Michael+&+James

=1AC - Methane Hydrates=

Funding for the Methane Hydrate Research and Development Act were cut – replacement is uncertain
Congressional Research Service, January 24, 2011 [Peter Folger, staff writer specializing in energy and natural resources policy, Gas Hydrates: Resource and Hazard, http://www.energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/files/serve?File_id=924a328e-1628-4380-9696-0680d061555f, June 30, 2014] KF For FY2011, the Obama Administration requested no funding for the Natural Gas Technologies program AND P.L. 111-322 extend through March 4, 2011.

Government research is necessary for methane hydrate development – empirical examples proves
Arango May 7 2013[writer for CBC news, []] Other countries are still pursuing hydrate research. Last year, U.S. AND them mixed in ocean sand, like "sugar mixed with the sediments."

A national effort is necessary to overcome tech challenges – petroleum proves
Pellenbarg and Max ’14 -, At Naval Research Laboratory and MDS Research Less clear is the exact nature of such deposits, and details of the technology AND level can lead to such independence based on the promise of methane hydrate.

Additional research promotes Methane hydrates with carbon sequestration
Pellenbarg and Max ’14-, At Naval Research Laboratory and MDS Research The geopolitical implications of energy independence for Japan or India and for their relations AND a lot of methane as hydrate in the sediments of the world ocean.

US energy dependence is increasing because consumption is increasing despite prices
Wescott, 2013 - President of Keybridge Research [Robert, Phillip L. Swagel, Jeffrey Werling, Douglas Meade, Brendan Fitzpatrick,, Oil and the Debt, Keybridge Public Policy Economics, Sept. 23 2013, http://www.aei.org/files/2013/09/23/-oil-and-the-debt_174003485289.pdf, Acc. Jun 25 2014] LS For decades, the United States has been the largest consumer of petroleum in the AND flat, falling by less than 1% from 2013 to 2040.15

Remaining dependent cripples the US economy – it leaves us vulnerable to oil shocks
Blair 14- Adm. Dennis C. Blair, a former director of National Intelligence (Dennis, Michael W. Hagee, Adm. Dennis C. Blair, a former director of National Intelligence and former commander in chief of the United States Pacific Command, and Gen. Michael W. Hagee, the 33rd commandant of the United States Marine Corps, serve as co-chairmen of the Commission on Energy and Geopolitics, a project of Securing America’s Future Energy, Tempering Oil Dependence, New York Times, FEB. 25, 2014 []) HL Today, the 1973 oil embargo is often remembered as a crisis caused by America’s AND a healthy balance of trade. We propose a three-pronged strategy.

Economic crises will result in global war
Mead 2009 - senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. (Walter Russell Mead, The New Republic, “Only Makes You Stronger,” February 4 2009. http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=571cbbb9-2887-4d81-8542-92e83915f5f8&p=2 AD 6/30/09) So far, such half-hearted experiments not only have failed to work; AND the world economy back on track, we may still have to fight.

Dependence kills US hegemony – it fuels opposition to the US, prevents alliances and causes agreements that constrain US influence
Schlesinger 2006 -- Chair of the Defense Policy Board ( James, He is also a consultant to the U.S. Department of Defense, the nation’s first Secretary of Energy, October, 2006, council on foreign relations, [], 6/24/14) HL The Task Force has identified five major reasons why dependence on energy traded in world AND to particular suppliers rather than from the proper functioning of a global market.

Loss of hegemony causes nuclear conflicts.
Foster 2009 (March 16, 2009, John Bellamy Foster, A Failed System: The World Crisis of Capitalist Globalization and its Impact on China, International Debt Observatory, http://www.oid-ido.org/article.php3?id_article=808) There is no doubt that the national security apparatus in the United States, in AND times less, that is to say, only 13 billion dollars.”55

Energy shortages cause conflicts – they destabilize economies and regions
Sweeney, 2011 - Center for Naval Analyses [Kevin, Ralph Espach, Marcus King, William Komiss, Hilary Zarin, Leo Goff, Ensuring America’s Freedom of Movement, Center for Naval Analyses, October 2011, [], Acc. Jun 25 2014] LS The U.S. has always pushed for the advance of freedoms, at AND , specifically, the implications of reduced con- sumption of imported oil.

Methane hydrates can solve energy dependence – massive quantities that are in more stable locations
Pellenbarg and Max ’14-, At Naval Research Laboratory and MDS Research The geopolitical implications of energy independence for Japan or India and for their relations AND a lot of methane as hydrate in the sediments of the world ocean.

Methane hydrates solve dependence – they provide massive amounts of energy
Plumer 13 – Washington Post Reporter (Brad Washington Post, March 12, 2013 “Are methane hydrates the next big energy source? Japan hope so.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/03/12/japan-tries-to-unlock-the-worlds-biggest-source-of-carbon-based-fuel/))RF How much energy are we talking about? Potentially, a staggering amount. The AND shale reserves are estimated to contain 827 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Methane hydrates are key to energy wars – exploiting them solves all shortages
Fitzpatrick, 2010 – Science reporter for the BBC [Michael, methane release looks stronger, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8437703.stm] A recent technological breakthrough in Japan might soon render economically viable the large-scale AND thought to be the repositories of the bulk of methane hydrates reserves worldwide.

Dependence kills the economy – trade deficits, business confidence and oil shocks – empirically proven
Wescott, 2013 - President of Keybridge Research [Robert, Phillip L. Swagel, Jeffrey Werling, Douglas Meade, Brendan Fitzpatrick,, Oil and the Debt, Keybridge Public Policy Economics, Sept. 23 2013, http://www.aei.org/files/2013/09/23/-oil-and-the-debt_174003485289.pdf, Acc. Jun 25 2014] LS Another channel through which high oil prices affect the federal budget, however, is AND the recession with particularly significant impacts on consumer spending and automobile purchases.36

Trade deficits cause US economic crisis- Empirics
Adil 2008 – Professor @ University of Illinois [Mouhammed, Adil Ph.D. The Journal of Applied Business and Economics8.3 (Aug 2008)//Accessed July 1, 2014//Mitchell's General Theory of the Business Cycle and the Recent Crisis in the U.S. Economy//Proquest] LJ This paper attempts to explain the current crisis in the U.S. economy AND developing the infrastructure, education, innovations, health care, and technologies.

Dependence increases the deficit – it increases prices which increases inflation
Wescott, 2013 - President of Keybridge Research [Robert, Phillip L. Swagel, Jeffrey Werling, Douglas Meade, Brendan Fitzpatrick,, Oil and the Debt, Keybridge Public Policy Economics, Sept. 23 2013, http://www.aei.org/files/2013/09/23/-oil-and-the-debt_174003485289.pdf, Acc. Jun 25 2014] LS This report focuses on the intersection of two issues that have concerned policymakers and the AND -GDP ratio that is 10.3 percentage points lower in 2040.

Dependence increases the trade deficit – empirical proof
Wescott, 2013 - President of Keybridge Research [Robert, Phillip L. Swagel, Jeffrey Werling, Douglas Meade, Brendan Fitzpatrick,, Oil and the Debt, Keybridge Public Policy Economics, Sept. 23 2013, http://www.aei.org/files/2013/09/23/-oil-and-the-debt_174003485289.pdf, Acc. Jun 25 2014] LS The trade deficit reached $702 billion in 2008, driven by a nearly $ AND relationship of high oil prices and oil dependence with the federal government’s budget.

Oil dependence kills the economy by increasing the deficit
Wescott, 2013 - President of Keybridge Research [Robert, Phillip L. Swagel, Jeffrey Werling, Douglas Meade, Brendan Fitzpatrick,, Oil and the Debt, Keybridge Public Policy Economics, Sept. 23 2013, http://www.aei.org/files/2013/09/23/-oil-and-the-debt_174003485289.pdf, Acc. Jun 25 2014] LS Economic researchers commonly identify reduced economic growth, current account deficits, weakened national security AND FY2014 to FY2019 (a total of $2.9 trillion).71

Dependence kills the US economy – the trade deficit drains jobs and is vulnerable to unstable suppliers
Lefton, 10 - Senior Policy Analysis at Center for American Progress [Rebecca, Daniel Weiss,, Oil Dependence Is a Dangerous Habit, Center for American Progress, January 13, 2010, [] , Acc. Jun 25 2014] LS A recent report on the November 2009 U.S. trade deficit found that AND could have serious implications for our national security, economy, and environment.

Oil imports kill the economy – they increase the trade deficit and send investments overseas
Weiss, 10 -- Daniel J. Weiss is a Senior Fellow and Director Climate Strategy at the Center for American Progress. (Daniel, Senior Fellow and Director Climate Strategy at the Center for American Progress, Oil Dependence Is a Dangerous Habit, Center for American Progress, January 13, 2010, [], 6/24/14) HL A recent report on the November 2009 U.S. trade deficit found that AND could have serious implications for our national security, economy, and environment.

1AC – Methane Bursts
__ Methane Bursts Will Happen: __

Current Warming is releasing Arctic methane from hydrates – this will trigger runaway warming and extinction
Song 11 – Pulitzer prize winning reporter for Inside Climate News (Lisa Mar 3, 2011, Accessed June 25, 2014. “Up to 40% of Gulf Oil Spill Was Potent Methane Gas, Research Shows” Inside Climate News http://insideclimatenews.org/author/lisa-song) Another risk lies in the hydrates' contribution to climate change. Hydrates keep methane out AND Leifer will return to the Arctic later in March to continue hydrate research.

A sudden methane burp in the Arctic could set the world back a colossal $ AND shelf was inundated by seawater at the end of the last ice age.
 * Methane Hydrate Release Will Be Catastrophic**
 * Shakhova and Wadhams 2013**, Cambridge and the Pacific Oceanological Institute ( Wadhams is an environmental economist at the University of Cambridge, Shakhova leads the Russia-U.S. Methane Study at the International Arctic Research Center, at the University Alaska Fairbanks and the Pacific Oceanological Institute)

Impacts-Extinction

Explosive methane bursts cause human extinction – the signs are appearing now
Aym 2010[Terrence [] Doomsday Methane Bubble Rupture?: How the BP Gulf Disaster May Have Triggered a ‘World-Killing’ Event Ryskin’s methane extinction theory Northwestern University‘s Gregory Ryskin, a bio-chemical AND ] All three warning signs are documented to be occurring in the Gulf.

Methane bubble bursts would cause extinction due to explosive clouds and super tsunamis
Aym 2010[Terrence [] Doomsday Methane Bubble Rupture?: How the BP Gulf Disaster May Have Triggered a ‘World-Killing’ Event Most disturbing of all: Methane levels in the water are now calculated as being AND nearby surging oil that’s estimated to be as hot as 500 degrees Fahrenheit.

Rapid Warming causes international conflicts – instability, terrorism and forced migration
Weiss, 10 -- Daniel J. Weiss is a Senior Fellow and Director Climate Strategy at the Center for American Progress **.** (Daniel, Senior Fellow and Director Climate Strategy at the Center for American Progress, Oil Dependence Is a Dangerous Habit, Center for American Progress, January 13, 2010, [], 6/24/14) HL Climate change is a major threat to U.S. and world security Meanwhile AND that climate change, energy dependence, and national security are interlinked challenges.

Development prevents methane bursts – leaving them in the ground doesn’t solve
Licking; 1998 (Ellen, Business Week, “The Worlds Next Power Surge?”, December 14) pg. lexis Environmentalists worry that a new, cheap source of natural gas could fan consumption, AND prices eventually rise, Johnson's prediction will become more than a pipe dream.

Plan is key to reduce emissions - Methane will naturally leak and cause warming
Belahmidi 13 -- energy analyst covering North America and Northern Europ **e** (Claudia, Claudia Belahmidi joined IHS Energy in July 2010 as an energy analyst covering North America and Northern Europe., Japan’s methane hydrates natural gas extraction – a game changer?, May 23, 2013, [], 6/25/14) HL - The global LNG market is expected to become more competitive in the second half AND , adding to the problem without taking advantage of methane hydrate’s commercial potential.