
for FY 2006 includes $1,185.7 million for DOE's energy efficiency and renewables programs.71
The federal incentives, particularly the PTC and CREB, provide uniform financial support to the renewable energy industry. They do not
create inequities among states, which, according to the opponents of S. Amdt. 791, would have occurred under the SREAP.72 Nor do they impose cost shifts among
ratepayers, which occur when utilities are required to purchase renewable energy at a price that exceeds the value of the power.73 These programs and the state incentives
represent the most efficient, cost-effective, and equitable means of supporting the renewable industry. It is imperative that these programs are
funded at levels that enable renewables to compete with fossil fuels.

Long-term extension of the PTC is critical to stabilized electricity prices and long-term growth of the wind energy industry

Shoock in 7--J.D., expected, Fordham University School of Law, 2008; B.A. summa cum laude in the History & Political Science
The State University of New York at Buffalo (Corey Stephen, Fordham Journal of Corporate and Financial Law, “BLOWING IN
THE WIND: HOW A TWO-TIERED NATIONAL RENEWABLE PORTFOLIO STANDARD, A SYSTEM BENEFITS FUND,
AND OTHER PROGRAMS WILL RESHAPE AMERICAN ENERGY INVESTMENT AND REDUCE FOSSIL FUEL
EXTERNALITIES”, Lexis Nexis)

The burgeoning renewable energy industry, its investors, 404 and the public 405 need Congress to implement a comprehensive
national energy policy. It must integrate market-focused initiatives without losing sight of the social reasons for promoting clean
energy. This includes programs that (1) aid renewable power producers, (2) marginalize fossil fuels to the extent possible, and (3)
set a permanent standard for ensuring the place of renewable energy in the electricity market. This Note proposes that the federal
government can meet these ends. To do so it must enact a scheme that incorporates elements of existing state and national policies
while adding certain unique derivations.
The first step is to ensure that current supply-side incentives will remain into the foreseeable future. Otherwise disaster waits in the
wings. 406 In fact, during a period (January 1, 2004 to October 4, 2004) between an earlier version of the production tax credit's
expiration and subsequent renewal, a deceleration in the increase of new wind farm development 407 made it clear to industry
experts that the tax credits were [*1059] a necessary ingredient if long-term growth were to be assured. 408 Once the federal tax
credit was renewed, a sharp spike in wind facilities occurred. 409 This legislative volatility has the unintended consequence of
actually raising the price of wind power while the PTC is still in effect. For example, steel supply shortages stemming from white-
hot demand for wind power facilities 410 caused a development bottleneck and a 30% cost increase for the turbines as projects
scrambled to meet the anticipated PTC expiration of December 31, 2007. 411 Many of the resulting projects came in over-budget
or late, setting off credit problems for many producers. 412 If wind power's tax credit and production incentive, duly buffered
against inflation, are assured long lives, steady, predictable growth will follow. 413

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Solvency – current PTC killing wind
Projects are going overseas because developers distrust Congress

Gingrich, 2008 (Newt, General Chairman of American Solutions for Winning the Future; Senior Fellow at the American
Enterprise Institute; Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution; Honorary Chairman of the NanoBusiness Alliance,
“The Politicians' Energy Crisis -- And Its Cure Newt Gingrich,”
http://newt.org/tabid/102/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/3412/The-Politicians-Energy-Crisis--And-Its-Cure.aspx)

Make the solar power and wind power tax credits permanent to create a large scale industry dedicated to domestically produced
renewable fuel. A contractor recently told me about a solar project he had planned for the American southwest that is now being
built in Spain because he distrusts the American Congress and is tired of it playing games with short-term tax credits. We have
enormous opportunities in solar, wind, and other renewable fuels; and they can be developed with a stable tax policy.

PTC extension uncertainty is destroying the domestic wind industry – companies are simply scared to invest

Halverson, 2005 (Matthew, “Blowing It,” Electrical Construction and Maintenance, January, www.ecm.com)

Wind in doubt. Expectations for 2005 are high and there's every reason to believe it will be a productive year, but some in the industry are already looking ahead to 2006 and beyond. As
evidenced in previous years, the PTC has the power to stimulate massive growth, but even when in effect, the uncertainty of its
extension can cause developers to be skittish about investing in new projects down the road.
Once conceived, a typical central station wind farm installation can take several years to complete. The initial stages of a project--identifying a
site, securing the land, and gathering wind-potential data--carry little risk, but once it comes time to secure permits and begin construction on
infrastructure, the money invested begins to add up. "Once you get those permits, then you're putting some cash out there," Duprey says. "That's when most
developers say, 'If I can't clearly see the PTC being in effect, I'm not going to spend any more money.'"
That phenomenon can also put a strain on the installers. With the short warm season in upstate New York, Kay-R has only a few months per year in which it can
reasonably finish a project. From a technical standpoint, wind installations don't differ much from the typical industrial projects the company works on, but the tight schedules they often
encounter can complicate things. "If we're not awarded a project until the middle of the summer, it's going to be difficult to finish by the start of the cold weather," says Bruce Emerson,
vice president and chief electrical engineer of Kay-R.
The fact that projects in New York continue to get larger will present new challenges as well. The largest project in the state is 30MW, but O'Connor expects the demand for sites in excess
of 100MW to increase in the near future. "The magnitude of the projects is becoming larger and larger, but the construction season will stay the same," O'Connor says. "So the larger the
project, the higher the need for labor resources."
Kay-R is diversified enough that a slow wind year won't hit the company too hard, but Real de Azua worries that may not be the case for all contractors and installers in the industry. She's
concerned that smaller
firms that focus more heavily on wind projects could have trouble establishing themselves or even surviving
with the uncertainty of the PTC. "Some companies can cope with that aspect of the industry," she says. "But for others, if the contract doesn't come in, that can translate into
layoffs,"

Current PTCs create investor uncertainty

Blakeway, 5 – American Council on Renewable Energy Senior Fellow

(Darrell, attorney, 25 year member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, “Tapping the Power of Wind: FERC Initiatives
to Facilitate Transmission of Wind Power,” Energy Law Journal 26 no2 393-422, WilsonSelectPlus)

The PTC is a key for financing wind projects, because it increases annual cash flow by close to 38% for the first ten years of a
plant's life.(FN62) The PTC's history has been one of two-year extensions followed by a lapse of several months before its
renewal, creating a boom-bust cycle in the building of wind projects.(FN63) This cycle creates planning uncertainty for wind
developers, financial backers, turbine manufacturers, and skilled workers.(FN64) While several groups called upon Congress to
extend the PTC for five years; the final Energy Bill passed by the 109th Congress extended it for two years, through 2007.(FN65)

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Wind PTC Georgia
Aff Novice Packet
Solvency – wind can meet our needs

Wind power is critical to an effective energy policy – it is capable of meeting all U.S. energy needs

Motavalli, 5 (Jim, Editor of E, E: the Environmental Magazine, “Catching the Wind,” January/February, vol. 16, no. 1, p.26) // JMP
An Unlimited Future
As the fastest-growing source of energy in the world, with the fewest long-term drawbacks, wind power would seem to have an
unlimited future. Lester Brown describes wind power as "the missing link in the Bush energy plan." Bush has called for the addition of 393,000 megawatts
of electric generating capacity by 2020, and he's proposed financial aid to businesses that construct new nuclear power plants, as well as streamlined plant licensing. But no nuclear plant has been ordered in 30 years,
and mammoth financial incentives may not be enough to offset the huge waste and liability questions.
But Bush's generating goals could be reached with wind power alone. Just three Great Plains states-North Dakota, Kansas and
Texas-have enough wind potential to meet America's entire energy needs. Farmers and ranchers support wind projects because of the financial boon that conies with
leasing their land. Wind projects completed just in 2003 will generate $5 million annually in payments.
Wind energy designers are starting to think big. A project called Rolling Thunder, in South Dakota near the Iowa border, would generate 3,000 megawatts when it comes online in 2006, making it five times larger than
any previous wind farm and one of the largest energy developments in the world today. At the same time, the federal Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) says it will buy 830 megawatts of wind power from seven
plants-five to be built in Washington and two in Oregon. Already the nation's biggest supplier of hydroelectric power, BPA will be the largest wind energy supplier.
The pieces are in place for a massive expansion of wind resources worldwide at a time when concern about oil supply and location
is proving to be massively troubling. All the signs are positive, but will wind power achieve its true potential? The answer, of course, is blowing in the wind.

Recent study proves that wind power can meet all U.S. electricity and energy needs

The Electricity Forum, 3 (“Wind energy could fuel future power needs,” August 2003
www.electricityforum.com/news/aug03/windenergy.html) // JMP

In 1991, a national wind resource inventory taken by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) startled the world when it reported that the three
most wind-rich states of the United States--North Dakota, Kansas and Texas--had enough harnessable wind energy to satisfy
national electricity needs. Now a new study by a team of engineers at Stanford University reports that the wind energy potential is
actually substantially greater than that estimated in 1991.
Advances in wind turbine design since 1991 enable turbines to operate at lower wind speeds, to harness more of the wind's energy,
and to harvest it at greater heights--dramatically expanding the harnessable wind resource. Add to this the recent bullish assessments of offshore wind
potential, and the enormity of the wind resource becomes apparent. Wind power can meet not only all U.S. electricity needs, but all U.S. energy needs.
In a joint assessment of global wind resources called Wind Force 12, the European Wind Energy Association and Greenpeace concluded that the world's wind-generating potential--assuming that only 10 percent of the
earth's land area would be available for development--is double the projected world electricity demand in 2020.
A far larger share of the land area could be used for wind generation in sparsely populated, wind-rich regions, such as the Great Plains of North America, northwest China, eastern Siberia, and the Patagonian region of
Argentina. If the huge offshore potential is added to this, wind power could satisfy not only the world's electricity needs, but perhaps even total energy needs.
Over the past decade, wind has been the world's fastest-growing energy source. Rising from 4,800 megawatts of generating capacity in 1995 to 31,100 megawatts in
2002, it increased a staggering sixfold. Worldwide, wind turbines now supply enough electricity to satisfy the residential needs of 40 million Europeans.
Wind is popular because it is abundant, cheap, inexhaustible, widely distributed, climate-benign, and clean--attributes that no other
energy source can match. The cost of wind-generated electricity has dropped from 38 cents a kilowatt-hour in the early 1980s to
about 4 cents a kilowatt-hour today on prime wind sites. Some recently signed British and U.S. long-term supply contracts are providing electricity at 3 cents a kilowatt-hour.
Wind Force 12 projected that the average cost per kilowatt-hour of wind-generated electricity would drop to 2.6 cents by 2010 and to 2.1 cents by 2020. U.S. energy consultant Harry Braun says that if wind turbines are
mass-produced on assembly lines like automobiles, the cost of wind-generated electricity could drop to 1 to 2 cents per kilowatt-hour.
Although wind-generated electricity already is cheap, its cost continues to fall. In contrast with oil, there is no Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to set prices for wind. And in contrast to natural gas prices,
which are highly volatile and can double in a matter of months, wind prices are declining.
Another great appeal of wind is its wide distribution. In the U.S., for example, about 28 states now have utility-scale wind farms
feeding electricity into the local grid. While a small handful of countries control the world's oil, nearly all countries can tap wind energy.
Denmark leads the world in the share of its electricity from wind--20 percent. Germany leads with 12,000 megawatts. By the end of 2003, it already will have surpassed its 2010 goal of 12,500 megawatts of generating
capacity. For Germany, this rapid growth in wind power is central to reaching its goal of reducing carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2020.
Rapid worldwide growth is projected to continue as more countries turn to wind. In addition to the early leaders--Denmark, Germany, Spain, and the U.S.--many
other countries have ambitious plans, including Britain, Brazil, China and France.
In dense Europe, the offshore potential for developing wind also is being exploited. Denmark is now building its second offshore wind farm, this one with 160 megawatts of generating capacity. Germany has about
12,000 megawatts of offshore generating capacity under consideration.

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Wind PTC Georgia
Aff Novice Packet
Solvency – A2 intermittency

All power sources have intermittency problems – grid expertise and wind modeling solve any risk of an impact

Levesque 8 American Wind Energy Association, (Carl, “Will Wind Power Make the Grid Less Reliable?” April 15,
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/ate/story?id=52179, rday)

Nevertheless, some ask, can wind power, being a variable resource-meaning it generates electricity when the wind is blowing-be
relied upon as a significant part of a system that provides reliable electricity to consumers without interruption. In fact, based on a
growing body of analytical and operational experience, the answer is a resounding yes. According to many utilities and reliability
authorities, wind power can readily be accommodated into electric system operations reliably and economically.
In Europe, Denmark receives over 20% of its electricity from wind energy, and in 2007 Germany got around 7% of its electricity
from the wind. Both Spain and Portugal had periods in 2007 when wind energy provided over 20% of their electricity-in fact,
Spain recently set a single-day record with over 40% of its electricity coming from its wind farms. Here in the U.S., Iowa leads the
nation in the percentage of electricity it gets from wind, at 5.5%, while Minnesota is not far behind with 4.6%.
These are examples of how high penetrations of wind power can be a valuable part of a utility's "generation mix" that supplies
electricity, reliably and without interruption, to consumers.
How it's done
How is this already being accomplished if, as everyone knows, "the wind doesn't blow all the time"? First, it's important to
remember that the electrical grid is an amazing technical achievement of the 20th century, requiring operators to balance system
demand for electricity with the system production of electricity from generation facilities (power plants), on a real-time basis-24-7,
365 days a year. This real-time need to balance load (i.e., demand, or the electricity users are requesting) with the supply of
electricity, makes electricity very unique, but dealing with that uniqueness also provides the system with tools to allow grid
operators to adjust the system when the output from wind power plants change over the course of a few hours. This built-in
flexibility allows system operators to manage the existing variability of load-and additional variability introduced by large amounts
of wind power added to the system.
So, even here in the U.S., where wind contributes only a bit over 1% to our electricity needs, those who manage the grid, known as
system operators, are already accustomed to working with not only an ever-changing electricity supply but demand (power usage)
that is constantly ebbing and flowing as well. They do this by controlling, or "dispatching," generators that are the most agile at
ramping up and down, such as natural-gas and hydroelectric plants.
Wind energy output behaves similarly to load in that it is variable, meaning its output rises and falls within hourly and daily time
periods. Moreover, wind is "non-dispatchable," meaning its output can be controlled only to a limited extent. Reliable electrical
service can be maintained by system operators dispatching generators up and down in response to variations in both load and wind
generation. And with or without wind on their system, operators also keep generation in reserve to meet any shortfalls that may
arise. Demand can spike with little notice, and fossil plants can-and do-trip offline unexpectedly.
Such events occurred in Texas on February 26, when system operators implemented their "demand response" program, under which power is cut to end users who
are paid to voluntarily have their electricity shut off during load peaks or supply drops. The event received some media attention and, with Texas leading the nation
in installed wind power capacity, some of those reports pointed the finger at the renewable resource as a possible culprit. The event, however, by no means can be
characterized as a problem with wind's reliability. Over the 40-minute period preceding the load curtailment, wind generation did decline by 80 MW compared to
what it had been scheduled to contribute to the grid; however, during that same period, non-wind generation decreased by 350 MW relative to its schedule, while
load unexpectedly spiked to a level that was 1,185 MW more than what had been forecast.
There are several takeaways from that event. For one, wind forecasting, a key component to getting the most out of wind in a reliable manner,
something that is in the early implementation stages in Texas, was not in use at the time. Texas, incidentally, is now accelerating its
implementation of wind forecasting.
In addition, the incident provides an example of how all generation sources sometimes fail to meet their scheduled output; as
previously mentioned, system operators are already expert at making necessary adjustments when unexpected events arise. Finally,
it should be noted for those not familiar with demand response programs that curtailment is one of the tools that system operators
have in their toolkit to use-and in this case, the tool worked: no one involuntarily lost power, and those customers (likely industrial
and other large-load users) are no doubt enjoying the lower electricity rates they are paying for participating in the program.

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Wind PTC Georgia
Aff Novice Packet
Solvency – A2 – wind can’t meet energy needs
Wind is the most viable alternative due to technological advances and complete independence from fossil fuel burning in its
electricity-production.

Shoock in 7--J.D., expected, Fordham University School of Law, 2008; B.A. summa cum laude in the History & Political Science
The State University of New York at Buffalo (Corey Stephen, Fordham Journal of Corporate and Financial Law, “BLOWING IN
THE WIND: HOW A TWO-TIERED NATIONAL RENEWABLE PORTFOLIO STANDARD, A SYSTEM BENEFITS FUND,
AND OTHER PROGRAMS WILL RESHAPE AMERICAN ENERGY INVESTMENT AND REDUCE FOSSIL FUEL
EXTERNALITIES”, Lexis Nexis)

Despite arguments and economic models that show wide-ranging and heavy social costs to fossil fuel burning, and in particular
coal consumption, unless and until the industries themselves are compelled to account for these costs, investment will remain high
in traditional energy sources. 95 Alternatives, still too underdeveloped as a whole to compete with the infrastructure 96 and
reliability of fossil fuels, 97 will need time [*1023] and money to make up the difference. 98 With technological advances in
turbine design reducing the levelized cost of output, 99 and not reliant on fossil fuel burning like biomass power, 100 wind energy
has the best chance of all truly clean energy sources to make the most immediate and long-lasting impact on the electricity market.
101

Wind energy is a low-cost, decentralized solution to fossil fuel shortages.

Shoock in 7--J.D., expected, Fordham University School of Law, 2008; B.A. summa cum laude in the History & Political Science
The State University of New York at Buffalo (Corey Stephen, Fordham Journal of Corporate and Financial Law, “BLOWING IN
THE WIND: HOW A TWO-TIERED NATIONAL RENEWABLE PORTFOLIO STANDARD, A SYSTEM BENEFITS FUND,
AND OTHER PROGRAMS WILL RESHAPE AMERICAN ENERGY INVESTMENT AND REDUCE FOSSIL FUEL
EXTERNALITIES”, Lexis Nexis)

Notwithstanding the fact that in certain regions wind is in fact the low-cost option, 397 a wind energy production presence within
the purview of a utility grid manager can be a boon. 398 For instance, wind power, like all renewables, can help offset the risks of
supply shortages in fossil fuels. 399 Additionally, since wind power can be added incrementally, excess capacity costs are limited.
400 The inherent [*1058] disadvantage of the remoteness of wind facilities can actually be turned into an infrastructural benefit
as electricity generation outposts situated throughout the grid can reduce the risks of voltage concentration and overload in the
production areas, thereby reducing maintenance costs. 401 Furthermore, any government action on either the state or federal level
to penalize distributors for creating pollution would make a renewable energy production facility a cost-saving asset. 402 The same
is true if the utility was faced with meeting a renewable portfolio standard that mandated it sell a certain quantity of electricity
derived from non-polluting sources. 403

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Solvency – A2 – kills birds
New Turbine Technology Solves for Bird Deaths

Red Orbit 8, (Red Orbit, Null, Jan Archer, Christina, “Wind Power: The Ultimate Renewable Energy,” June 8, 2008)
http://www.redorbit.com/news/business/1467133/wind_power_the_ultimate_renewable_energy_source/

Opponents to wind power most often point to avian fatalities from the rotors, noise, concerns about aesthetics, wind intermittency,
and the occasional mismatch between wind availability and electricity demand, especially during heat waves.
Modern turbines have already mitigated many of the issues associated with both birds and noise. The new, larger high-capacity
turbines turn at a slower rate, which ameliorates the noise and makes it possible for birds to avoid the turning blades. But even
before the newer turbines, the number of bird killed was fewer than 2 deaths per turbine per year, and the total amount was about
0.1 percent of those killed by cats and 0.02 percent of those caused by birds flying into windows and buildings.

Technological improvements and careful siting reduce the risk of bird and bat losses and alternate causalities outweigh
turbine-related deaths.

World Watch Institute and Center for American Progress in 6 (American Energy Now, “The Renewable Path to Energy
Security”, September 2006, http://www.worldwatch.org/files/pdf/AmericanEnergy.pdf, pg.26-27)

As with all energy technologies, there are environmental costs associated with wind power, which have generated opposition from
local residents concerned about the rapid proliferation of new projects in many parts of the country. The greatest controversy has
arisen from the fact that wind turbines in some locations have killed significant numbers of birds and bats. Yet housecats, vehicles,
cell phone towers, buildings, and habitat loss pose far greater hazards to birds, and progress has been made in reducing bird strikes
through technological changes, such as slower rotating speeds, and careful project siting.

Bird deaths are small and new designs solve

Null and Archer 08 (Jan, professor of meteorology at San Francisco State University, and Cristina, research associate in the
Department of Global Ecology of the Carnegie Institution for Science and a consulting assistant professor in the Department of
Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University, “Wind Power: The Ultimate Renewable Energy Source”, July 8,
http://www.redorbit.com/news/business/1467133/wind_power_the_ultimate_renewable_energy_source/)

Modern turbines have already mitigated many of the issues associated with both birds and noise. The new, larger high-capacity
turbines turn at a slower rate, which ameliorates the noise and makes it possible for birds to avoid the turning blades. But even
before the newer turbines, the number of bird killed was fewer than 2 deaths per turbine per year, and the total amount was about
0.1 percent of those killed by cats and 0.02 percent of those caused by birds flying into windows and buildings.
Meanwhile, the aesthetics of a wind farm is in the eye of the beholder. Put into historical context, before the Eiffel Tower and
Golden Gate Bridge were built, they were widely mocked because it was thought they would ruin the surroundings. Today, views
of these edifices are highly sought after and bring premium dollar on the real estate market. It should also be noted that many of
the current and planned wind farms are not even visible to the vast populations of the world, making their impression upon the
scenery irrelevant.

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