Nuclear Power 2010: Sustainable Energy & Economic Growth Proposal - Prof. Rebecca Franko, Study notes of Communication

Download Nuclear Power 2010: Sustainable Energy & Economic Growth Proposal - Prof. Rebecca Franko and more Study notes Communication in PDF only on Docsity! PROPOSITION OF POLICY OUTLINE Proposition of Policy: The United States federal government should fully fund and implement the Nuclear Power 2010 initiative by financing new light water open cycle nuclear reactors through power purchase agreements, loan guarantees, and federal lines of credit [In all fairness, the idea for this policy is borrowed from one of my friends from the Arizona Debate Institute]. I. Introduction (dramatistic example of the status quo): A. The movie The Day After Tomorrow and how that fictional work might soon become reality. B. Relate it to the latest hurricane season and the devastation of Florida—loss of lives, homes, and money. C. Thesis statement (proposition of policy: The United States federal government should fully fund and implement the Nuclear Power 2010 initiative by financing new light water open cycle nuclear reactors through power purchase agreements, loan guarantees, and federal lines of credit) and preview of main points. II. Significance/Harms (why your policy is needed; what are the reasons why we should act now to solve a problem): The United States’ continued dependence on fossil fuels threatens not only our economy but also the Earth’s ecosystems. A. An oil-based economy will inevitably create an economic crisis as oil supplies run out. 1. Oil prices are already high because of the instability in the Middle East and the dwindling supplies of oil—this means that oil shocks to the economy are inevitable [Goodstein; Heinberg]. 2. High oil prices will place an enormous strain our economy and could cause the collapse of our economy [Roberts]. 3. A collapse of the U.S. economy could lead to massive unemployment, a collapse of the world economy, and even war [Roberts; Scheer]. B. If we continue to burn fossil fuels global warming will continue to increase at dangerous rates which threatens the health of the planet. 1. Despite all of the research funded by the fossil fuel industries that claims global warming is not a problem, the best evidence confirms that global warming is real and is starting the harm the environment [Alvarez; EPA; Hansen; Hari; Henderson; IPCC]. 2. Species will not be able to adapt to rapid climate changes and it will upset the balance of the ecosystem [“Modest”; “Mussels”; McDaniel]. 3. As a result, our ecosystems will be irreparably harmed and we risk another mass extinction [McDaniel; Karl and Trenberth; Gregory, et. al.]. III. Inherency: In the United States, nuclear power is not growing fast enough due to the current costs of nuclear power. A. Part of the problem is structural because there are not enough nuclear power plants to provide clean energy [Rhodes and Beller]. B. The lack of subsidies inhibits the construction of new nuclear power plants [Public Citizen]. C. Another problem is that nuclear power has a negative stigma attached to it—after Three Mile Island Americans have been afraid of nuclear power [Walker]. PROPOSITION OF POLICY OUTLINE IV. Restatement of the Policy: The United States Federal Government fully fund and implement the Nuclear Power 2010 initiative by financing new light water open cycle nuclear reactors through power purchase agreements, loan guarantees, and federal lines of credit. A. A concise explanation of the type of nuclear reactor used B. A concise explanation of the funding for the policy—clarify what power purchase agreements entail, and how loan guarantees and federal lines of credit work. V. Solvency/Workability: The 2010 plan can fulfill our energy demands and provide the United States with cheap and clean energy. A. Nuclear power can provide cheap energy [Rhodes and Beller]. B. 2010 plan makes nuclear power affordable and competitive with other sources of energy [“Business Case”]. C. 2010 plan will help provide clean energy for the entire United States [“Nuclear Power 2010”]. VI. Conclusion (remind the reader of the dramatistic example and the main points in the paper): A. Come back to the story about Florida and remind the reader that wild weather patterns could spread throughout the United States. B. Also remind the reader about the instability in the Persian Gulf and the impact that it could have on their daily lives—long gas lines, a faltering economy, etc. C. Conclude with a restatement of the thesis (proposition of policy). Works Cited: Alvarez, Lizette. “Blair Warns of Climate Threat.” New York Times 15 September 2004: A13. Department of Energy. Business Case for New Nuclear Power Plants: Bringing Public and Private Resources Together for Nuclear Energy. October 1, 2002. Domenici, Pete. A Brighter Tomorrow: Fulfilling the Promise of Nuclear Energy. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2004. Environmental Protection Agency. Global Warming—Climate. 20 September 2004 <http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/content/climate.html>. Goodstein, David. Out of Gas: The End of the Age of Oil. New York, W.W. Norton, 2004. Gregory, Jonathan, et. al. “Climatology: Threatened Loss of the Greenland Ice-sheet.” Nature 428 (2004): 616. Hansen, Lara. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Hearings on Climate Change. 108th Cong. 2nd sess. Washington: GPO, 2004. Hari, Johann. “The Global Warming Crisis.” The Independent 15 September 2004: 33.