Case
Conflicts advantage
SCS Tensions high
Fishing disputes putting South China Sea tensions at a boiling point
Westhead 6/25/12 - foreign affairs writer with the Toronto Star, formerly South Asia bureau chief
(Rick, “South China Sea: Open conflict a real possibility due tensions over fishing and other resources,
says report,” The Toronto Star,
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2012/07/25/south_china_sea_open_conflict_a_real_possibility_d
ue_tensions_over_fishing_and_other_resources_says_report.html)
Tensions in the South China Sea between China and its neighbours have become so charged that open
conflict in the region is an increasingly likely prospect, a new report says.
China, Vietnam, the Philippines and other countries are battling one another for fishing stocks , and oil
and gas deposits in the region. The disputes come as the countries grapple with growing nationalism at
home, which makes it difficult for leaders to back away from conflicts after they materialize, the
International Crisis Group (ICG) says in its report.
“The risk of escalation is high, and … pressure in the region threatens to boil over,” says the report,
“Stirring Up the South China Sea: Regional Responses.”
“All of the trends are in the wrong direction, and prospects of resolution are diminishing,” the report
states.
“The regional buildup of arms increases the likelihood of unintentional escalation, and the aggressive
use of law enforcement vessels to assert claims leads to more frequent contact with civilian vessels and
other coast guards.”
China claims virtually all of the 3.5 million-square-kilometre South China Sea, while the Philippines,
Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also claim parts of the sea, which is also considered a vital
transport route.
Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt, a former United Nations official in China who wrote the ICG report, said in
an interview that the South China Sea has become a “simmering powder keg”.
“There are very worrying signs,” she said. “Countries are aggressively enforcing their claims, and there is
no code of conflict in the region to peacefully settle these disputes.”
In recent months, China and the Philippines faced off over an uninhabited group of islands known as
Scarborough Shoal. In April, the Philippine Navy discovered coral, giant clams and live sharks on a
Chinese boat, and the Philippines announced the Chinese fishermen would be arrested for poaching.
The showdown lasted for more than two months before the Philippines ordered its two ships to
withdraw.
“There are a series of tit-for-tats in the region and one never knows how far it’s going to go,” KleineAhlbrandt said. “With the Scarborough Shoal dispute, the Philippines upped the ante by sending ships
and China threw the book at them.”
The ICG report’s release comes as local media report China has inaugurated Sansha, a city on the
disputed Paracel Islands, elevated in political status to bolster China’s claims to the island chain.
It’s often reported that most disputes in the region are over gas and oil deposits. The seabed in the
South China Sea is believed to contain as much as 225 billion barrels worth of oil and natural gas.
But Kleine-Ahlbrandt said most conflicts in recent months have flared after fishing-related disputes.
Roughly 700 million people live near the South China Sea and depend on the rich fishing stocks for their
livelihoods, as well as 80 per cent of their diets. Vietnam estimates its population of 87 million will surge
by 25 per cent by 2050 and it will need additional food and fish.
“Vietnam and China are incentivizing to encourage fishermen to buy larger boats and go farther from
shore into disputed waters,” she said. “The boats have sophisticated GPS devices so if there is a
problem, if they bump into boats from other countries, they can call for help immediately.”
CBMs solve East / South China Sea
Maritime confidence building defuses conflicts
Bateman 8/12/2013 - Professorial Fellow at the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and
Security, University of Wollongong (Sam, “Maritime Confidence Building Measures in the South China
Sea Conference,” Australian Strategic Policy Institute,
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=https%
3A%2F%2Fwww.aspi.org.au%2Fpublications%2Fspecial-report-maritime-confidence-building-measuresin-the-south-china-seaconference%2FSR55_MCBM.pdf&ei=31_DU6myO42p7AaujoGoDQ&usg=AFQjCNEq00eJcZRBN3fXmN1XCVcgbC6Jw&sig2=2ywhQij7TwJmo2KNel6jmg)
The maritime domain is potentially a rich source of ideas and initiatives for confidence building . Just as
security may be defined narrowly in military terms, or more comprehensively to incorporate human,
economic, social and environmental security, maritime confidence building may also be¶ defined
either:¶ • broadly to include oceans management regimes and cooperative arrangements for
navigation, safety, search and rescue, resources, marine environmental protection and so on, or¶ •
narrowly to mean measures in the defence/military field that reduce the risks of tensions and conflict,
and of misunderstanding or miscalculation with military activities at sea.¶ We can therefore distinguish
between military and non-military MCBMs. Those of a non-military nature are mainly about building
regimes and cooperation to provide good order at sea.
Maritime confidence building measures solve South China Sea Conflict
Bateman 8/12/2013 - Professorial Fellow at the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and
Security, University of Wollongong (Sam, “Maritime Confidence Building Measures in the South China
Sea Conference,” Australian Strategic Policy Institute,
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=https%
3A%2F%2Fwww.aspi.org.au%2Fpublications%2Fspecial-report-maritime-confidence-building-measuresin-the-south-china-seaconference%2FSR55_MCBM.pdf&ei=31_DU6myO42p7AaujoGoDQ&usg=AFQjCNEq00eJcZRBN3fXmN1XCVcgbC6Jw&sig2=2ywhQij7TwJmo2KNel6jmg)
Non-military MCBMs serve two purposes. First, they provide a direct benefit by helping to build
maritime regimes that provide good order at sea and permit effective management of the maritime
domain. Second, they serve as ‘building blocks’ for habits of cooperation and dialogue that reduce
tensions and promote peace and stability .
Good order at sea ensures the safety and security of shipping and permits countries to pursue their
maritime interests and develop their marine resources in an ecologically sustainable and peaceful
manner in accordance with international law. A lack of good order at sea is evident if there is illegal
activity at sea or inadequate arrangements for the safety and security of shipping.
An effective regime for good order at sea involves several elements. First, it means the absence of illegal
activity at sea through the suppression of piracy and armed robbery against ships; illegal fishing; illicit
trafficking in drugs, arms, people or weapons of mass destruction; and illegal ship-sourced pollution.
The incidence of piracy, particularly the hijacking of ships and their cargoes, as well as other illegal
activities at sea, suggests the importance of cooperation to preserve good order at sea. Agreed
procedures for cooperative law enforcement between neighbouring countries, the harmonisation of
maritime laws and the exchange of information are all possibilities.
Second, it requires arrangements for the safety and security of shipping. Requirements include the
availability of effective search and rescue (SAR) services, good hydrographic surveys, reliable
meteorological forecasts, and the provision of necessary navigational aids. One requirement for security
is a system that provides a response to an emergency on board a ship (such as a pirate or terrorist
attack) notified through the ship security alert system introduced with the International Ship and Port
Facility Security (ISPS) Code.
Effective environmental and resource management is the third element of good order at sea. Under the
provisions of UNCLOS, this is primarily the responsibility of the coastal state in exercising its rights and
fulfilling its obligations in its EEZ. However, in areas such as the South China Sea where maritime
boundaries haven’t been agreed and there are overlapping EEZ claims, management becomes
problematic. As has been noted, cooperation is also a specific and joint responsibility of countries
adjacent to an enclosed or semi-enclosed sea under the regime in UNCLOS Part IX.
Specific tasks required for marine environmental protection and resource management include
monitoring and prevention of ship-sourced marine pollution; mitigation of the effects of major oil spills,
or other hazardous or noxious substances; the reversal of the degradation of marine habitats; the
control of illegal, unreported or unregulated (IUU) fishing; and the establishment as required of marine
protected areas and marine parks.
Finally and most basically, good order at sea means that nations are able to pursue their legitimate
maritime interests in accordance with agreed principles of international law. However, this is another
problematic area due to certain ambiguities in relevant regimes under the international law of the sea.
Cooperation between neighbouring states to maintain good order at sea is essential even in the absence
of agreed maritime boundaries. It might be achieved through memorandums of understanding between
the neighbouring states dealing with particular issues.
Problems arise if countries fail to ratify or adequately implement relevant international treaties. While
these regimes have been developed at the global level, they depend fundamentally on implementation
at the regional and national levels, and it is at those levels that the problems lie.
Maritime confidence building is a prerequisite to defusing South China Sea Conflict
Bateman 8/12/2013 - Professorial Fellow at the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and
Security, University of Wollongong (Sam, “Maritime Confidence Building Measures in the South China
Sea Conference,” Australian Strategic Policy Institute,
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=https%
3A%2F%2Fwww.aspi.org.au%2Fpublications%2Fspecial-report-maritime-confidence-building-measuresin-the-south-china-seaconference%2FSR55_MCBM.pdf&ei=31_DU6myO42p7AaujoGoDQ&usg=AFQjCNEq00eJcZRBN3fXmN1XCVcgbC6Jw&sig2=2ywhQij7TwJmo2KNel6jmg)
The SCS is a ‘semi-enclosed sea’ covered by Part IX of UNCLOS. The use of the words ‘should co-operate’
and ‘shall endeavour’ in Article 123 of UNCLOS places a strong obligation on littoral states to coordinate
their activities as defined in the subparagraphs of that article. While resource management, the
protection of the marine environment and marine scientific research are mentioned specifically as
areas for cooperation , the opening sentence of Article 123 creates a more general obligation to
cooperate. That responsibility might be interpreted as including security and safety, including the
maintenance of law and order at sea.1
The non-binding 2002 Declaration on Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) agreed between
China and ASEAN also invites the littoral countries to cooperate on the following transboundary marine
activities pending a comprehensive and durable settlement of the dispute: settlement, the application of
international law, the need for building up confidence and trust, and recognition of the freedoms of
navigation and overflight in the SCS. While it’s been successful in containing disputes and tensions in the
SCS until recently, it hasn’t contributed to cooperative activities in the way that was hoped, or led to
appropriate maritime confidence building measures (MCBMs).
In July 2011, China and ASEAN agreed on guidelines for developing a code of conduct between the
claimant countries in the SCS.3 However, the guidelines don’t refer specifically
to cooperation for management of the sea but rather identify confidence building measures as the initial
activities to be undertaken under the DOC.
The focus in the SCS has shifted from cooperation to sovereignty and dispute resolution. Confidence
building is now seen as a prerequisite of cooperation , rather than cooperation being viewed as a
confidence building measure. The current emphasis is on resolving the sovereignty disputes and
establishing a code of conduct rather than on building a cooperative management regime for the sea.
The demands for effective cooperative management regimes in the SCS will become more pressing in
the future. Volumes of shipping traffic will continue to increase, bringing greater risks of ship-sourced
marine pollution and shipping accidents. There’ll be increased pressure on the living and non-living
resources of the SCS, as well as growing concern for the protection and preservation of the sea’s
sensitive ecosystems and marine biodiversity.
Ocean exploration and monitoring specifically key to South China Sea
Bateman 8/12/2013 - Professorial Fellow at the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and
Security, University of Wollongong (Sam, “Maritime Confidence Building Measures in the South China
Sea Conference,” Australian Strategic Policy Institute,
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=https%
3A%2F%2Fwww.aspi.org.au%2Fpublications%2Fspecial-report-maritime-confidence-building-measuresin-the-south-china-seaconference%2FSR55_MCBM.pdf&ei=31_DU6myO42p7AaujoGoDQ&usg=AFQjCNEq00eJcZRBN3fXmN1XCVcgbC6Jw&sig2=2ywhQij7TwJmo2KNel6jmg)
Good knowledge of the marine environment is essential for the effective management of regional
seas. It’s particularly important in the SCS due to the rich biodiversity of the sea, its complex bottom
topography and its rich resources, the exploitation and good management of which require good
science .
An example of cooperative marine scientific research was the Current Metering Experiment conducted
as part of the ASEAN–Australia Regional Ocean Dynamics Project during the 1990s. This gathered
information on the flow of water and transfer of heat between the Pacific and Indian oceans—the key to
climate patterns in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific.
Recent attempts to establish cooperation for marine scientific research in the SCS have come to nothing.
The Joint Oceanographic and Marine Scientific Research Expedition in the South China Sea was initiated
between the Philippines and Vietnam in 1994 but lapsed in 2007.15 The bilateral
Agreement for Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking in certain areas in the SCS was signed by the national
oil companies of China and the Philippines in 2004 but lapsed after its term of three years. The tripartite
Agreement for Joint Marine Scientific Research in Certain Areas of the South China
Sea was signed by the national oil companies of China, the Philippines and Vietnam in 2005, also for a
term of three years, but failed to realise expectations.
The ARGOS system is a key element of the Global Ocean Observing System, which is the major
international oceanographic system for monitoring the world’s oceans. ARGOS involves a global array of
instruments placed at strategic points about every 300 kilometres to measure temperature, salinity and
circulation in the upper
2,000 metres of the sea. However, due to jurisdictional uncertainty, few instruments have been
deployed in the SCS.
Maritime Confidence Building Measures remove misunderstanding in a marine
environment
Jones 8/12/2013 – Captain, the Director of the Sea Power Centre (Justin, “Maritime Confidence
Building Measures in the South China Sea Conference,” Australian Strategic Policy Institute,
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=https%
3A%2F%2Fwww.aspi.org.au%2Fpublications%2Fspecial-report-maritime-confidence-building-measuresin-the-south-china-seaconference%2FSR55_MCBM.pdf&ei=31_DU6myO42p7AaujoGoDQ&usg=AFQjCNEq00eJcZRBN3fXmN1XCVcgbC6Jw&sig2=2ywhQij7TwJmo2KNel6jmg)
One of the challenges with MCBMs is a lack of consensus on what constitutes a CBM and what doesn’t.
This challenge is influenced by the very perceptions of mistrust that CBMs seek to ameliorate, which
originates from a complex web of historical experiences and geographical, strategic, political, economic,
social and other elements.10 It’s helpful to turn first to the outcomes sought from CBMs.
While a considerable number of by-products, discussed below, will result from the conduct of CBMs, the
primary outcomes sought tend to meet the following characteristics:
• the ‘cultivation of commonalities’11
• situation management12
• reducing misperception13
• mitigating escalation.14
These characteristics are to an extent embodied in the neat encapsulation of the UN, which identified
the goal of CBMs as being to: contribute to, reduce or, in some instances, even eliminate the causes for
mistrust, fear, tensions and hostilities, all of which are significant factors in the continuation of the
international arms build-up in various regions and, ultimately, also on a world-wide scale. A second goal
is to reinforce confidence where it already exists.15
Given the outcomes sought, and for the purposes of this paper, CBMs can be defined succinctly using
the words of President Harding: practical efforts to remove the causes of misunderstanding. Maritime
CBMs, specifically, are those that occur in the maritime environment.16
Solves US-China Relations
Maritime cooperation key to US China relations
Griffiths 7/2010– Studies at the China Maritime Studies Institue U.S. Naval War College (David, “U.S.China Maritime Confidence Building; Paradigms, Precedents, and Prospects,” Naval War College, PDF)
As two great powers that will influence much of the immediate future of our small and vulnerable
planet, China and the United States are in a marriage of sorts— “united for the purpose of living
together,” in the words of the Oxford English Diction- ary.1 Like it or not, the two societies depend on
each other. Environmental degradation, social unrest, economic problems, or pandemic outbreak in one
must inevitably affect the other. Both must be active contributors to a peaceful, prosperous,
sustainable, global community. Both governments emphasize their commitment to a positive and
construc- tive mutual engagement.
At sea, however, that engagement is not always trouble free. Confrontation happens— and when it
does, events do not always unfold in the way that policy makers might
have intended or preferred. Like a married couple, both sides prefer to downplay to the outside world
the extent and nature of quarrels. But despite this public posture, those in command of naval and
maritime air forces understand only too well the potential risks of damage, injury, and even death at the
tactical level. More worrying is the inherent risk of unintended consequences and the potential for an
uncontrolled strategic-political spiral of unwanted escalation. It is bad policy and in no one’s interest to
perpetuate a relationship in which an innocent mistake at sea can trigger an unwanted political crisis.
The maritime relationship between China and the United States is a vital element in their relationship
and a strategic concern for other states. Their tactical-level interaction at sea is too complex to be
governed solely by legal arrangements and political postures. It is too important to be conducted onscene by best guesses about each other’s inten- tions, especially when things get exciting and the
testosterone and adrenaline start flowing. And when things do go wrong, the resulting political fallout
can be too serious to be addressed by rhetoric and dogmatic adherence to rigid positions. Interactions
at sea are inherently fluid and must be managed mutually, responsibly, and predictably. At the moment,
the maritime relationship between China and the United States is not working as effectively as it
should—or must. The business of government is to manage events and minimize risk, so no political
leadership should be satisfied with a situation in which an honest misjudgment or accident at sea can
result in an unwanted interna- tional political problem at an inopportune time.
CBMs solve Indian Ocean
Marine cooperation key to defuse tensions in the Indian Ocean
Bateman and Bergin 2011 -*Professor at the University of Wollongong’s School of Law, Humanities
and the Arts, ** works at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (*Sam, ** Anthony, “New challenges
for maritime security in the Indian Ocean - an Australian perspective,” Journal of the Indian Ocean,
http://ro.uow.edu.au/lawpapers/516/)
Fisheries management should be a priority area for regional engagement. Australia has relevant
expertise and could invest more effort in ensuring that cooperative fisheries management arrangements
in the Indian Ocean are effective. Australia might also assist with building the capacity of selected
regional countries for fisheries management, and EEZ management more generally. This would be
particularly useful for countries of East Africa and some of the island countries that have large EEZs and
valuable fish stocks that are mainly exploited at present by foreign fishing interests.
The Indian Ocean has several unique characteristics. Unlike the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, it is enclosed
on three sides by land masses. As a consequence, oceanic currents in the Indian Ocean reverse during
the year in a way that does not occur in the other major oceans. The strong through-flow of water from
the Pacific to the Indian Ocean through the Indonesian archipelago is another factor which has a strong
impact on oceanographic conditions in the latter ocean. Unfortunately however, the thorough marine
scientific research to analyze these factors fully and to assess their implications is not available.
The Indian Ocean is the most under-researched of all the world’s oceans. Political differences have
inhibited marine scientific research in the past. There is a close link between oceanographic conditions
and regional weather patterns. Better oceanographic knowledge would markedly improve climate
research with benefits for all IOR countries, including providing the ability to predict severe weather
events, such as cyclones and periods of drought. With better oceanographic knowledge of the Indian
Ocean, it may have been possible to predict the disastrous floods in Pakistan thus providing the
opportunity for better preparations to be made in advance to mitigate the consequences of this
appalling natural disaster.
Improving marine scientific research in the region is essentially a cooperative activity and there is
much scope for action in this regard. There is scope for Australian leadership in fostering marine
scientific research in the IOR, especially in the eastern part of the ocean.
Disease advantage
Plan Solves
Ocean Exploration key to further pharmaceutical development
Neill 07/12/2013 –Director at the World Ocean Observatory (Peter, “Ocean Bio-Prospecting,”
Huffington Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-neill/law-of-the-sea-oceanbioprospecting_b_3575098.html)
We all know that the ocean is a valuable source of protein. We all know that the ocean is an increasingly
valuable source of minerals and metals. But we don't all know the true value of the ocean as a
pharmacological source with deep implication for the development of new medicines for present and
future diseases, indeed as an enormous contribution to global public health.
As with fishing and mining, bio-prospecting has a policy frame for regulation and governance, but all
three structures take the form of international agreements and treaties that are filled with undefined
areas of application, incomplete regulatory systems, limited if any enforcement, and challenges
exclusive to the ocean where vast expanse lies outside boundaries of national, territorial regulatory and
management jurisdiction.
Until the mid-1950s, the ocean had long been subject to the freedom-of-the-sea doctrine -- a 17-century
principle that limited national rights and jurisdiction over the oceans to a narrow belt of sea surrounding
a nation's coastline. Subsequently, the United Nations convened three conferences on the Law of the
Sea producing four conventions dealing respectively with the territorial sea and the contiguous zone,
the high seas, fishing and conservation of living resources in the high seas and the continental shelf. In
1970 after years of intensive efforts, the UN Assembly unanimously declared the seabed and ocean floor
beyond the limits of national jurisdiction to be the common heritage of mankind and convened a
conference in 1973 which would lead to establishing the International Seabed Authority, based in
Kingston, Jamaica, to organize, administer, and adjudicate all such exploitative activities in the open sea
The Seabed Authority today, for example, presides over various exploration contracts for poly-metallic
nodules and sulphides. The contracts are with various international research organizations, national
governments of France, the Russian Federation, China, India, Korea, and others, and several small
private corporations, some most probably representing foreign investors. The effect of this endeavor is
small, as for the moment recovery of such resources is complicated and expensive. But it is there, and
the Law of the Sea and the Authority's existing Mining Code may not be up to the regulatory challenge
should the economic circumstances change.
But it is the pharmaceutical exploration that should also be of great concern. Again, there are structures
in place -- the Convention on Biological Diversity foremost among them. But this exploration is less
physical in a way, and much more complicated, with the knowledge and value available from ocean
resources located everywhere -- in the length of the water column, coral reefs, deep ocean vents, and
the sea floor. The issues are many: access, research costs, transaction costs, intellectual property and
patent issues, regulatory structure, benefit-sharing, fairness and equity issues, and the right to
traditional knowledge sustained by indigenous peoples. All the major pharmaceutical companies and
research institutions are already fully engaged in the drug development and profit implications of these
resources, make no mistake about it.
At a conference on bioscience and the ocean, sponsored in 2012 by the New York Academy of Sciences,
the extent of this research potential was apparent, with presentations on the synthesis of DNA from
ocean species such as sponges and mollusks, imitating certain biological functions that could be applied
to disease in humans. A significant number of new drugs in preliminary testing for cancer treatment
are derived this way from the information decoded from marine plants and animals. A very recent
U.S. Supreme Court decision clarified one of the larger questions for such research: by protecting
knowledge derived from the discovery of such natural processes from the exclusivity of patent
protection, while nonetheless permitting "ownership" of processes invented or synthesized from them
for manufacture and application as vaccines or medicines beneficial to human health. It is a profound
distinction, and a major step toward protection of such ocean resources over time. It is interesting to
note, however, that this U.S. judicial decision notwithstanding, the United States Congress has not
approved either the UN Convention on Biological Diversity or the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea,
even though both are now international law, having been ratified by the requisite number of nations.
Frankly, this enormous potential is as threatened by ocean acidification, the changing pH of the ocean
with its impact on all macro and microscopic organisms, as it is on governance and the profit motive. All
these ocean challenges add up to the same question that we have not yet answered: how do we control
ourselves and our actions so that the benefits of the world ocean will be available to us for all time to
come?
Plan solves a laundry list of issues through bioprospecting
Abida Et Al 11/2013 (Heni, Chris Bowler and work at the Environmental and Evolutionary Genomics
Section at the Institut de Biologie de l’Ecole Normale Supérieure, Centre National de la Recherche
Scientifique, Sandrine Ruchaud and Stéphane Bach, work at the Kinase Inhibitor Specialized Screening
facility, Station Biologique de Roscoff, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Laurent Rios and
Clermont Limagne, work at Greentech France, Biopôle Saint Beauzire, Anne Humeau, works at the
Soliance France, Centre de Biotechnologie Marine, Ian Probert, works at theRoscoff Culture Collection,
Station Biologique de Roscoff, Centre National de la Recherche, Colomban De Vargas,works at the
Laboratory, Station Biologique de Roscoff, Centre National de la Recherche, “Bioprospecting Marine
Plankton,” US National Library of Medicine: National Institutes of Health,
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3853748/)
From this brief overview in which we have summarized current state-of-the-art and prospects for
discovery of new bioresources from marine planktonic organisms, it is evident that several success
stories have already emerged and that interest in the field is likely to grow way beyond what has been
seen in previous years. Bioprospecting the immense planktonic biodiversity could lead to new ways to
address a number of today’s global issues. Using phytoplankton as a feedstock for biofuels would have
a drastically lower impact on the planet’s carbon cycle than using fossil fuels, could provide us with
sustainable liquid energies such as biodiesel, and perhaps even hydrogen some day. Planktonic
organisms could also help us produce large amounts of nutraceutical and pharmaceutical components
to help the increasingly aging population by preventing or treating lifestyle-related diseases.
Additionally, mining for new bioactive molecules in this virtually unchartered ecosystem could yield a
variety of pharmaceutical components that would feed a nearly dry antibiotic pipeline and help fight
against the inevitable emergence of multi-drug resistant microbes.
Furthermore, this is also a significant moment of converging influences for the field. On the one hand,
new technologies for DNA sequencing are driving organism and gene discovery from environmental
samples at an unprecedented rate, as well as for the high-throughput screening for identification of
compounds and/or extracts with bioactivities of commercial interest. On the other hand, planetary-scale
research expeditions are harvesting samples from which new leads for drug discovery can arise.
Notwithstanding, our ability to culture marine micro-organisms has not advanced to the same degree,
and a legal framework for granting access and sharing of benefits from marine bioprospecting is yet to
emerge. The immediate future holds great promise, particularly if these obstacles can be breached, and
the best path forward will be through an enhanced two-way collaboration between researchers in
the public and private sectors, as well as a more active exchange between scientists and legal
authorities charged with establishing a workable basis for an equitable bioprospecting of the ocean.
Ocean exploration key to find new anti biotics
Pomponi 11/2/2003-Ph.D, vice president and director of research at Harbor Branch Oceanographic
Institution (Shirley, “The Oceans and Human Health: New Drugs from the Sea,” Harbor Branch
Oceanographic Institution, Inc, http://www.biologyeducation.net/news-and-articles/the-oceans-andhuman-health/)
For thousands of years, people have taken advantage of nature’s ability to produce remedies to treat
diseases and ailments. In some parts of the world, natural medicines are still the only treatments
available. Scientific research on these natural medicines, called “ethnomedicines”, led to the discovery
of purified chemicals, whose beneficial properties provided the foundation of the current
pharmaceutical industry. Today, over half of the marketed drugs are either extracted from natural
sources or produced by chemical synthesis using natural products as templates or starting materials.
Drugs such as morphine, Taxolâ, aspirin, penicillin, vincristine, and cyclosporin are just a few examples of
drugs derived from terrestrial plants and soil microorganisms.
The oceans are a rich source of both biological and chemical diversity. They cover more than 70% of the
earth’s surface and contain more than 300,000 described species of invertebrates and algae-and we
believe that this is just a small percentage of the total number of species that are yet to be discovered
and described! A relatively small number of marine organisms that we’ve studied to date-primarily algae
and invertebrates-has already yielded thousands of new chemical compounds, but only a small
percentage of these chemicals has been studied for their potential as drugs. Finally, although there is a
major effort by the pharmaceutical industry to design synthetic drugs using molecular modelling
techniques, marine natural products still provide unusual and unique chemical structures upon which
molecular modelling and chemical synthesis of new drugs can be based.
Why do marine plants, animals, and microbes produce chemicals that are useful as pharmaceuticals?
Many of them are sessile-attached to the bottom, and they live in densely populated habitats where
competition for resources, such as space and food, is intense. As a result, they have evolved a unique
arsenal of chemicals used for their defense, reproduction, and communication. Fortunately for us, many
of these metabolites also interact with enzymes involved in human disease processes. If, for example, a
sponge is trying to prevent a coral from invading its space, it may produce a chemical to prevent the
coral cells from growing and dividing. It is not unusual, therefore, that these same chemicals may also be
effective in inhibiting the uncontrolled growth of cancer cells in humans. In fact, several marine-derived
chemical compounds are in preclinical or clinical trials for the treatment of cancer.
Despite the emphasis on identifying new anticancer compounds, marine natural products have also
been found to have other biological activities, including mediation of the inflammatory response. One
example is the pseudopterosins, derived from the Caribbean soft coral Pseudopterogorgia elisabethae.
Purified extracts of this soft coral are available commercially as additives in skin care products. Another
example is topsentin, derived from a deep-sea sponge, called Spongosorites. Other marine-derived
compounds, such as the prostaglandins, palytoxin, calyculin, okadaic acid, and manoalide, to name just a
few, are available commercially as biomedical research probes that give us valuable insights into
understanding and treating human diseases.
Data key to understand Marine diseases
Ward and Lafferty 4/13/2004 * At the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell
University, ** Member of the United States Geological Survey Western Ecological Research Center
(*Jessica R, ** Kevin D, “The Elusive Baseline of Marine Disease: Are Diseases in Ocean Ecosystems
Increasing?” PLOS Biology,
http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.0020120)
Marine organisms serve as hosts for a diversity of parasites and pathogens. Mortalities affect not only
the host population, but can cascade through ecosystems. Loss of biologically engineered habitats such
as seagrass beds (Lewis 1933; Taylor 1933) and cascading trophic effects due to removal of consumers
(Lessios 1988) can alter community structure.
Understanding marine disease and the timing of outbreaks is increasingly important given escalating
anthropogenic stressors affecting marine ecosystems. Humans directly affect community structure
(e.g., overfishing [Jackson et al. 2001; Myers and Worm 2003]) and facilitate introduction of terrestrial
pathogens to marine organisms (e.g., canine distemper virus in Antarctic seals [Bengtson and Boveng
1991]). Human-mediated climate change may also affect disease prevalence. A recent review predicts
disease in both terrestrial and marine ecosystems could increase with future climate warming (Harvell et
al. 2002).
Previous literature reviews suggesting a higher rate of disease outbreaks in the last three decades
(Epstein et al. 1998; Harvell et al. 1999), coupled with predictions of future increases due to climate
change (Harvell et al. 2002), lend new urgency to understanding causes of marine disease outbreaks.
Evidence suggests the increase is real (Harvell et al. 1999), yet lack of baseline data for most marine
communities precludes a direct test of the hypothesis.
We developed a proxy method to test a prediction of the increasing disease hypothesis: that reports of
disease in the scientific literature, normalized to overall publication rates, increased since 1970. We
searched an online literature database (ISI Web of Science) and quantified reports of disease in natural
populations of marine organisms from 1970 to 2001. Nine marine taxonomic groups were searched:
turtles, corals, mammals, urchins, molluscs, seagrasses, deca-pods, sharks/rays, and fishes.
Previous analyses of ecological literature specifically assessed trends among scientists such as taxonomic
bias (Clark and May 2002) and taxonomic chauvinism (Bonnet et al. 2002) in research. Our proxy
method is to our knowledge the first quantitative use of normalized trends in the literature to
investigate an ecological hypothesis. In the absence of baseline data, the literature proxy method
detects important trends of disease in major groups of marine plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates.
Furthering Ocean Bioprospecting key to gain new cures for diseases
Nelson 12/14/2010–Writes for the University of Miami RJ Dunlap Conservation Program (Emily Rose,
“Drugs from the deep: Ocean bioprospecting,” RJD Program, http://rjd.miami.edu/conservation/drugsfrom-the-deep-ocean-bioprospecting)
Oceans cover over 70% of the earth’s surface. Some of the greatest biological diversity in the world is
found in the seas. Over 200,000 species of invertebrates and algae have been identified, and this
number is estimated to be only a small fraction of what is yet to be discovered. This immense
biodiversity yields great chemical diversity. When working with potential pharmaceuticals this becomes
extremely important, more chemically diverse substances are more suitable. The field of marine natural
products is just over 40 years old and already over 15,000 chemical compounds have been identified as
having biological function.
Many of these chemicals have cancer fighting potential. Many sessile organisms emit chemicals to
prevent others from evading their space. Often times these chemicals are used to slow and prevent cell
growth of surrounding sponges, etc. It is believed that the same chemicals these organisms let out when
competing for space can be used to stop the uncontrolled division of cancer cells. Cancer treatment
compounds have advanced quite a bit due to funding from the National Cancer Institute.
Discodermolide is a polypeptide isolated from deep water sponges (Discodermia). This substance stops
the reproduction of cancer cells by disrupting the microtubule network (partially responsible for
movement of cells). Bryostatin, a substance released by some bryozoans, is believed to be particularly
useful against leukemia and melanoma. The Caribbean mangrove tunicate produces a compound
(Ecteinascidin-743 or ET-743) that has been tested in humans for the treatment of breast and ovarian
cancers and found to be effective.
While cancer fighting treatments have received the most attention, discoveries have been made in
many areas. Increased understanding of the highly specified modes of activity of these chemicals and
their roles in the natural world allows scientists to better understand their use to humans. Many of
these compounds are on the route to approval, and in the near future we will start to see a surge of
marine pharmaceuticals. Filter feeders are constantly circulating water and small organisms through
their system, thus they are continually exposed to parasites and disease causing bacteria. The chemicals
they use to defend themselves could also be of use to humans. Ziconotide, a cysteine rich peptide, has
been found to fight against neuropathic pain. These toxins, derived from the cone snail, are
approximately 1,000 times more powerful than morphine. The sponge Petrosia contignata produces a
strong anti-inflammatory with the potential for asthma treatment. Another group of anti-inflammatories
comes from Caribbean soft corals and sea whips. These are used to reduce swelling and skin irritation.
The use of marine chemical resources does not stop with pharmaceuticals. They can also be found in
nutritional supplements, cosmetics and more.
It is clear that the ocean has enormous medicinal potential. Unfortunately there are a number of
obstacles preventing this potential to be reached in full. One of the biggest problems is simply the lack
of supply. Underwater compounds are more difficult to reach than those on land. SCUBA and
submersibles make it easier to access these resources, however, oceanographic expeditions are quite
expensive. Also, in order to use these compounds effectively collections need to be done in very large
quantities. Large scale harvests are often deemed ecologically unsound. Because collection is almost
always not an option alternatives such as aquaculture and chemical synthesis can be used. Aquaculture
has been completed successfully, however it is difficult because little is known about the invertebrates.
Chemical synthesis is thought to be the ideal solution, giving pharmaceutical companies ultimate
control. However, this process is extremely costly, complex, and has a very low yield.
Another complication deals with political boundaries. The most diverse regions are located in areas of
developing countries. These are precisely the areas that the more developed nations wish to explore.
Developing nations are often nervous about being used, and thus hesitant to allow exploration. National
and international regulations regarding access and extraction of natural resources are then discussed.
This presents difficulty when placing value on a natural resource, including any value added to the
resource through its use as a pharmaceutical and the value it has initially in the ecosystem.
Because of these difficulties, many pharmaceutical candidates remain untouched . On the bright side,
currently there are large databases of chemical compounds. Our understanding of biological activity
linked to these compounds is increasing. At the same time knowledge of human diseases is increasing at
rapid speed. We can combine this knowledge and apply it to drug discovery and disease treatment.
Ocean Bioprospecting has limitless potential
Dell'Amore 5/14/2009 –Writes for National Geographic (Christine, “Blockbuster Ocean Drugs on the
Horizon?” National Geographic News, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/05/090514marine-drugs.html)
As leads for new drugs on land dry up, medicine hunters are plunging into the ocean in search of the
next blockbuster pharmaceutical.
Harvesting ocean organisms for medicinal purposes—called marine bioprospecting—has accelerated in
recent years as scientists seek new antibiotics and cancer treatments.
"Bottom line, the marine microbial environment is very rich, because it's never been exploited before,"
said Kobi Sethna, president of the small biotech company Nereus Pharmaceuticals, which specializes in
marine microbes.
Though the blue part of the planet was largely ignored during the drug rush of the past half century, it's
a natural place to look, experts say.
Of the 36 known phyla—a taxonomic rank below kingdom—17 occur on land and 34 live in the ocean,
making the seas "by far the highest biodiversity environment on the planet," said William Fenical,
distinguished professor of oceanography and pharmaceutical science at University of California, San
Diego.
"It would be difficult to overlook such a massive resource for chemical diversity and drug discovery,"
Fenical said.
Close to 25 drugs derived from marine life—such as bacteria, sponges, and tunicates—are currently in
clinical trials.
In 1928, British bacteriologist Sir Andrew Fleming realized that a rare spore of fungus—Pencillium
notatum—had floated from another lab through the air and landed in his culture plate of bacteria, killing
some of it.
That early discovery of what would become the widespread antibiotic penicillin spurred an intensified
effort to explore Earth's forests and wild places, which have proven to be repositories for some of
today's major drug advances.
Fifty percent of drugs made for humans are derived in some way from nature , Fenical said.
But by the 1970s, scientists had realized that terrestrial microorganisms had been thoroughly explored,
prompting a few early "pioneers" to turn their gaze seaward, Fenical said.
These pioneers were attracted by unique ocean organisms with special chemical properties not seen on
land.
For instance, the severe ocean environments of little to no light and extremely cold temperatures
have given rise to unusual—and mostly unstudied—survival strategies in ocean creatures, scientists
say.
For instance, some marine organisms produce population-control compounds that, when given to a
person, work in a similar way: Instead of reducing the number of offspring, the compounds inhibit the
growth of malignant tumors.
So "rather than inventing the wheel," people can benefit from millions of years of evolution, Nereus's
Sethna said.
Though opposition from conservationists has often dogged companies that scour rain forests for the
next miracle drug, marine bioprospecting shouldn't impact the ocean environment, experts say.
Many of the drugs are easily synthesized into molecules in the lab, so that just a small amount of an
organism, such as half a sponge, is all that needs to be collected.
Though the first push into ocean medicine centered on antibiotics and cancer-cell killers, the field has
grown more sophisticated, said Raymond Andersen, a chemistry professor at University of British
Columbia. Andersen studies metabolites, or the byproducts of chemical processes produced by marine
organisms.
For instance, some marine organisms, such as sponges and fungi, contain compounds that can inhibit an
enzyme in the body secreted by a type of tumor called indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase. The enzyme tricks
the body into not attacking the tumor, Andersen said.
Another marine compound acts as a "corrector" for people who have cystic fibrosis, the most common
genetic disease among Caucasians. The molecules grease the path for proteins in the body to reach the
cell membrane, where the proteins restore mucus production required to prevent infections of the
airway.
Andersen's lab has had two compounds enter phase-II clinical trials for treating soft-tumor cancers and
asthma, respectively.
Clinical trials have three phases. During phase-II trials, an experimental study drug or treatment is
administered to a group of about 100 to 300 people to see if it is effective and to further evaluate its
safety.
Nereus's Sethna also has two drugs in the works.
One, currently in phase-II trials, was derived from a fungus that grows on sea grass in the Bahamas. The
medicine destroys the established vascular system of a tumor—in combination with chemotherapy—for
people with non-small-cell lung cancer, which has an average survival rate of seven months.
The second drug, taken from bacteria in ocean sediment, stops proteasomes—strong enzymes that
break down proteins—from destroying proteins that would otherwise protect against cancer.
The drug—which is geared toward people with multiple myeloma, melanoma, and lung and pancreatic
cancers—is finishing up phase-I trials, Sethna said.
During phase-I trials, researchers test an experimental drug or treatment in a small group of about 20 to
80 people for the first time to evaluate its safety, determine a safe dosage range, and identify side
effects.
But marine bioprospecting still hasn't made the splash its backers were hoping for.
For one thing, Big Pharma hasn't gotten totally on board. If companies funded drug discoveries from
marine microbes at anywhere near a third or half of the money spent on other drugs, there would be
three times as many marine drugs already available, Fenical pointed out.
"It's discouraging that industry has taken such a standoff approach," he said.
Indeed, before Big Pharma shied away from the land, "people at board meetings would laugh when
someone brought up the ocean," Sethna said.
But he said it's only a matter of time before marine drugs take off.
"If we succeed in two or three years and these products are purchased by pharma, the question is going
to be asked, Where did you get them, and can [they] be duplicated?"
Anti-Biotic Resistance Impact
Antimicrobial resistance causes extinction
Desikan 2011 –Department of Microbiology, Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre (P,
“Antimicrobial resistance and extinction,” Indian Journal of Medical Microbiology,
http://www.ijmm.org/article.asp?issn=02550857;year=2011;volume=29;issue=3;spage=207;epage=208;aulast=Desikan)
The world is, and always has been, in a state of flux. The entire basis of organic evolution is underpinned
by the appearance of some species and the disappearance of others. According to fossil records, no
species has yet proved immortal; as few as 2%--4 % of the species that have ever lived are believed to
survive today. The remainder are extinct, many having disappeared long before the arrival of humans.
Extinctions caused by humans, however, are generally considered to be a recent, modern phenomenon.
The rapid loss of species that we are witnessing today is estimated to be between 100 and 1000 times
higher than the expected natural extinction rate. Unlike the mass extinction events of geological history,
a single species-ours -appears to be almost wholly responsible for the current extinction phenomenon.
This is now referred to as "the sixth extinction crisis", after the five known extinction waves in the
Ordovician, Devonian, Permian, Triassic and Cretaceous Periods. [1]
Living organisms keep our planet habitable, and enable us to survive as well . The normal flora in the
human body is composed of highly complex communities of various microorganisms. Members of the
bacterial community contribute to many aspects of intestinal tract development and provide metabolic
contributions well in excess of the human genome. [2],[3],[4] In spite of all this, and in keeping with our
collective character, we have indiscriminately tried to eliminate micro-organisms, irrespective of their
role in causing disease. Our ill advised attempts at mass destruction of micro-organisms have led to the
selection of particularly pathogenic and drug resistant organisms, which we are now unable to destroy.
The redoubtable evolutionary success of Homo sapiens has, so far, hinged on our capacity to destroy the
competition for habitat and resources. In our driving need to survive and proliferate, we have actively
destroyed many of nature's inbuilt networks for renewal of resources. As a result, the competition for
survival has only become more intense. In this race for survival, we have obliterated many species of
animals from the face of the earth. Humanity's first significant contribution to the rate of global
extinction may have occurred during the past 100 000 years, when North and South America and
Australia lost 74%--86% of the genera of "megafauna" - mammals greater than 44 kg. Over the last 500
years, our destructive capabilities have forced 844 species to extinction in the wild. [5] We have thus
destroyed many of the natural hosts of many micro-organisms. The micro-organisms, in turn, now can
only adapt themselves to the most populous and easily available hosts, which remain, the Homo
sapiens. The process of their adaptation has now necessarily required development of antimicrobial
resistance.
Quite obviously, antimicrobial resistance is a phenomenon that has reached pandemic proportions
because it has been fuelled by human need, greed and irresponsibility. The result is a face off
between Homo sapiens and an entire array of micro-organisms , be they bacteria, viruses, fungi or
parasites. Though diminutive, micro-organisms are formidable foes. They have been around on this
planet for much longer than we have, and have survived odds that we cannot even begin to
comprehend. Considering the fact that microbial cells outnumber human cells in our bodies in a ratio of
10:1, we are more microbes than human beings. And, if this is war, then it is an exercise in self
destruction.
Antibiotic resistance causes extinction
BBC 7/15/2014 (“Extinction Level Events,” BBC, http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/placelondon/plain/A207415)
An extinction level event is a catastrophic occurrence which has the potential to terminate entire
species of animals and plants: eg, to cause a mass extinction. Such events are decidedly rare, but
geological evidence shows that they have happened on many occasions since multicellular life became
abundant on the planet almost a billion years ago.
This Entry does not attempt to catalogue the great extinction events of the past, but instead lists out the
types of events that, were they to happen, could precipitate extinctions on a massive scale, including
perhaps the discontinuation of the human race . Probabilities of occurrence are also included, lest we
feel compelled to drill big holes in mountains to minimise exposure to Gamma Ray Bursts.
Human extinction, or for us, the 'End of the World', has been a common theme in literature, religious
and scientific thought since time immemorial. Television documentaries revel in informing us of our
impending doom as a race, and extinction worries tend to follow fashions and fads which are closely
linked to the major preoccupation of society at any one time.
Higher Probability Events (Hundreds of Years)
Nuclear War
Humanity is unique among the Earth's fauna for its ability to have devised, through technological means,
the ability to wipe itself out quickly. The mechanism is nuclear fusion: ironically the exact same process
that powers the Sun - the ultimate source of all life on Earth. In the mid-20th Century this power was
harnessed and weaponised, and after World War II vast stockpiles of weapons were built up by Russia,
the USA and China as a means of maintaining an uneasy peace between these world powers. In more
recent times, many other countries have acquired or amassed nuclear weapons.
Nuclear bombs have been built1 that are 3,000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb of 1945.
While death in the immediate vicinity of a blast is nearly a certainty2 humanity itself could be
threatened if a significant amount of dust from the explosions and their resultant firestorms were blown
into the stratosphere. Less sunlight would reach the surface of the Earth, resulting in a 'nuclear winter'
which would devastate plant growth on a worldwide basis, collapsing the food chain as a result.
Worldwide Pestilence
One of humanity's greatest threats is from enemies we cannot see, hear or smell; who can build up vast
armies within days; and who can rapidly take advantage of the weaknesses of their adversaries. These
enemies are disease microbes.
In 1346, the Black Death arrived in Europe, quickly taking away nearly a quarter of the population of the
continent. It reappeared on a regular basis for centuries afterwards, exacting huge death tolls each time.
In 1918 a strain of influenza appeared, killing 50 million people within a year. Diseases such as measles
and smallpox had a devastating effect on the native inhabitants of America after it was discovered by
Europeans. New diseases such as AIDS and Ebola have caused mayhem in recent times. New strains of
influenza and diseases such as variant CJD lurk threateningly in the background. Even worse, old
diseases of the past such as TB, are developing a resistance to even our most powerful antibiotics.
Certain diseases such as anthrax have been weaponised and could be released in vast quantities should
someone have the inclination and means to do so.
Antibiotic resistance causes extinction – The threat is bigger than warming
Rodgers 5/23/14– Writes science for Forbes, formerly at the Economist and BBC, MA in Science
Journalism from City University London (Paul, “Fears For Antibiotic 'Apocalypse' Grow,” Forbes,
http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulrodgers/2014/05/23/fears-for-antibiotic-apocalypse-grow/)
The biggest threat to human health today isn’t global warming, says a group of eminent scientists, it
is resistance to antibiotics.
The situation, which has been described as ‘apocalyptic’, is so desperate that a global response, similar
to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, is urgently needed, said experts gathered at the
Royal Society in London.
The World Health Organisation is considering a global action plan to fight the problem.
At least two million Americans a year are infected with drug-resistant bugs and 23,000 die as a direct
result. Even more die from other illnesses that were made worse by infections that cannot be treated,
according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last year.
Another 5,000 die annually in Britain, where the first antimicrobials were developed a century ago.
Dame Sally Davies, Britain’s Chief Medical Officer, warned Parliament last year of an “apocalyptic”
situation where people would die from routine operations.
Antibiotic2
An antibiotic (transparent area) keeps a bacterial colony at bay in a petri dish (Credit: El Bingle)
One of the main threats comes from MRSA, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. A recent study
found that 4.6 per cent of patients in US healthcare facilities had the bug.
Antibiotic resistance is not only bad news for current patients, it also allows pathogens to spread to
more victims.
Jeremy Farrar, the head of the Wellcome Trust, and Mark Woolhouse, professor of infectious disease
epidemiology at Edinburgh University, argued in Nature yesterday (22 May) that the use of antibiotics
should be slashed to slow the rate at which resistance is spreading.
Their proposed new global panel would also work with industry to develop treatments for infections
caused by bacteria, viruses and parasites. But it takes a decade to develop new drugs, and no new class
of antibiotics has made it into clinical use in a quarter of a century
“We have needed to take action against the development of antimicrobial resistance for more than 20
years,” said Dr Farrar. “Despite repeated warnings, the international response has been feeble. The
more we use antibiotics, the more we stimulate resistance.
The evolution of resistant strains is inevitable, but misuse of wonder drugs such as penicillin –
discovered in 1929 by Sir Alexander Fleming at St Mary’s Hospital, London – has made it much worse.
Many patients stop taking antibiotics when they begin to feel better, before the infection has been
completely killed. Because the surviving bugs are likely to be the ones with at least partial resistance,
they then spread. Repeated cycles quickly leads to bugs that are immune to our drugs.
Antibiotics are also widely used as a growth promoter for livestock, despite a European Union ban.
Britain introduced a five-year antibiotic plan in 2013 to improve surveillance, educate medical
professionals and spread best practice.
But, said Michael Moore of the Royal College of General Practitioners, “ The problem of antimicrobial
resistance is analogous to global warming. You’ve got to have an international policy,”
Antibiotic resistance ends modern medicine – New discoveries are key
Moisse 3/16/2012–Health Editor at ABC News, graduate of Columbia University’s Graduate School of
Journalism with a Masters in Neuroscience and a PhD in Pathology (Katie,” Antibiotic Resistance Could
Bring ‘End of Modern Medicine,’” ABC News,
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/03/16/antibiotic-resistance-could-bring-end-of-modernmedicine/)
As bacteria evolve to evade antibiotics, common infections could become deadly , according to Dr.
Margaret Chan, director general of the World Health Organization.
Speaking at a conference in Copenhagen, Chan said antibiotic resistance could bring about “the end of
modern medicine as we know it.”
“We are losing our first-line antimicrobials,” she said Wednesday in her keynote address at the
conference on combating antimicrobial resistance. “Replacement treatments are more costly, more
toxic, need much longer durations of treatment, and may require treatment in intensive care units.”
Chan said hospitals have become “hotbeds for highly-resistant pathogens” like methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus, “increasing the risk that hospitalization kills instead of cures.”
Indeed, diseases that were once curable, such as tuberculosis, are becoming harder and more expensive
to treat.
Chan said treatment of multidrug resistant tuberculosis was “extremely complicated, typically requiring
two years of medication with toxic and expensive medicines, some of which are in constant short
supply. Even with the best of care, only slightly more than 50 percent of these patients will be cured.”
Antibiotic-resistant strains of salmonella, E. coli, and gonorrhea have also been discovered.
“Some experts say we are moving back to the pre-antibiotic era. No. This will be a post-antibiotic era. In
terms of new replacement antibiotics, the pipeline is virtually dry,” said Chan. “A post-antibiotic era
means, in effect, an end to modern medicine as we know it. Things as common as strep throat or a
child’s scratched knee could once again kill.”
The dearth of effective antibiotics could also make surgical procedures and certain cancer treatments
risky or even impossible, Chan said.
“Some sophisticated interventions, like hip replacements, organ transplants, cancer chemotherapy and
care of preterm infants, would become far more difficult or even too dangerous to undertake,” she said.
The development of new antibiotics now could help stave off catastrophe later. But few drug makers are
willing to invest in drugs designed for short term use.
“It’s simply not profitable for them,” said Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of preventive medicine at
Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. “If you create a new drug to reduce cholesterol,
people will be taking that drug every day for the rest of their lives. But you only take antibiotics for a
week or maybe 10 days.”
Schaffner likened the dilemma to Ford releasing a car that could only be driven if every other vehicle
wasn’t working.
“While we try to encourage the pharmaceutical industry to create new antibiotics, we have to be very
prudent in their use,” he said.
But there are ways to limit the potential for bacteria to develop antibiotic resistance: Use antibiotics
appropriately and only when needed; follow treatment correctly; and restrict the use of antibiotics in
food production to therapeutic purposes.
“At a time of multiple calamities in the world, we cannot allow the loss of essential antimicrobials,
essential cures for many millions of people, to become the next global crisis,” said Chan.
AT: Spread contained
Antibiotic resistance thwarts containment – new drug development is key
Boseley 5/6/14 - health editor of the Guardian, has won 2 One World Media Awards and the Lorenzo
Natali prize (Sarah, “Extinct diseases could reappear due to overuse of antibiotics, WHO warns:
Antibiotics are a bedrock of modern medicine. However, in the very near future, we will have to learn to
live without them once again, and it’s going to get nasty,” Taipei Times,
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2014/05/06/2003589667/3
Antibiotics are losing their power to fight infections in every country in the world, according to new data
from the WHO, creating a situation that could have devastating consequences for public health by
raising the possibility that once-beaten diseases will re-emerge as global killers.
Antibiotic resistance is a major threat to public health, the WHO says. It is no longer something to worry
about in the future, but is happening now and could affect anybody, anywhere, of whatever age.
“Without urgent, coordinated action by many stakeholders, the world is headed for a post-antibiotic
era, in which common infections and minor injuries which have been treatable for decades can once
again kill,” said Keiji Fukuda, a physician and the WHO’s assistant director-general for health security.
“Effective antibiotics have been one of the pillars allowing us to live longer, live healthier and benefit
from modern medicine. Unless we take significant actions to improve efforts to prevent infections and
also change how we produce, prescribe and use antibiotics, the world will lose more and more of these
global public-health goods and the implications will be devastating .”
The new report is the first to gather comprehensive data from the WHO on antibiotic resistance and has
information from 114 countries. Although the data are more complete in some regions than in others, it
is clear that drug-resistant strains of bacteria and viruses are common and that trying to preserve the
efficacy of the antibiotics we have is a losing battle.
“We know that the pathogens are everywhere. They were here before humanity,” Carmem Pessoa Da
Silva, team lead on antimicrobial resistance at the WHO, told reporters. “It is not a problem of a single
country or single region. It is a problem that belongs to the entire planet. This is important. No single
country even with the best possible policies in place can address this issue alone. We need all countries
to get together and discuss and put in practice possible solutions.”
The report looks in detail at antibiotic resistance in seven bacteria that are responsible for common and
potentially serious diseases, such as bloodstream infections or sepsis, diarrhea, pneumonia, urinary tract
infections and gonorrhea. It finds there is resistance even to antibiotics that are used as a last resort
when others fail.
Most troubling is that the data collected by the WHO show there is resistance all over the world to the
“last resort” antibiotics used against life-threatening infections that are caused by a common intestinal
bacterium, Klebsiella pneumoniae.
This bacterium is a major cause of infections acquired by some very vulnerable patients in hospital. It
can cause pneumonia, bloodstream infections and infections in newborns and intensive-care unit
patients. The antibiotics of last resort are called carbapenems — but the report says there is resistance
to them in every region. In some countries, because of resistance, carbapenem antibiotics would not
work in more than half of people treated for K pneumoniae infections.
Very serious cases of bacteria resistant to carbapenems have been caused by an enzyme called NDM1.
“That is a particularly vicious one,” WHO Europe senior adviser on antimicrobial resistance Danilo Lo Fo
Wong said. “One of the few antibiotics that we can use against it is an old one which was discarded
because of its side effects.”
There have been no new classes of antibiotics in 25 years, he said.
Pharmaceutical companies cannot cover the costs of research and development because new antibiotics
have to be used sparingly, for fear of resistance developing — and when that begins, they have a short
lifespan.
“New antibiotics coming on to the market are not really new,” he said. “They are variations of those we
already have.”
That means that bacteria are likely to develop resistance to them that much sooner.
“We see treatment failure and we see people die because they are not treated in time,” he said. “In
some parts of the world, it is about availability.”
However in others, patients are treated with one antibiotic after another to try to find something that
works, increasing the risk to them because they become more ill and also further driving resistance.
Some countries in Europe do not automatically carry out tests to establish what the infection is,
especially if there are additional costs to the hospital or patient.
The report also highlights widespread resistance to one of the most widely used antibacterial medicines
for the treatment of urinary tract infections caused by E coli. In the 1980s, when the fluoroquinolones
were introduced, there was virtually no resistance, but now in many countries, they are ineffective in
more than half of patients.
The UK is one of several countries where resistance has developed to the last-line antibiotics used to
treat gonorrhea, known as the third-generation cephalosporins. The WHO also names Austria, Australia,
Canada, France, Japan, Norway, South Africa, Slovenia and Sweden as countries where this is the case.
The WHO urges all countries to be more sparing in their use of antibiotics in humans and in animals and
to improve hand hygiene, which has been credited with reducing the numbers of cases of the
“superbug” MRSA — Staphylococcus aureus, which is resistant to the antibiotic methicillin — in the UK.
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), the volunteer doctors who work in crisis settings around the world,
said a global plan for the rational use of affordable antibiotics was urgently needed.
“We see horrendous rates of antibiotic resistance wherever we look in our field operations, including
children admitted to nutritional centers in Niger and people in our surgical and trauma units in Jordan,”
MSF Access Campaign medical director Jennifer Cohn said. “Countries need to improve their surveillance
of antimicrobial resistance, as otherwise our actions are just a shot in the dark. Eithout this information,
doctors don’t know the extent of the problem and can’t make the right clinical decisions needed.”
“Ultimately, WHO’s report should be a wake-up call to governments to introduce incentives for industry
to develop new, affordable antibiotics that do not rely on patents and high prices and are adapted to
the needs of developing countries,” she said.
British experts agreed on the urgency of the problem.
“The world needs to respond as it did to the AIDS crisis of the 1980s,” said Laura Piddock, professor of
microbiology at the University of Birmingham and director of the campaigning group Antibiotic Action.
“To do this, we need to be ambitious to succeed.” Mandatory and funded global surveillance and public
education campaigns were important, “but these are just starting points. We still need a better
understanding of all aspects of resistance as well as new discovery, research and development of new
antibiotics,” she said. However, she added, UK government funding for antibiotic research had
dwindled.
Martin Adams, president of the Society for Applied Microbiology, also called for more research into how
resistance develops in human and animal antibiotic use.
“Even if there are new antimicrobial drugs brought to market, we will still face the specter of resistance
unless we can learn how to minimize or slow its development,” he said.
Even common infections will overwhelm public health containment
Moisse 3/16/2012–Health Editor at ABC News, graduate of Columbia University’s Graduate School of
Journalism with a Masters in Neuroscience and a PhD in Pathology (Katie,” Antibiotic Resistance Could
Bring ‘End of Modern Medicine,’” ABC News,
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/03/16/antibiotic-resistance-could-bring-end-of-modernmedicine/)
As bacteria evolve to evade antibiotics, common infections could become deadly , according to Dr.
Margaret Chan, director general of the World Health Organization.
Speaking at a conference in Copenhagen, Chan said antibiotic resistance could bring about “the end of
modern medicine as we know it.”
“We are losing our first-line antimicrobials,” she said Wednesday in her keynote address at the
conference on combating antimicrobial resistance. “Replacement treatments are more costly, more
toxic, need much longer durations of treatment, and may require treatment in intensive care units.”
Chan said hospitals have become “hotbeds for highly-resistant pathogens” like methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus, “increasing the risk that hospitalization kills instead of cures.”
Indeed, diseases that were once curable, such as tuberculosis, are becoming harder and more expensive
to treat.
Chan said treatment of multidrug resistant tuberculosis was “extremely complicated, typically requiring
two years of medication with toxic and expensive medicines, some of which are in constant short
supply. Even with the best of care, only slightly more than 50 percent of these patients will be cured.”
Antibiotic-resistant strains of salmonella, E. coli, and gonorrhea have also been discovered.
“Some experts say we are moving back to the pre-antibiotic era. No. This will be a post-antibiotic era. In
terms of new replacement antibiotics, the pipeline is virtually dry,” said Chan. “A post-antibiotic era
means, in effect, an end to modern medicine as we know it. Things as common as strep throat or a
child’s scratched knee could once again kill.”
The dearth of effective antibiotics could also make surgical procedures and certain cancer treatments
risky or even impossible, Chan said.
“Some sophisticated interventions, like hip replacements, organ transplants, cancer chemotherapy and
care of preterm infants, would become far more difficult or even too dangerous to undertake,” she said.
The development of new antibiotics now could help stave off catastrophe later. But few drug makers are
willing to invest in drugs designed for short term use.
“It’s simply not profitable for them,” said Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of preventive medicine at
Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. “If you create a new drug to reduce cholesterol,
people will be taking that drug every day for the rest of their lives. But you only take antibiotics for a
week or maybe 10 days.”
Schaffner likened the dilemma to Ford releasing a car that could only be driven if every other vehicle
wasn’t working.
“While we try to encourage the pharmaceutical industry to create new antibiotics, we have to be very
prudent in their use,” he said.
But there are ways to limit the potential for bacteria to develop antibiotic resistance: Use antibiotics
appropriately and only when needed; follow treatment correctly; and restrict the use of antibiotics in
food production to therapeutic purposes.
“At a time of multiple calamities in the world, we cannot allow the loss of essential antimicrobials,
essential cures for many millions of people, to become the next global crisis,” said Chan.
STEM advantage
Chemical industry impact
STEM solves manufacturing industry—specifically reinvigorates the chemical industry
Miller 11—staff writer for US News and World Report(Bo, “Companies Must Play a Vital
Role in STEM Education,” 9/19/2011, US News and World Report,
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2011/09/19/companies-must-play-a-vital-rolein-stem-education?page=1)//emchen
Less than half of high school graduates are ready for college-level math and less than a third are ready
for college-level science in the United States, according to the ACT's Condition of College & Career
Readiness report. The United States is clearly falling short in the areas of science, technology,
engineering, and math (STEM) education needed to produce the world-class talent that will be critical to
fulfilling the requirements of the 21st-century workforce. ¶ Revitalizing STEM education and increasing
the number of students who choose STEM majors and careers is imperative for the future of the
advanced manufacturing industry in the United States . Dow, like other companies dependent on a
workforce proficient in science, technology, engineering, and math, has a responsibility to use our
credibility, capabilities, and resources to make students, the workforce, and the economy stronger. ¶
For our nation's young people, STEM education is a passport to a career full of exciting breakthroughs
and solutions directly addressing global challenges current and future generations will need to address.
A STEM-focused education provides students the opportunity to play a role in a variety of industries,
including the chemical industry , which enables more than 96 percent of all manufactured goods. ¶ The
Case for Being Bold report from the American Enterprise Institute and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
notes that business leaders bring two essential perspectives to the national discussion on STEM
education: that of an employer, determining what skills and knowledge are needed, and that of a leader
experienced at managing organizational change, who can help educators manage STEM reform.¶ The
time for action of STEM education is now. This year, the world celebrates the International Year of
Chemistry (or IYC), designated by the United Nations to recognize the accomplishments of chemistry
and generate enthusiasm for chemistry among young people. Dow is a global IYC partner, supporting
events and initiatives around the world that get students--from kindergarten to college--excited about
science. ¶ At Dow, we are embracing these opportunities to utilize our role in industry to further STEM
education, and we've directly tied STEM educational initiatives to an industry growth strategy.
Advancing STEM education is a key component of our Advanced Manufacturing Plan for America, a
comprehensive set of practical policy solutions and business strategies to reinvigorate manufacturing in
the United States, leading to the long-term health of our nation's economy. We recognize that advances
in innovation and technology investments drive the economic growth of America by supporting job
creation. These advancements are critical to our nation's prosperity and security in the global
marketplace. ¶ Through the Dow Chemical Company Foundation, we have made significant funding and
support commitments across the spectrum of continuous learning--from providing funding and
employee volunteer support to increasing and accelerating the impact of our partners' programs. We
are supporting these efforts by generating interest in STEM education among students, providing
development opportunities to science teachers, and preparing candidates for advanced manufacturing
jobs. ¶ Our most recent commitments, announced at the jobs-focused Clinton Global Initiative America
meeting in June 2011, include: ¶ • A $3 million contribution to the National Science Teacher Association
New Teacher Academy, a professional development initiative created to promote quality science
teaching, will support approximately 500 early career science teachers across the United States.¶ • Our
partnership with the Louisiana Community and Technical College Foundation and the Iberville Parish
School Board to begin construction of the Capital Area Technical College, Westside Campus, a 20,000spare-foot facility where courses in industrial maintenance, healthcare, information technology, and
business studies will be taught. Expansion of the Chemical Education Foundation: National You Be the
Chemist Challenge, which engages fifth- through eighth-grade students in learning about chemistry
concepts, discoveries, and chemical safety. Dow is committing $1.2 million to the CEF to expand the
program from 20 to 30 states over the next three years. ¶ Not taking full advantage of our nation's
science and technology enterprise will impact future prosperity for the United States and science and
technology companies due to the thinning pipeline of world-class talent. Make no mistake--the future of
industry could be at stake if there isn't enough "human capital" to power it forward. ¶ Whether through
encouraging a love of STEM topics in the next generation, facilitating teacher development, or offering
vocational training, companies that have a vested interest in the future of manufacturing have a vital
role to play in expanding and advancing STEM education in the United States.
Strong chemical industry prevents extinction
Baum 99 – Baum, Founder of Chemical and Engineering News Washington, 12-6-99 (Rudy,
“MILLENNIUM SPECIAL REPORT,” C&EN Washington, Volume 77, Number 49,
http://pubs.acs.org/cen/hotarticles/cenear/991206/7749spintro2.html)
Computers and the Internet are clearly one of the driving forces shaping all aspects of society at the turn of the millennium. But despite the
stock market's insistence that "tech stocks" equal "computer stocks," we here at C&EN believe that chemistry in all its permutations
remains a vital component of high technology. Which brings me to this "Millennium Special Report: Chemistry In The Service
Of Humanity." The pace of change in today's world is truly incomprehensible. Science is advancing on all fronts, particularly chemistry and
biology working together as they never have before to understand life in general and human beings in particular at a breathtaking pace.
Technology ranging from computers and the Internet to medical devices to genetic engineering to nanotechnology is transforming our world
and our existence in it. It is, in fact, a fool's mission to predict where science and technology will take us in the coming decade, let alone the
coming century. We can say with finality only this: We don't know. We do know, however, that we face enormous challenges, we 6
billion humans who now inhabit Earth. In its 1998 revision of world population estimates and projections, the United Nations anticipates a
world population in 2050 of 7.3 billion to 10.7 billion, with a "medium-fertility projection," considered the most likely, indicating a world
population of 8.9 billion people in 2050. According to the UN, fertility now stands at 2.7 births per woman, down from 5 births per woman in
the early 1950s. And fertility rates are declining in all regions of the world. That's good news. But people are living a lot longer. That is certainly
good news for the individuals who are living longer, but it also poses challenges for health care and social services the world over. The 1998 UN
report estimates for the first time the number of octogenarians, nonagenarians, and centenarians living today and projected for 2050. The
numbers are startling. In 1998, 66 million people were aged 80 or older, about one of every 100 persons. That number is expected to increase
sixfold by 2050 to reach 370 million people, or one in every 24 persons. By 2050, more than 2.2 million people will be 100 years old or older!
Here is the fundamental challenge we face: The
world's growing and aging population must be fed and clothed and
housed and transported in ways that do not perpetuate the environmental devastation wrought by the first waves of industrialization
of the 19th and 20th centuries. As we increase our output of goods and services, as we increase our consumption of energy, as we meet the
imperative of raising the standard of living for the poorest among us, we must
sustainably.
learn to carry out our economic activities
There are optimists out there, C&EN readers among them, who believe that the history of civilization is a long string of
technological triumphs of humans over the limits of nature. In this view, the idea of a "carrying capacity" for Earth—a limit to the number of
humans Earth's resources can support—is a fiction because technological advances will continuously obviate previously perceived limits. This
view has historical merit. Dire predictions made in the 1960s about the exhaustion of resources ranging from petroleum to chromium to fresh
water by the end of the 1980s or 1990s have proven utterly wrong. While I do not count myself as one of the technological pessimists who see
technology as a mixed blessing at best and an unmitigated evil at worst, I do not count myself among the technological optimists either.
There are environmental challenges of transcendent complexity that I fear may overcome us and our Earth before
technological progress can come to our rescue. Global climate change, the accelerating destruction of terrestrial and oceanic
habitats, the catastrophic loss of species across the plant and animal kingdoms—these are problems that are not obviously amenable
to straightforward technological solutions. But I know this, too: Science and technology have brought us to where we are, and only science
and technology, coupled with innovative social and economic thinking, can take us to where we need to be in the coming
millennium. Chemists, chemistry, and the chemical industry—what we at C&EN call the chemical enterprise—will play central
roles in addressing these challenges. The first section of this Special Report is a series called "Millennial Musings" in which a wide
variety of representatives from the chemical enterprise share their thoughts about the future of our science and industry. The five essays that
follow explore the contributions the chemical enterprise is making right now to ensure that we will successfully meet the challenges of the 21st
century. The essays do not attempt to predict the future. Taken as a whole, they do not pretend to be a comprehensive examination of the
efforts of our science and our industry to tackle the challenges I've outlined above. Rather, they paint, in broad brush strokes, a portrait of
scientists, engineers, and business managers struggling to make a vital contribution to humanity's future. The first essay, by Senior Editor Marc
S. Reisch, is a case study of the chemical industry's ongoing transformation to sustainable production. Although it is not well known to the
general public, the
chemical industry is at the forefront of corporate efforts to reduce waste from production
streams to zero. Industry giants DuPont and Dow Chemical are taking major strides worldwide to manufacture chemicals while minimizing
the environmental "footprint" of their facilities. This is an ethic that starts at the top of corporate structure. Indeed, Reisch quotes Dow
President and Chief Executive Officer William S. Stavropolous: "We must integrate elements that historically have been seen as at odds with
one another: the triple bottom line of sustainability—economic and social and environmental needs." DuPont Chairman and CEO Charles (Chad)
O. Holliday envisions a future in which "biological processes use renewable resources as feedstocks, use solar energy to drive growth, absorb
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, use low-temperature and low-pressure processes, and produce waste that is less toxic." But sustainability
is more than just a philosophy at these two chemical companies. Reisch describes ongoing Dow and DuPont initiatives that are making
sustainability a reality at Dow facilities in Michigan and Germany and at DuPont's massive plant site near Richmond, Va. Another manifestation
of the chemical industry's evolution is its embrace of life sciences. Genetic engineering is a revolutionary technology. In the 1970s, research
advances fundamentally shifted our perception of DNA. While it had always been clear that deoxyribonucleic acid was a chemical, it was not a
chemical that could be manipulated like other chemicals—clipped precisely, altered, stitched back together again into a functioning molecule.
Recombinant DNA techniques began the transformation of DNA into just such a chemical, and the reverberations of that change are likely to be
felt well into the next century. Genetic engineering has entered the fabric of modern science and technology. It is one of the basic tools
chemists and biologists use to understand life at the molecular level. It
provides new avenues to pharmaceuticals and new
approaches to treat disease. It expands enormously agronomists' ability to introduce traits into crops, a
capability seized on by numerous chemical companies. There is no doubt that this powerful new tool will play a major role in
feeding the world's population in the coming century, but its adoption has hit some bumps in the road. In the second essay,
Editor-at-Large Michael Heylin examines how the promise of agricultural biotechnology has gotten tangled up in real public fear of genetic
manipulation and corporate control over food. The third essay, by Senior Editor Mairin B. Brennan, looks at chemists embarking on what is
perhaps the greatest intellectual quest in the history of science—humans' attempt to understand the detailed chemistry of the human brain,
and with it, human consciousness. While this quest is, at one level, basic research at its most pure, it also has enormous practical significance.
Brennan focuses on one such practical aspect: the effort to understand neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's
disease that predominantly plague older humans and are likely to become increasingly difficult public health problems among an aging
population. Science and technology are always two-edged swords. They bestow the power to create and the power to destroy. In addition to
its enormous potential for health and agriculture, genetic engineering conceivably could be used to create horrific biological warfare agents. In
the fourth essay of this Millennium Special Report, Senior Correspondent Lois R. Ember examines the challenge of developing methods to
counter the threat of such biological weapons. "Science and technology will eventually produce sensors able to detect the presence or release
of biological agents, or devices that aid in forecasting, remediating, and ameliorating bioattacks," Ember writes. Finally, Contributing Editor Wil
Lepkowski discusses the most mundane, the most marvelous, and the most essential molecule on Earth, H2O. Providing clean water to Earth's
population is already difficult—and tragically, not always accomplished. Lepkowski looks in depth at the situation in Bangladesh—where a wellmeaning UN program to deliver clean water from wells has poisoned millions with arsenic. Chemists are working to develop better ways to
detect arsenic in drinking water at meaningful concentrations and ways to remove it that will work in a poor, developing country. And he
explores the evolving water management philosophy, and the science that underpins it, that will be needed to provide adequate water for all
its vital uses. In the past two centuries, our science has transformed the world. Chemistry is a wondrous tool that has allowed us to understand
the structure of matter and gives us the ability to manipulate that structure to suit our own purposes. It allows us to dissect the molecules of
life to see what makes them, and us, tick. It is providing a glimpse into workings of what may be the most complex structure in the universe, the
human brain, and with it hints about what constitutes consciousness. In the coming decades, we
will use chemistry to delve ever
deeper into these mysteries and provide for humanity's basic and not-so-basic needs.
Clean energy impact
STEM education solves clean tech leadership—key to a skilled work force
Norris, 3/18/10—Daily Kos member and contributer (Teryn, "Racing for Clean-Tech Jobs: Why America
Needs an Energy Education Strategy", Daily KOS, www.dailykos.com/story/2010/03/18/847363/-Racingfor-Clean-Tech-Jobs-Why-America-Needs-an-Energy-Education-Strategy#)//emchen
In the aftermath of the Great Recession, the United States faces serious questions about the future of
its economy and jobs market. Where will the good jobs of the future come from, how do we prepare
the American workforce, and what is our strategy to maintain economic leadership in an increasingly
competitive world?
A growing consensus suggests that clean tech will be one of our generation's largest growth sectors.
The global clean-tech market is expected to surpass $1 trillion in value within the next few years, and a
perfect storm of factors - from the inevitability of a carbon-constrained world, to skyrocketing global
energy demand, to long-term oil price hikes - will drive global demand for clean-energy technologies.
That is why the national debate about global clean-tech competitiveness is so important, sparked by the
rapid entry of China and other nations. My colleagues and I recently contributed to the discussion with
"Rising Tigers, Sleeping Giant," a large report providing the first comprehensive analysis of competitive
positions among the U.S. and key Asian challengers. In order to compete, we found, "U.S. energy policy
must include large, direct and coordinated investments in clean-technology R&D, manufacturing,
deployment, and infrastructure."
But even if the United States adopts a real industrial policy for clean energy, there is little evidence that
our workforce is skilled enough to compete . Unfortunately, according to the Department of Energy,
"The U.S. ranks behind other major nations in making the transitions required to educate students for
emerging energy trades, research efforts and other professions to support the future energy technology
mix."
A competitive energy workforce requires much more than technicians and building retrofitters.
Scientists, engineers, high-tech entrepreneurs, and advanced manufacturers will play a critical role, just
as they have in strategic sectors like infotech, aerospace, and biotech. The federal government has
started to address the need for green technician and efficiency retrofit training, such as with the Green
Jobs Act, but it has not implemented an education strategy to keep the U.S. at the leading edge of
energy science, technology, and entrepreneurship.
Unfortunately, the majority of our colleges and universities lack degree programs focused on energy,
and the U.S. power engineering education system is on the decline. Over the next five years, 45 percent
of electric utility engineers will be eligible for retirement, along with 40 percent of key power
engineering faculty at U.S. universities, according to a report by IEEE. "Engineering workforce shortages
are already occurring," the report concludes. "We need more electrical engineers to solve industry
challenges, and to build the 21st century electric power grid... Meeting these needs requires long-term
investment now."
Meanwhile, other countries are producing a substantially larger portion of scientists, engineers, and
researchers that will benefit their clean-tech industries. Science and engineering make up only about
one-third of U.S. bachelor's degrees, compared to 63 percent in Japan, 53 percent in China and 51
percent in Singapore, and the number of Chinese researchers is now on par with the United States
(though some have pointed out that the quality of these graduates and researchers is not always
comparable). "Over time," stated a recent report by the National Science Board, "the United States has
fallen from one of the top countries in terms of its ratio of natural science and engineering degrees to
the college-age population to near the bottom of the 23 countries for which data are available."
The energy workforce deficit and STEM education gap will substantially limit the nation's ability to
lead the clean-tech industry and accelerate clean energy development. As Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman
put it, "If you had to explain America's economic success with one word, that word would be
'education.'" In order to succeed in the clean-tech industry, the U.S. must develop an energy
education strategy to develop tens of thousands of advanced energy scientists, engineers, and
entrepreneurs, as well as technicians.
Recognizing these trends, several experts have called for federal programs to develop our advanced
energy workforce. In April 2009, President Obama took up these recommendations by announcing the
first nationwide initiative to inspire and train young Americans "to tackle the single most important
challenge of their generation -- the need to develop cheap, abundant, clean energy and accelerate the
transition to a low-carbon economy."
The proposal, called RE-ENERGYSE (Regaining our Energy Science and Engineering Edge), is part of the
administration's 2011 budget request, which will be considered by Congress in the months ahead. With
oversight from the Department of Energy and National Science Foundation, it would educate thousands
of clean-energy scientists and engineers, beginning with $74 million for energy-related programs at
universities, community and technical colleges and K-12 schools, with the largest component focusing
on higher education.
RE-ENERGYSE is an important step toward creating a competitive U.S. clean-energy workforce - that is
why thousands of students and dozens of professional associations want it to succeed, and that is why
Congress should fund it at the full budget request. Beyond RE-ENERGYSE, the federal government
should work to expand these programs into a clean-energy education strategy on par with the National
Defense Education Act of 1958, which helped reposition the U.S. in the space race and achieve
revolutions in information technology.
The global clean-energy race represents one of the greatest challenges for American leadership in a
generation, and now is a critical moment . If we do not immediately implement a national strategy for
energy leadership - including smart investments to educate the energy generation - we will miss a
historic economic opportunity. American students are willing to rise to this national challenge, and we
need the support of our government to succeed.
Innovation / economy impact
STEM is key to manufacturing industry—solves innovation and necessary high-skilled
jobs
SME, 4--(Society of Manufacturing Engineers, "STEM education is key to manufacturing innovation",
Reliable Plant, www.reliableplant.com/Read/25848/STEM-education-manufacturinginnovation)//emchen
The world admires the United States for our education system. Students from China, India, Russia and a
host of other countries fill our colleges and universities. However, after degrees and work experience
are secured, unless they are offered extraordinary salaries and benefits by technology-based companies,
they often return to their respective countries, while the United States continues to report a lack of
skilled workers.
In 2003, manufacturing was a striking addition to the national agenda which included evaluating the
state of the industry, education and workforce. At the time, this topic received attention from all levels
of government, across all news media. That same year, Saul K. Fenster, PhD, president emeritus of the
New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), University Heights, Newark, N.J., served as president of the
Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) Education Foundation. He concluded that while the
prominence of these issues was certainly a validation of the foundation’s work, it was also a call to
action. He accelerated the expansion of its efforts requiring a great level of commitment from its
leadership, volunteers, and donors.
Says Fenster, “Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education is not only a prelude
to engineering, but also to innovation manufacturing in the 21st century. STEM education is also crucial
to fields in all areas of society including the financial, medical and biology sectors. Engineering is a
problem-solving profession, and when young people realize it is creative and fun, they are less
apprehensive about its more challenging curriculum, and learning is made significantly easier.”
The Gateway Academy, a summer day camp program, introduces young people to science and
engineering. This summer, more than 4,200 boys and girls between the ages of 11 and 14, are attending
214 sessions at the Gateway Academy at 187 sites in 34 states. It appeals to students with hands-on,
project-based courses where students have fun while applying the fundamentals of science, technology,
engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. The program is operated by Project Lead The Way
(PLTW), a national nonprofit organization, and funded by the SME Education Foundation.
An example of its popularity this year is the Gateway Academy held at Green Bay West High School in
Green Bay, Wis., where students learned to make cars out of paper, catapults out of mouse traps and
robots using computer software. Interviews with students, parents and teachers conducted by McLean
Bennett, a local reporter from the Green Bay Press-Gazette newspaper, found students so enthusiastic
about the science and engineering day camp, they initiated their own projects and didn’t want to leave
at the end of the day.
Says Fenster, “In our current economic conundrum, the nation is finally beginning to realize how
critically important the manufacturing industry is. As manufacturing job losses continue to be
reported, we need to make sure young people (and parents who influence their decisions) are not
confused about the issues. The excitement and self-motivated learning experience we saw at the Green
Bay summer camp is an example of how we can open the eyes of young people to their career
potential.”
The reality is that careers in manufacturing are becoming increasingly enviable. U.S. policy-makers are
recognizing that having a manufacturing base that is strong, efficient and innovative is essentia l to our
country’s economic future and our country’s world environment. As companies begin to re-think offshoring, and consider re-directing their manufacturing and production facilities back to the U.S., skilled
workers are and will be needed.
The word “innovation” – which has become the manufacturing industry’s linchpin – will keep this
highly-charged industry from falling off its axle. As innovation expands advanced technologies,
educators need to be better educated about their digitally enamored students, and how better to reach
them with learning processes to which they can relate. Preparing for a career in manufacturing is no
longer based on following the education standards created 50 years ago.
According to Arthur Levine, president of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, and
president emeritus of Teachers College, Columbia University, “The clash between old and new is
manifest in profound differences between institutions of higher education and the students they enroll.
Today’s students are digital natives. They are growing up in a world of computers, Internet, cell phones,
MP3 players, and social networking.”
STEM education key to the economy—boosts jobs and wages
Engerl, 6/15/12—president of Business Roundtable and a former governor of Michigan (John, "STEM
Education Is the Key to the U.S.'s Economic Future", US News,
www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2012/06/15/stem-education-is-the-key-to-the-uss-economicfuture)//emchen
A close look at American unemployment statistics reveals a contradiction: Even with unemployment at
historically high levels, large numbers of jobs are going unfilled. Many of these jobs have one thing in
common–the need for an educational background in s cience, t echnology, e ngineering, and
m athematics.
Increasingly, one of our richest sources of employment and economic growth will be jobs that require
skills in these areas, collectively known as STEM. The question is: Will we be able to educate enough
young Americans to fill them?
Yes, the unemployment numbers have been full of bad news for the past few years. But there has been
good news too. While the overall unemployment rate has slowly come down to May's still-high 8.2
percent, for those in STEM occupations the story is very different.
According to a recently released study from Change the Equation, an organization that supports STEM
education, there are 3.6 unemployed workers for every job in the United States. That compares with
only one unemployed STEM worker for two unfilled STEM jobs throughout the country. Many jobs are
going unfilled simply for lack of people with the right skill sets. Even with more than 13 million
Americans unemployed, the manufacturing sector cannot find people with the skills to take nearly
600,000 unfilled jobs, according to a study last fall by the Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte.
The hardest jobs to fill were skilled position s, including well-compensated blue collar jobs like
machinists, operators, and technicians, as well as engineering technologists and sciences.
As Raytheon Chairman and CEO William Swanson said at a Massachusetts' STEM Summit last fall, "Too
many students and adults are training for jobs in which labor surpluses exist and demand is low, while
high-demand jobs, particularly those in STEM fields, go unfilled."
STEM-related skills are not just a source of jobs, they are a source of jobs that pay very well. A report
last October from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce found that 65
percent of those with Bachelors' degrees in STEM fields earn more than Master's degrees in non-STEM
occupations. In fact, 47 percent of Bachelor's degrees in STEM occupations earn more than PhDs in nonSTEM occupations.
But despite the lucrative potential, many young people are reluctant to enter into fields that require a
background in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics. In a recent study by the LemselsonMIT Invention Index, which gauges innovation aptitude among young adults, 60 percent of young adults
(ages 16 to 25) named at least one factor that prevented them from pursuing further education or work
in the STEM fields. Thirty-four percent said they don't know much about the fields, a third said they
were too challenging, and 28 percent said they were not well-prepared at school to seek further
education in these areas.
This is a problem—for young people and for our country. We need STEM-related talent to compete
globally , and we will need even more in the future . It is not a matter of choice: For the United States
to remain the global innovation leader , we must make the most of all of the potential STEM talent this
country has to offer.
Government can play a critical part. President Barack Obama's goal of 100,000 additional science,
technology, engineering, and math teachers is laudable. The president's STEM campaign leverages
mostly private-sector funding. Called Educate to Innovate, it has spawned Change the Equation, whose
study was cited above. A nongovernmental organization, Change the Equation was set up by more than
100 CEOs, with the cooperation of state governments and educational organizations and foundations to
align corporate efforts in STEM education.
Meanwhile, from June 27 to 29, U.S. News will draw together, for the first time, hundreds of business
executives, educators, policymakers, government officials, technology experts, philanthropists,
community leaders, and association chiefs to develop solutions to the jobs crisis in the STEM fields.
This public-private cooperation is an example of business's recognition of the importance of STEM to our
economic future. Business needs a talent pipeline providing the skilled employees who can routinely use
scientific and technological skills in their jobs. Fortunately, more and more companies and their senior
executives recognize this and are putting their money where their long-term interests are.
For America, improving achievement in science, technology, engineering, and math will go a long way to
ensuring that our country can compete globally, create jobs, and achieve the levels of economic growth
that will buttress Americans' standard of living and social safety net. High-quality STEM education
represents an opportunity that students, workers, educators, and business must seize if we are to keep
the country strong.
Disease impact
Plan is key to resolving the STEM skills gap—solves disease
Lechleiter, 2/13/14—contributor to Forbes (John, "The Fix To America's Manufacturing Decline Stands
Right Before Us", Forbes, www.forbes.com/sites/johnlechleiter/2014/02/13/the-fix-to-americasmanufacturing-decline-stands-right-before-us/)//emchen
Right now, there are over 600,000 unfilled manufacturing jobs in America.
Many employers are eager to hire. They’ve got capital set aside specifically to invest in expanding their
workforce. And they have applicants — problem is, many of them simply don’t have the training and
education needed to perform the work.
Largely to blame is the “STEM” skills gap, so-called after the core subjects of science, technology,
engineering and math. It’s real and it’s growing. If we’re going to retain America’s greatest competitive
advantage — our genius for innovation — we must inspire more kids to pursue STEM skills through
education that’s engaging and effective.
Over the last decade, the pool of domestic STEM jobs has expanded by over 12 percent and now sits at
7.3 million total positions. The advanced knowledge required for this work translates into significantly
higher compensation, with the average annual STEM-industry wage crossing $82,000 — nearly double
the average in the overall economy.
The bulk of these jobs are found in research-intensive industries like the one I work in,
biopharmaceuticals.
My industry depends heavily on STEM-educated employees at most every stage of R&D and
manufacturing in the process of making new medicines. For example, according to a new Battelle report
prepared for PhRMA – the leading pharmaceutical industry association – nearly a third of the industry’s
manufacturing workforce is comprised of STEM-related occupations. Many STEM jobs in biopharma
don’t require as much formal schooling as high-end research positions, but still compensate well for
specific STEM expertise. Such jobs include preclinical scientists, software developers, biostaticians, and
lab techs.
And just like other STEM-centric industries, biopharmaceutical firms face a scarcity of incoming talent .
Nationally, private industry is expected to add about one million new STEM positions over the next
decade. But there aren’t even enough qualified applicants to replace the Baby Boomers retiring right
now.
If we’re going to start closing the skills gap, we need to invest more in STEM education programs that
engage and prepare American students for these careers. Our global competitors are far outpacing us
in this regard. In math, American 15-year-olds rank a dismal 27th out of the 34 member countries of the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). In science, they’re 20th.
And this lag extends well into high school. The ACT college admissions test reports that just one-fourth
of its takers are ready for college-level biology.
Meanwhile, other developed nations, particularly the Asian triad of China, Singapore and Japan, have
heavily invested in student STEM programs for the express purpose of securing a competitive edge in
the global economy. Shanghai ninth graders now have the highest math and science scores in the OECD.
The missed opportunity of the STEM skills gap isn’t limited to the specific industries that require such
training. Done right, science and math classes equip students with critical faculties applicable in all kinds
of professions – analytical skills that are valuable whether you’re running a law firm or a laundromat.
When it comes to inspiring kids to pursue STEM education, it’s critical to start as early as possible in the
education pocess – from kindergarten on up – and help kids make the connection between STEM
subjects and the miracles of the modern world. That’s the revelation that can spark the passion that
fuels a career.
And STEM education shouldn’t simply involve solving equations on a chalkboard or a computer screen. It
must be dynamic and hands-on.
Inquiry-based curricula and engaging activities like science fairs give young people a chance to take
ownership of their learning and see how STEM can address real-world problems.
We also need to invest more as a society in great teachers who know their subject matter and can
inspire students. Passion alone wouldn’t have propelled me to a successful STEM career. It had to be
coupled with steady adult tutelage and encouragement. I had two excellent high school chemistry
teachers and a college professor who guided me to the right doctoral program – and ultimately put me
on a path to join Lilly as an organic chemist more than three decades ago.
For our part, Lilly is investing to support STEM education programs focused on integrated, inquiry-based,
hands-on learning starting in elementary school, as well as initiatives that will get more high-performing
teachers into the classroom. And we’re not alone.
According to the Battelle report, the U.S. biopharmaceutical industry and others that depend on a
skilled workforce have made investments totaling hundreds of millions of dollars in the last five years in
a broad range of local, state, and national initiatives aimed to help advance science literacy and improve
the STEM talent pipeline. From this work, there’s a growing body of knowledge and proven-effective
programs that achieve key goals to support great teachers, spur student recruitment, including outreach
to women and minorities, and faster hands-on learning.
While this is encouraging news, much more is needed to close the skills gap . The public and private
sectors must work together to mobilize all available resources to inspire more kids to pursue math and
science education – and prepare them for successful STEM careers.
If we don’t, America risks falling further behind.
Off Case
Topicality
2ac T – its
NOPP funding is still federal exploration – federal agencies drive the process despite
private collaboration
Decker, 9 - Executive Director, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Science
Advisory Board (Decker, C.J., and C. Reed. 2009. The National Oceanographic Partnership Program: A
decade of impacts on oceanography. Oceanography 22(2):208–227, doi:10.5670/oceanog.2009.50)//DH
Abstract. The National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP) was created by the Fiscal Year 1997
Defense Authorization Act. It called for the establishment of a partnership program to promote the
national goals of assuring national security, advancing economic development, protecting quality of life,
and strengthening science education and communication through improved knowledge of the ocean.
Fifteen US federal agencies comprise this partnership, which has expended more than $295M over ten
years on a variety of activities. NOPP has been a true partnership among equals that has substantially
moved the United States forward in the areas of ocean research, operations, technology, education, and
natural resource management. NOPP’s funding requirements have spurred the ocean research and
education communities to develop strong, long-term collaborations among different sectors—academia,
government, industry, and nongovernmental organizations. NOPP has allowed agencies to leverage their
funds, increasing the impact of individual agency investment and accelerating the agencies’ abilities to
meet their high-priority goals. This leveraged investment results in more high-priority tasks getting done
in the same time period than would occur if each agency were to fund the work individually. The
combination of enhanced, effective partnerships among both funders and performers has resulted in
accelerated research in some areas and a stronger voice for oceanography in the research and
education communities. This article provides a history of NOPP. It also identifies and discusses specific
areas in which NOPP involvement and/or influence has led to significant accomplishment, both through
funded research and through intellectual stimulation and inspiration.
Nonfederal collaboration is for projects not specifically under NOPP control – their
ownership claim is an effect of the plan, not the mandate
Decker, 9 - Executive Director, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Science
Advisory Board (Decker, C.J., and C. Reed. 2009. The National Oceanographic Partnership Program: A
decade of impacts on oceanography. Oceanography 22(2):208–227, doi:10.5670/oceanog.2009.50)//DH
From 1997 to 2008, NOPP member agencies oversaw the expenditure of $295M on 132 ocean research
and education projects (Figure 3). Additional funding was committed by nonfederal entities as well as by
the agencies for activities that were inspired by NOPP but are not specifically under NOPP control . An
assessment of the impacts that the NOPP program has had on the “ocean enterprise” in the United
States, however, cannot be gleaned simply from looking at the total dollar amounts expended and
number of projects supported. One of NOPP’s key impacts has been its influence beyond specific
projects , including reports and analyses on research policy, concepts that have evolved out of
discussions among the various ocean sectors, and changes that have occurred in the ocean funding and
research communities as a result of all these activities. NOPP is a relatively small program in comparison
with full agency research programs, but when the number of studies implemented and dollars spent are
measured against the influence it has wielded, its impact on the ocean sciences has been well beyond
what might have been expected for such a limited program. The discussion presented here identifies
specific topic areas in which NOPP involvement and/ or influence has led to significant
accomplishments, not only through funded research but also through intellectual stimulation and
inspiration.
--XT – T its
NOPP proposals require a federal agency lead
ORAP, 9 – Ocean Research and Advisory Panel (“The National Oceanographic Partnership
Program (NOPP)”, Power Point presented at a conference November 17-18, http://www.nopp.org/wpcontent/uploads/2010/06/38.pdf)//DH
Development of NOPP-Funded Topics
• Typically initiated via interactions among agency program managers.
• Member agencies (plural!) informally propose NOPP research topics to IWG-OP, which encourages or
discourages.
• Preliminary interagency partnerships are formed, tentative levels of support are pledged, and draft
solicitation (Broad Agency Announcement or Request for Proposals) language is developed.
• IWG-OP approves funding announcement language, which is then announced by the lead agency as a
BAA or RFP.
• Potential future topics include: marine mammals research, marine renewable energy, marine
biodiversity, and Arctic research.
AT: Shifts ownership
It’s shared ownership
Watkins et al, 9 - ADM James D. Watkins (USN, Ret) was Founder and President, Consortium for
Oceanographic Research and Education, when the National Oceanographic Partnership
Program was created. He currently serves as the Co-chair of the Joint Ocean Commission
Initiative (“How the Oceanographic Community Created a National Oceanographic
Partnership Program” Oceanography Vol.22, No.2)//DH
The State-Federal Task Force was of great value in considering a new partnership within the
oceanographic community. The Task Force published an outstanding report defining the essential
principles of partnering, and describing a new framework for cooperation between the states and the
federal government (Carnegie Commission on Science, Technology and Government, 1995). The
overarching partnership principles were quickly recognized as ideal elements for guiding the
development of a National Oceanographic Partnership Program. Those principles included:
• shared ownership
• broad participation
• diversity of interests
• champions and advocates
• partnership formalization and clear identification of roles and responsibilities
• merit-based decision-making
• flexibility
• cost-sharing
• formal mechanisms of evaluation
• stability/long-term commitment
2ac T – military
NOPP coordinates but doesn’t control military exploration. Any military involvement
is an effect of the plan – the mandate is for non-military led exploration
Spinrad, 2 – Office of the Oceanographer of the Navy (Richard, Congressional Testimony, Answers to
Follow-up Questions,
http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/oceancommission/meetings/oct30_02/answers/spinrad_answers.pdf)//D
H
First, the Navy has a far larger investment in infrastructure for operational oceanography than any other
federal agency. NAVOCEANO is Navy's primary production center for operational oceanography, and can
serve as a model for implementation of a national operational oceanography center. The Navy's
infrastructure can, and should, be leveraged to support overall national operational capabilities in
collection of ocean data as well as data management, archiving, assimilation, and fusion. In order to
most effectively develop these capabilities for civilian as well as military purposes, the Navy and the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in particular, should form a well-coordinated
program in operational oceanography that builds on the existing infrastructure in both agencies to
implement a long- term strategic plan for the development of new infrastructure to meet future needs.
The plan being developed by Ocean.US, the national office for integrated and sustained ocean
observations, will be an integral part of an operational strategy, addressing as it does, both a regional
and a global observing and data management system. In addition, infrastructure that exists in other
federal agencies should also be incorporated into such an operational system. For this reason, the
National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP) can provide the leadership for this activity, since
NOPP includes the 14 federal agencies with ocean responsibilities. In order to manage such a system, an
interagency office for U.S. operational oceanography is needed that would include, at a minimum,
personnel and funding commitments from Navy and NOAA. Such a program office already exists in
NOPP's Ocean.US office and its authority need only be expanded to meet the needs of a national
operational oceanography system. Although control of activities and funding for Navy operational
oceanography programs would not be ceded to Ocean.US, Navy's operational oceanography activities
could certainly be coordinated with, and leveraged by the Ocean.US office.
NOPP is a distinct funding stream from the ONR
Decker, 9 - Executive Director, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Science
Advisory Board (Decker, C.J., and C. Reed. 2009. The National Oceanographic Partnership Program: A
decade of impacts on oceanography. Oceanography 22(2):208–227, doi:10.5670/oceanog.2009.50)//DH
Ocean observations have been a theme since the program’s inception. As a reflection of this focus, the
first goal of NOPP’s Ten-Year Strategic Plan (NOPP, 2004) is to “achieve and sustain an Integrated Ocean
Observing System (IOOS).” NOPP has addressed the topic of ocean observations in many ways.
Establishment of ocean observatories was a topic of the NOPP research Broad Agency Announcement
(BAA) in its first year and has continued to be a focus in every BAA since then. The 1997 BAA called for
proposals in broad-based research on infrastructure, including “regional consortia approaches for ocean
and atmosphere observing capabilities, development and application of advanced and/or long-term
capabilities for in situ and remote observations.” The proposals funded in this area formed the basis for
the first regional observing systems in the United States and were followed thereafter by others funded
through NOPP and, eventually, through ONR, NOAA, and other federal agencies outside of the NOPP
process, in locations around the country. There are currently 11 Regional Associations (RAs) that form
parts of the IOOS (Figure 4). Several of these RAs can directly trace their lineage to either NOPP-funded
proposals or to agency funding that was later linked to the NOPP program (Frye et al., 1999; Blaha et al.,
2000; Glenn et al., 2000a, 2000b; Glenn and Schofield 2003, this issue; Seim 2000; Seim et al., 2003;
Seim and Mooers, 2008). Each of these research efforts served as the basis for an operational regional
coastal ocean observing system; these RAs and systems have become the key operational component of
IOOS being implemented today.
NOPP money comes from federal agency partners
Decker, 9 - Executive Director, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Science
Advisory Board (Decker, C.J., and C. Reed. 2009. The National Oceanographic Partnership Program: A
decade of impacts on oceanography. Oceanography 22(2):208–227, doi:10.5670/oceanog.2009.50)//DH
NOPP has produced a well-established process by which the federal ocean agencies identify and fund
topics in which they have a shared interest, leveraging limited funding and accelerating the research to
address these topics. Although the NOPP funding agencies quickly came to understand and foster
partnerships among researchers, achieving the same kind of synergy among the agencies themselves
has been a challenge. As with the different research sectors, each agency has its own “culture.” The first
step was to develop a common understanding among the NOPP agencies of the constraints on each
other’s funding processes. In addition, federal agencies are restricted from moving appropriated funds
to other federal agencies if not on a reimbursable basis, forcing the NOPP partners to find the best ways
to leverage each other’s abilities to fund various topics and projects. This limitation has been a challenge
to progress, but efforts continue even as NOPP has moved into the OAP structure of governance. It is
important, as the OAP structure evolves, that the NOPP agency participants be included in that structure
so that they can bring their expertise and extensive knowledge of cross-agency funding mechanisms and
provide recommendations on ways to improve the system. The lessons learned through the NOPP
process, and the trust developed among the participants, have been crucial elements to NOPP’s success.
Those qualities must not be lost. NOPP, as originally conceived, was aimed at partnering on three
levels—among scientific investigators, among federal agencies, and among congressional committees
that have responsibility for authorizing and appropriating funds for ocean activities. NOPP’s greatest
achievement has been in fostering collaborations among diverse sectors of the ocean research
community and among the federal agencies at the individual program level. Under the original NOPP
concept, the benefits of partnering were intended to lead to increased support at high levels in the
participating agencies as well as coordinated budget submissions that would have been recognized by
appropriators, resulting in a program that grew in funding and influence. While this vision has not been
fully realized to date, many inside and outside of government have recognized the advances in the
ocean community that NOPP has enabled.
Other
AT: China CP
Chinese adaptation policies fail-Institutional policies
He 2013 - PhD candidate, University of Western Sydney (Xiangbai, “INTEGRATING CLIMATE CHANGE
FACTORS WITHIN CHINA’S ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT LEGISLATION: NEW CHALLENGES
AND DEVELOPMENTS,” Law Environment and Development Journal, http://www.leadjournal.org/content/13050.pdf
EIA: Energy Information Administration
Due to its awareness of the impacts of climate change on the environment and the economy, the
Chinese government has now undertaken explicit mitigation and adaptation measures to respond to
climate change. However, as ‘climate change is a cross- cutting international issue with a strong bearing
on economic development and foreign affairs’,33 climate change is not primarily managed as an
environmental issue. Firstly, as the main factor contributing to global warming, CO2 is an integral part of
the atmosphere and human life, and thus it is not identified as a traditional pollutant. Unlike air, water
and land, long-term climate stationarity is not regarded as a protected objective in China’s EIA
legislation. According to The ‘Law of the People’s Republic of China on Environmental Impact
Assessment’ (EIA Law), the environmental impacts of plans/projects assessed in EIA mainly refer to
land, water, air and soil pollution,34 without considering their potential impacts on climate change —
the GHG footprint was not incorporated within the enumerated pollutants.35 In that case, integration of
climate change considerations with EIA requires redesigning assessment indicators and revising relevant
laws. Secondly, both policies and institutional arrangements on climate change are different from
those on environmental issues, creating some institutional difficulties . For example, unlike most other
member countries of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) who
manage climate change issues through their environmental agencies, climate change and environmental
issues are administered by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry
of Environment Protection (MEP) respectively in China. While MEP is the responsible agency for EIA, this
division has created institutional barriers to integrate climate change within EIA. Theoretically, NDRC can
collaborate with MEP to include climate change considerations in EIA. In practice, unfortunately, the
environment-oriented MEP has not been given the bargaining power with the economic-oriented NDRC,
making MEP less powerful in climate change issues. MEP has been one of the most enthusiastic
authorities working on reducing GHGs by promoting alternative energies and promoting adaptation by
improving environmental quality.36 If MEP could approach climate change impacts through EIA, both
reduction of GHGs and adaptation could be facilitated significantly.
Data in China isn’t transparent – Won’t be modelled
Leggett 7/18/2011- Specialist in Energy and Environmental Policy reporting for the Congressional
Research Service (Jane, “China’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Mitigation Policies,” CRS,
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=13&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CJsB
EBYwDA&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffas.org%2Fsgp%2Fcrs%2Frow%2FR41919.pdf&ei=sZrBU_rHI4KRyASGj4LA
BQ&usg=AFQjCNH30-Jg2by6O--2mxPsEeSIznjR3w&sig2=1_uLiubTQRKxzuiK1hYOzw)
Data from China are equivocal. No one knows precisely the scale of China’s GHG emissions or its
removals of CO2 from the atmosphere by vegetation. China has not reported its emissions estimates for
any year later than 199421,22 although an unofficial estimate for 2004 was released (Figure 1).23 (By
comparison, the United States and most industrialized countries have been reporting officially and
annually according to internationally agreed guidance since 1995.) The lack of China’s reporting,
transparency, and acceptance of international review of GHG emissions estimates (and underlying data)
has been a major point of contention between China and the United States (and other countries) in the
UNFCCC negotiations. While China may not have reliable information at this time, its insistence that
reporting should be a point of “differentiation” among countries has not helped China convince others
of its sincerity in undertaking domestic actions to slow its GHG emissions growth. China has alleged that
international review of its emissions estimates could be “intrusive”; other countries, including the
United States, already engage in such reviews, including in-country reviews and discussions with
independent third- parties. Since the Copenhagen Accord in 2009, China has agreed to biannual
reporting and “consultations,” though the terms of those agreements are yet to be defined.
Chinese Exploration is for profit and can’t solve climate data – If anything the perm
solves better
Waterhouse 9/16/2010–Writes for State Press, the Arizona State University newspaper, also has a
BA in Creative Writing from ASU (Andrew, “China gets deep,” StatePress,
http://www.statepress.com/2010/09/16/china-gets-deep/)
The Chinese have a deliberate purpose in mind for the new project: the acquisition of oil and other
minerals locked beneath the ocean floor. Basically, they are seeking to make an economic gain off the
Jiaolong’s ability to search for mining sites. Once the sites are located, they plan to dig up the new
sources of capital wealth and energy.
The submarine is not a solution to the problem of mining that deep, but it will put China ahead of other
nations in the race to accessible sites.
It is a great advancement for the undersea program of China and an opportunity for other nations to
advance their own programs, but as of now China’s intent for the use of the technology is debatable.
Will the Jiaolong bring good or bad results after the drilling and mining begins? In the aftermath of the
British Petroleum oil spill, the consideration for new drilling spots, especially at that depth, must be
made with the utmost caution.
China is relatively new in the field of deep-ocean exploration and must take appropriate measures to
avoid negative incidents.
In the event of a disaster at these future sites, the recovery time will be immensely slow, if not
impossible. Especially if you consider how much trouble the BP oil spill was to fix, and that was at an
approximate depth of only 5,000 feet.
As far as the Jiaolong’s advanced capabilities apply to the United States, it is a prime opportunity to
advance our own capabilities of deep-ocean exploration. The Chinese purchased parts for the
submersible from several other countries, such as Russia and the United States.
It is within the United State’s capability to improve our own exploration submarines. The ability to
explore and chart the ocean floor in-person could prove to be beneficial to our country.
As the current environmental policies stand under President Barack Obama, the White House has a plan
and task force devoted to protecting the environments of the oceans. The government recognizes the
growing commercial and scientific activities and seeks to allow its continuance with the smallest possible
impact on the ocean’s environment.
A submersible like the Jiaolong would provide an excellent service to the National Ocean Council’s
research.
In cooperation with other methods of research that the NOC is using , a submersible with the depth
capabilities of the Jiaolong would prove to be a valuable asset in the research and analysis of the oceans.
The research and development involved with constructing a deep-ocean submersible would generate
jobs. The conclusions drawn from the collected data could lead to economic stimulus in the form of
safely harnessed renewable energies.
Overall, the advancement in science and diving capabilities is an amazing feat, and is one that could be
greatly employed by the United States in its effort to study and safely interact with the oceans.
AT: Immigration CP
New visas trades off with diversity visas—means the counterplan links to politics and
empirics prove the counterplan doesn’t solve
Downes, 11/27/12—American journalist and member of the editorial board of The New York Times
(Lawrence, "A Bad Start on Immigration Reform", New York Times,
takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/27/a-bad-start-on-immigrationreform/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0)//emchen
Representative Lamar Smith, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is offering a new version of an
old immigration bill that’s due to be voted on this week. It’s being touted by supporters as a signal that
the Republican Party understands the election message sent by voters – particular Latinos and Asians –
in favor of immigration reform.
Don’t be fooled. The resurrected STEM Jobs Act is a tweaked version of a bad bill that died earlier this
year in the House , and it’s bad for the same reasons as before. The bill increases visas for immigrants
skilled in STEM fields — science, technology, engineering and math — by eliminating another visa
category entirely: the “diversity” visas set aside for people from countries with relatively low
immigration rates to the United States.
Here’s the math: add 55,000 new visas for immigrants with advanced STEM degrees. Take away 55,000
diversity visas. A zero-sum game , in pro-immigrant disguise.
To sweeten the deal for Democrats, Mr. Smith has added another provision — to reunite some families
of immigrants with green cards. Currently, relatives of legal permanent residents have to wait years
overseas to get their own green cards before they can rejoin their families. The Smith bill would allow
some of those who are waiting for green cards to spend that waiting period in the United States. But
they would not be allowed to work. Families would suffer – not just from the financial burden, but also
the risk of deportation, if they choose to risk working illegally to avoid economic hardship.
High-tech industries need workers . Families need to be reunited. But not on these meager terms. If
Mr. Smith had been serious, not cynical, about an immigration measure, he could have negotiated with
Democrats, come up with something better on family reunification and drafted a more defensible bill.
He didn’t, and this is what we’re left with: an old strategy, repackaged. If the Republicans are going to
offer real immigration reform, they will have to do better than this.
Counterplan wouldn’t solve the economy—the unemployment rate would stay the
same—at best, they are only a short-term solution
Sessions, 9/4/13—junior United States Senator from Alabama (Jeff, "Sessions: Immigration plan bad for
U.S. workers" USA Today, www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/09/04/jeff-session-immigrationreform/2759519/)//emchen
There is an unspoken question at the heart of the immigration debate: What is the loyalty a nation owes
to its own citizens?
Business groups financing the push for comprehensive immigration reform believe they have the right to
demand from Congress as many workers as they want from abroad at the wages they prefer. How this
affects the struggling U.S. citizen is not their concern.
But the costs -- human and financial -- would be enormous.
Drafters of the Senate immigration plan delivered spectacularly for these business groups' priorities: the
Senate bill adds four times more guest workers than the rejected 2007 immigration proposal and, based
on Congressional Budget Office data, adds 46 million mostly lower-skill legal immigrants and their
relatives to the country by 2033. The result? CBO says average wages would fall for a dozen years,
unemployment would rise , and the nation's per-person wealth would sink for the next quarter
century.
Cheering its Senate passage, the White House released a new report declaring that the Senate bill's
large proposed expansion of our already very generous immigration programs -- including a further
surge in "low-skill visa programs" -- is exactly what our country needs.
Here is one gem from the White house paper: "The broader leisure and hospitality industry -- one of the
fastest-growing sectors of the United States economy -- also stands to benefit significantly from
commonsense immigration reform … like agriculture, a portion of their current workforce is
undocumented. Leaders of these industries have been longtime proponents of legislation that would
legalize workers in the U.S. and facilitate the lawful employment of future foreign-born workers. The
head of the American Hotel and Lodging Association this year applauded the Senate on behalf of the
lodging industry for its bipartisan commitment to immigration reform."
Are we really to believe that the leisure and hospitality industry cannot get by unless (as the Senate bill
does) we both pardon them for the large-scale hiring of illegal workers and then provide them with a
substantially expanded flow of low-skill workers from other countries?
In a free-market society, wages for workers are set by supply and demand. If a business is unable to
attract the number of workers it needs, it must raise wages. Businesses no more have the right to
demand central planners in Washington provide them with workers from around the world at desired
wages than they have the right to demand a taxpayer bailout.
Would it not better serve the national interest to get our citizens off of welfare and into good jobs with
rising pay? Labor force participation is at a 30-year low, welfare spending has eclipsed $1 trillion
annually, and wages are now lower than they were in 1999.
Research from Harvard's George Borjas demonstrated that high levels of low-skill immigration from
1980–2000 resulted in a 7.4% wage drop for U.S. workers without a high school diploma. Today, one in
three such Americans can't find a job.
But rather than face the reality that more than 40% of U.S. adults are not working, the president and
many congressional lawmakers are determined to provide businesses with an easy avenue to avoid
hiring these citizens -- especially those who have been chronically unemployed.
The costs are not only economic -- including lower wages and higher unemployment -- but social.
Consider a city such as Detroit. One in three Detroit households is on food stamps. The education
system is failing, families are breaking apart and millions have been trapped in poverty for generations.
Unemployment has crushing human consequences. Yet this is happening is cities and towns all across
America. We have a national obligation to help struggling Americans get back to work, earning incomes
that can support a family, and ultimately rescue them from reliance on welfare.
Currently, our federal government spends 100 times more on welfare than job training. Those job
training programs we do have are duplicative and inefficient. If businesses think there are no available
workers to fill job openings, shouldn't we be more focused on helping our own citizens get the skills they
need to re-enter the workforce? Would that not help to improve community conditions and social
stability?
Yet, on the heels of the disastrous Senate bill, two key House Republicans are now floating an
immigration proposal that would double the already huge increase in low-skill guest workers offered by
the Senate. The House needs to repudiate the Senate's destructive proposal, not make it even worse.
Congress must address the large and growing share of the U.S. population that struggles with long-term
welfare reliance and unemployment. Rushing in more workers from abroad to fill limited job openings
is not the answer.
Counterplan can’t solve—structural regulations means that immigrants don’t have an
incentive to stay
Surowiecki, 2/22/13—staff writer at the New Yorker (James, "Immigration Reform and the American
Worker", The New Yorker, www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/02/immigration-reformand-the-american-worker.html)//emchen
If anything is going to wreck the current bipartisan push for comprehensive immigration reform, it’s the
fact that many Americans are convinced that more immigration will be bad for American workers and
for the U.S. economy. The spectre of masses of immigrants taking American jobs and driving down
wages is a powerful one, especially at a time of stagnant incomes and still-high unemployment. That’s
why, in a new work-trends survey released earlier this month, by the John Heldrich Center for
Workforce Development, four in ten of those surveyed said that high unemployment is caused by
“illegal immigrants taking jobs away from Americans.” Intuitive as this may seem (more workers means
fewer job opportunities and lower wages), actual evidence that immigration drives down wages is hard
to find. On the contrary, a host of studies have found that immigration has actually boosted wages for
native-born American workers as a whole, and that while immigration has had a negative impact on the
wages of one group—men without a high-school education—that impact has been surprisingly small.
Taken as a whole, in fact, the numbers clearly suggest that immigration reform would be a genuine boon
to the U.S. economy.
This is most obviously true when it comes to high-skilled workers, particularly so-called STEM (science,
technology, engineering, and math) workers. As I wrote last summer, in the U.S. there has historically
been a direct connection between immigration and entrepreneurship, and between immigration and
innovation. Immigrants, particularly but not solely in the technology industry, have started companies at
a disproportionate rate. And they have played a major role in fuelling innovation—in 2011, for instance,
three-quarters of the patents from the country’s ten most prolific research universities had immigrants
among their contributors. Skilled immigrants aren’t, as a group, taking jobs away from native-born
workers. They’re creating them.
The problem is that American immigration policy in recent years has effectively worked to discourage
highly skilled immigrants from staying here, as Vivek Wadhwa documents in his new book, “The
Immigrant Exodus.” Because American immigration policy was never really designed with an eye
toward economics, it’s riddled with a host of rules that effectively cap the number of skilled
immigrants we allow in. The number of permanent employment-based visas is the same as it was in
1990, even though the U.S. economy is much bigger. We have annual caps on the number of visas we
give to people from any one country, which in practice means that thousands of engineers and scientists
from China and India, many of whom have gotten their degrees here, have to wait years for even a
chance at a green card. And we don’t make it easy for people who are willing to commit capital to start
businesses here to get green cards. Ross Eisenbrey, a vice-president at the Economic Policy Institute,
argued in a New York Times op-ed that the U.S. already has “too many high-tech workers.” But the
notion that the U.S. economy would be better off if skilled engineers and scientists who trained here
went elsewhere to ply their trades is downright curious.
Obama’s plan would go a long way toward remedying these problems—it would get rid of the annual
country caps, expand the total number of visas for skilled workers, and give a green card to anyone who
gets a master’s degree in science, math, or engineering from an American university, all of which are
excellent ideas. My colleague John Cassidy has written skeptically about this last proposal, suggesting
that this system would be subject to abuses and that the current system—in which immigrants need to
be sponsored by a specific employer before they can get a permanent visa—serves a useful screening
function. But while forcing skilled immigrants to be beholden to one employer may be good for
businesses, it’s not great for workers. More importantly, limiting the freedom of skilled immigrants also
limits how much they can contribute to the economy, particularly by starting businesses. None of the
current proposals would scrap the existing employment-based system (in which skilled immigrants are
given what are called H1-B visas) entirely. But anything that loosens the strings on skilled immigrants,
and makes it easier for them to work where and how they want, would represent progress.
Neg
T – non-military
NOPP was created and funded by the military
Watkins et al, 9 - ADM James D. Watkins (USN, Ret) was Founder and President, Consortium for
Oceanographic Research and Education, when the National Oceanographic Partnership
Program was created. He currently serves as the Co-chair of the Joint Ocean Commission
Initiative (“How the Oceanographic Community Created a National Oceanographic
Partnership Program” Oceanography Vol.22, No.2)//DH
With release of the report, a significant effort was made across the oceanographic community to
encourage implementation of the recommendations. Although many academics and agency leaders
were involved in events prior to release of Oceans 2000, relatively few in Congress were familiar with
the effort. A coordinated effort was undertaken by CORE to educate congressional members and staff
on the need for new legislation to implement the report. Briefings were held for the numerous
committees with oversight of ocean science agencies, outlining the need for legislation establishing a
new National Ocean Leadership Council (the word Research was later introduced to make the NORLC)
and a National Oceanographic Partnership Program. In response, the House of Representatives held a
first-ever joint hearing of the Committees on Natural Resources, Armed Services, and Science and
Technology to receive and discuss the Oceans 2000 report. Testifying in unison on the need for action
were Admiral Watkins and the leadership of the ocean science agencies. The Senate also became
involved under the leadership of Senators Trent Lott and Fritz Hollings, who set the stage for the
involvement, respectively, of the Senate Committee on Armed Services and the Senate Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation. In the months that followed, the National Oceanographic
Partnership Act (NOPA) was drafted, debated, and considered by both bodies of Congress. NOPA was
eventually folded into the FY 1997 Defense Authorization Act and was signed into law by President
Clinton on September 23, 1996. Seed funding for the first year of the National Oceanographic
Partnership Program (NOPP) was subsequently provided in the FY 1997 Department of Defense
Appropriations Act.
Solvency – data won’t change policymakers
Academic interests are ignored by policymakers – ten warrants
Abraham, 13 – Public Policy at the University of Southampton (“Why Policymakers Ignore Evidence”
Coral Abraham, July 31, 2013. http://publicpolicy.southampton.ac.uk/why-policymakers-ignoreevidence/) zabd
Director of Public Policy@Southampton Professor Gerry Stoker is often asked ‘Why policymakers ignore
evidence’. In his new blog, Gerry offers 12 explanations about how this process can be best
understood…¶ Speak to many University colleagues and they will report what appears to be a common
experience: evidence carefully collected and assembled about significant societal concerns, and what to
do about them, are presented to policy makers and then promptly ignored. How can this frustrating
process best be understood? The dozen explanations I offer are less to do with the political process
being corrupt and have more to do with its complexities which academics from all disciplines need to
understand and respect.¶ One common rationalization offered by those that suffer the experience of
being de facto ignored (notwithstanding some lip service that might be paid to the importance of
evidence especially if the work is commissioned by policy makers) is that policy makers, especially
politicians are driven by perverse incentives that lead them to embrace ignorance rather than the insight
offered by the knowledge and wisdom of my University colleagues. Politicians, I am told, have shortterm desires to get re-elected and advance their careers, so evidence matters little save what it delivers
on those fronts. Explanation number 1 is often shortly followed by a second disparaging swipe.
Politicians are beholden to powerful interests that can substitute their self-serving claims into the policy
process, washing away the impact of more rigorously and transparently scrutinised evidence produced
within academia.¶ There are times when these two cynical traits are in play and explain the “listening but
listening policymakers” phenomena. But I want to argue there are other factors more often at work that
reflect less the perversity of politics and more its complexity. The good news is that these factors can be
ameliorated to some degree by the way that academics behave. For that reason fatalism about politics
in response to the experience of appearing to be ignored should be tempered by a better understanding
of how politics works. There are 10 movable obstacles (MOs let’s call them) to add to the two more
depressing blockages usually identified, giving me my dozen factors.¶ MO1: A primary question for the
policymaker is: why should I pay attention to this issue rather than many others? When academics enter
the policy process they naturally assume that process started when they entered but of course it didn’t.
There are only limited windows of opportunity when an issue become sufficiently pressing to encourage
a focus on it. Understanding the rhythms of policy making around manifestos, big speeches, set piece
agenda setting opportunities around the budget or the Queen’s Speech or other much more low-key
developments can help with getting the timing of the intervention right. Part of the art of having an
impact is being in the right place at the right time and then, of course, being able to go when the
opportunity presents itself.¶ MO2: Policymakers will sometimes say and often think: bring me solutions
not just problems. Academic research is often more focused on identifying an issue of concern and its
dynamics rather than focusing on potential actions or interventions (they may get mentioned in the last
paragraph of a report). Explanation of what is plainly central to what we do but academics could
perhaps do more to take on the challenge of designing solutions. There remains an issue still in that
academics often couch their arguments in terms of the limits of the evidence and policymakers might in
turn seek a more definitive position. Again this concern is not an insurmountable and one response is for
the academic to take the position of “honest broker” laying out options and choices for the policy
maker. For some good reflections on this point see
(http://cstpr.colorado.edu/admin/publication_files/resource-2518-2007.15.pdf)¶ MO3: If an
intervention is identified that should work it is still subject to challenge about its administrative, financial
and political feasibility? The question for policymakers is not can it be done but rather can it be done by
government? Showing that a policy response proposed is right (a solution to the identified problem) is
only half that battle, if that. For the policymaker it’s not what works that matters; it’s what’s feasible
that matters. Can the challenges of administration, resourcing and political support and ownership be
met? When academics step into the world of policymaking they should be sensitive and as informed as
possible about these challenges; avoid giving the appearance of naivety, this is not a strong selling point
when trying to persuade.¶ MO4: The question for the policymaker is not simply-do I support this policybut rather how much energy and political capital would I have to expend to make the policy win through
against opposition from other sources? Policymakers know that there are only a limited number of
things they can realistically achieve and they may have other more pressing priorities. Picking the
policymaker both able and willing to run with a policy is by no means easy but academics need to be
aware of this factor in the policymaking process and think clearly about how to make the policy appear
doable.¶ MO5: Let’s say that a cadre of policymakers buy the idea of doing something but their
enthusiasm then gets tested in the wider arena of policymaking. They have to show not only that the
policy will beat the problem, that it is feasible and doable but that it can also win in response to the
“opportunity costs” question? The policymaker will be asked: if we spend time, money and effort on this
proposal what are we not going to be doing that we should have already been doing? Policy is a
competition for time in a very time poor environment. There are many issues and so little time;
academics know that about their research activities so need to remember that it applies with even more
force in the world of policy.¶ MO6: Networks matter in research and they matter in policymaking as well.
It’s not normal for ideas from an unknown source to be easily embraced and this is true for many areas
of life. Politicians and policymakers, in particular, have survived in their careers by being suspicious to
some degree. They will always ask in their heads at least: are you selling me a pup? Policymaking does
rely to a large extent on trust in source and status in network so academics need to build both their trust
and status if they want to be taken seriously. Years or decades even of non-engagement, followed by a
sudden step on to the policy stage proclaiming solutions, is an unlikely formula for success.¶ MO7: In
some ways the point is so obvious that it’s amazing how often it gets overlooked: politicians and other
policymakers believe in things. They have preferences, philosophical positions (some more coherent
than others) and even ideologies about what the world should be and how it should be changed: that is
both ends and means are political choices. Therefore values matter in the policy process alongside
evidence. The “what works” rhetoric can imply that choices are entirely technical but nothing could be
further from reality in democratic policymaking. Choice is about whether a policy matches the chooser’s
desired means and goals and understanding that is essential for all academics and democrats. Moreover
academics are not immune from having values, preferences and ideologies and though we try to guard
against their impact on our research there is no denying that they can have an impact especially on what
we choose to research and the manner in which that research is presented.¶ MO8: Nothing is certain and
a policy can be killed by fear of unintended consequences. The probabilities suggest- the language of
much scientific discourse- may not be strong enough to stop a wave of fear about unintended
consequences. Academics rightly want to be clear about the limits of the evidence but they should also
be keen to pre-identify and try to undermine spurious objections to their findings. Opponents of any
measure tend to frame their arguments along standard lines: it will not achieve the desired effect or
worse it will have perverse effects or worse still it will jeopardised much cherished other gains.
Understanding how interventions are going to be challenged should be something that academics
should be aware of when they engage.¶ MO9: If you have got this far in the blog you might be feeling a
little depressed. Here is my attempt to cheer you up. All the previously mentioned obstacles can be
overcome and your research could indeed lead to a policy intervention; only for implementation failure
to undermine it. OK maybe I need to work on my skills for relieving depression but the key point is that
the implementation concern is one that if addressed can be met as well. But it needs to be addressed.
The forces of opposition to a policy do not stop once it’s adopted.¶
Mutual distrust inhibits scientist-policymaker relations
Pinholster, 14 - Mr. Ginger Pinholster serves as Director of OPP at American Association For The
Advancement Of Science (“Engaging With Policymakers: Why Scientists and Engineers Hold Back” Ginger
Pinholster, 12 May 2014. http://www.aaas.org/news/engaging-policymakers-why-scientists-andengineers-hold-back) ///ZABD///
Many scientists and engineers would welcome opportunities to engage with policymakers, but they hold
back because they either lack confidence or doubt whether such efforts will be rewarded, a speaker at
the 2014 AAAS Forum on Science and Technology Policy said. The lack of contact between scientists and
policymakers "is the number one barrier to effective science communication," said Abigail Abrash
Walton of Antioch University, director of the Center for Academic Innovation and assistant to the
president for sustainability and social justice. Scientists may sometimes lack confidence in engaging in
the public policy process, she added. They may also be skeptical about whether contributions in the
civic-engagement arena will pay off in terms of real impacts or recognition by their colleagues and
institutions. At a 2 May session on "Making Science Matter" at the Forum, Abrash Walton and others
described an array of initiatives intended to better prepare scientists and engineers for interactions with
policymakers. Session organizer Tobin Smith, vice president for policy at the Association of American
Universities, urged attendees to team up with an ad hoc coalition called ESEP — Engaging Scientists and
Engineers in Policy. The new group has so far been compiling resources, such as fellowship and
internship opportunities, and convening scientists and engineers to highlight the value of policy
contributions. The demand for communication training is "fairly overwhelming," particularly among
graduate students, said speaker Chad English, director of science policy outreach for COMPASS, a team
of science-based communication professionals. Responding on Twitter to Forum comments by English,
Tiffany Lohwater, AAAS director of public engagement and meetings noted that her group also has been
inundated with requests for Communicating Science workshops. Yet, beyond the D.C. beltway, said
Pallavi Phartiyal, a senior analyst and program manager with the Center for Science and Democracy at
the Union of Concerned Scientists, "Scientists and engineers often don't know how to get started with
engagement activities." At the same time, said Cynthia Robinson, director of the AAAS S&T Policy
Fellowships program, researchers may feel that time devoted to policy matters doesn't count with
supervisors. "Anything you do that is not research is considered `non-traditional' or `alternative,'" said
Robinson. "We need to stop describing it that way." Uncertainty too often seems to engender a
reluctance by scientists and engineers to plunge into the public-policy realm: Among 200 scientists and
researchers who took part in recent Antioch Translating Research to Inform Policy training workshops,
90%, on average, said there is inadequate communication between the scientific community and
policymakers or their staff members. Roughly half of those surveyed said they think policymakers are illinformed about science. When asked if they knew the names of their elected representatives at the
federal level, however, 42% said "maybe" or "no, " according to Abrash Walton. This is a surprisingly
high percentage and deserves further research," she said. "This figure tells us that even among scientists
who have self-selected to increase their capacity to engage in the policy process, there is a surprising
disconnect and knowledge gap that we need to fill. Because a primary factor facilitating the use of
research by policymakers is personal contact between scientists and policymakers, it is important that
we increase contact, build relationships, and close this knowledge gap." Researchers have important
opportunities to inform policy, and doing so provides a real service to society, she said, adding that
"better decisions are made when they are based on data, and public policy should be evidence-based."
More universities should offer policy-focused courses for science and engineering students, according to
session organizer Smith, co-author of Beyond Sputnik: U.S. Science Policy in the 21st Century.
Unfortunately, he added, advisors and curriculum developers may sometimes discourage students from
taking time away from research. Samantha White, program director for a new initiative called Emerging
Leaders in Science & Society (ELISS), described efforts to pull science students into policy matters on
four campuses: the University of Pennsylvania, University of Washington, Stanford University, and
Purdue University. In a pilot class on each campus, she explained, students work on issues related to
mental health, public spaces, food and nutrition, and more. Later, they will visit D.C. to meet with
policymakers. The participating campuses were selected based on strong interest among students as
well as institutional support, she added. Samuel Brinton, a graduate student in nuclear engineering at
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, cited the Stand With Science campaign, which has advocated
for increased federal investment in U.S. innovation, as an example of successful student engagement on
the policy stage. "As students, our voices count in D.C.," said Brinton, who added that his red Mohawk
hairstyle ensure that policymakers will remember him. "We can connect with policymakers." Sciencecommunication training can go a long way toward enhancing a scientist's confidence level, English said.
"Very few of us are born as naturally effective communicators," he said, but "this is a very learnable
skill." To be effective, communication between scientists and policymakers must be respectful and bidirectional, said David Goldston, director of the Government Affairs Program at the Natural Resources
Defense Council. "It can't just be, `What are policymakers getting wrong?'" A communications
disconnect can occur at times because "policymakers generally have too high an opinion of scientists,
and scientists generally have too low an opinion of policymakers," said Goldston, who has more than
twenty years of experience on Capitol Hill, working mainly on science and environmental policy. He
served as chief of staff of the House Committee on Science from 2001 through 2006. Breakout groups at
the Forum session explored various strategies for preparing to engage with policymakers. Suggestions
for ESEP ranged from a "hotline" offering quick tips for effective communication, to an online sciencepolicy portal. The session was co-organized by Erin Heath, associate director of the AAAS Office of
Government Relations, with Smith and Walton. "There are many ways scientists and engineers can
engage in policy without making a major career shift. Science policy training workshops or visits with
elected officials require relatively small time commitments," Heath said after the session, "and don't
forget about the local level: activities such as writing a letter to the newspaper editor on a policy issue,
getting involved with a local advisory committee, or running for school board."
AT: Antibiotic resistance impact
Current treatment effectively curtails resistant bacteria growth
Morran 1/15/2013-PHD, NIH postdoctoral fellow at Indiana University, research recently featured on
BBC (Levi, “Averting the Approaching Apocalypse,” Nothing In Biology.org,
http://nothinginbiology.org/2013/01/15/averting-the-approaching-apocalypse/)
A paper by Quan-Guo Zhang and Angus Buckling (2012) takes an experimental evolution approach to
begin addressing this issue empirically. In search of a different strategy for curbing the evolution of
antibiotic resistance in their experimental populations of the bacterial species Pseudomons flourences,
Zhang and Buckling treated their bacterial populations with either antibiotics, a bacteriophage or
“phage” (a virus that attacks bacteria), or a combination of the antibiotic and phage. Zhang and Buckling
predicted that the combination treatment might be more effective than either antibiotics or phage
alone because the combination treatments should better reduce bacterial population sizes and limit
their response to selection (Alisky et al. 1998, Chanishvili 2001, Comeau 2007). Additionally, bacterial
mutations that confer resistance to antibiotics generally do not also confer resistance to phage, so
evolution of resistance to the combination treatments would likely require at least two mutations, and
thus require more time to evolve resistance than the other treatments (Chanishvili 2001, Kutateladze
2010).
Zhang and Buckling evolved their bacterial populations under the 3 different treatments (in addition to a
control in which they allowed the bacterial populations to grow under normal conditions) for 24 days. A
total of 24 replicate populations were exposed to each treatment. After 24 days of bacterial evolution
none of the replicate populations exposed to control conditions or phage went extinct (Figure 1). In
contrast, 12 of the replicate populations exposed to only the antibiotic were extinct while 23 of the
populations exposed to combination treatment went extinct (Figure 1). Therefore, the combination
treatment was the most effective treatment for killing the bacteria. However, that single population that
survived the combination treatment could mean trouble. Intense natural selection, like that imposed by
the combination treatment, could have produced a super-strain of the bacteria.
Creation of a super-strain, in this case a strain resistant to both the antibiotic and phage with little cost
of maintaining such resistance, would be troubling because the antibiotic-phage combination treatment
strategy would have only accelerated the arms race rather than curbing it. However, in many cases the
evolution of resistance comes with fitness costs, like significantly reduced growth rates in absence of the
antibiotic or phage. These fitness costs are thought to stop the spread of some antibiotic resistant
strains simply because the strains cannot successful compete with strains in nature when the antibiotic
is not present.
Zhang and Buckling tested the fitness of their surviving populations in competition with the ancestral
bacterial population that represents the starting point for evolution in this experiment. They found that
in a short term loans scenario, only the control bacteria increased in fitness relative to the ancestor
when competed under control conditions (Figure 2). More importantly, they observed that the fitness
of the single surviving population from the combination treatment was less than half of the ancestor’s
fitness in the absence of antibiotic and phage (Figure 2). Therefore, the antibiotic plus phage treatment
resulted in the extinction of 23 out of 24 bacterial replicate populations, while the lone surviving
population was far from being a super-strain.
The ability of the surviving bacterial populations to grow under normal conditions was assessed relative
to their ancestral bacterial population. Here, any deviation from 0 is indicative of evolutionary change (a
change from the ancestor population). Control populations increased in fitness under normal growth
conditions, while populations exposed to either phage or antibiotic exhibited reduced fitness. Most
importantly, the population that survived the combined treatment of antibiotic and phage evolved
greatly reduced fitness under normal conditions (Zhang and Buckling 2012).
No major impacts from anti-biotic resistance
Urrutia 2/7/2014-a PhD candidate in Health Policy, Ethics Concentration, at Harvard University, holds
a BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from the University of Pennsylvania (Julián, “The bright side
of antibiotic resistance,” Harvard Law, http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/billofhealth/2014/02/07/the-brightside-of-antibiotic-resistance/)
But bacteria don’t care. They’re (still) here, they’re (always) evolving, get used to it.
I say that because I don’t believe we’re going to be able to keep discovering new classes of antibiotics
ad infinitum –although I certainly hope I’m wrong. But if I’m not, it means that we’re only ever going to
have so many treatment options, and that the bugs are eventually going to become resistant to all of
them (although probably not in our lifetime).
What then? And what do we do until then? Let’s start with the first one, since post-apocalyptic
scenarios are always fun:
Medicine will certainly have to change. Hospitals will become very, very dangerous places (much more
than they already are!)… There’s going to be much stronger and urgent pressure to reduce hospital stays
and readmissions to the absolute minimum, and most patient care will have to be shifted to community
and home settings…. Health systems will have to go through major structural transformations to
improve prevention…. GP’s, primary-care specialists, and allied healthcare professionals will become
much more important and esteemed members of the healthcare professions…. The notion that
individual health is highly interdependent will become a part of popular culture.
Funny–apart from the first part about hospitals becoming (more) dangerous, none of these sound all
that terrible. In fact, they’re all changes I would very much like to see in my lifetime, bacterial
apocalypse or not. It sounds like we would save a lot of lives, avoid a lot of suffering, and spend a lot less
money doing it. It certainly makes me wonder why we aren’t doing a lot of those post-apocalyptic things
now (i.e. way before the apocalypse.)
We should probably also be trying harder to prevent resistance, even if it does happen to be true that
it’s battle we will eventually lose. For example, we should make a bigger effort to identify “germ sheds”
and bacterial “breeding grounds,” and we should be making an even bigger effort to eliminate them.
(One would think that the imperative to eliminate them is an obvious corollary of the imperative to
identify them, but we’ve known for a long time that overcrowded prisons are a major source of superbugs, and yet we still seem quite pleased to have overcrowded prisons proliferating… I guess corollaries
just aren’t very popular nowadays.)
However, the idea that we will not be able to keep our drugs effective forever suggests that there are
certain things we should not be doing in the name of “stewardship.” For example, we should not
withhold antibiotics from patients for whom they are currently a life-saving or suffering-ending option
simply because doing so might save/help other patients tomorrow. (Again, to me this seems like a line
out of “Deep Thoughts by Captain Obvious,” but millions are currently dying from lack of access to
antibiotics that are still effective for their conditions, and I suspect that “stewardship” could become a
way of justifying that.)
To summarize: Antibiotic resistance is a scary thing. Last summer I would probably have lost a loved one due to a ruptured
appendix (i.e. due to a failure of early detection, which is part of primary care). Peritonitis is a serious condition even now, but it would most
likely have been fatal if the bugs that hit her had been resistant to the antibiotics we have available. I don’t like antibiotic resistance one bit.
But at least it serves to remind us that there are better approaches to healthcare that could be realized
within our lifetime, and at least it does not give us any reason to deny each other proper care and
consideration if we happen to get sick today.
AT: New antibiotics solve
New antibiotics can’t solve
Fine Maron 4/30/14 –Associate editor at Scientific American, won multiple journalism awards while
writing for Newsweek (Dina, “Antibiotic Resistance Is Now Rife across the Globe,” Scientific American,
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/antibiotic-resistance-is-now-rife-across-the-globe/)
The report recommends a multipronged approach. In many cases, WHO noted, available diagnostic
tests can already be used to help identify the bacteria that fueled an infection—allowing doctors to
select more targeted drug treatments instead of resorting to broad-spectrum medications that
exacerbate drug resistance. The problem is that such tests take time to run and thus prescribers often
forgo the tests and migrate toward those broad-spectrum drugs. Developing faster tests is therefore
crucial, according to the report. The agency also proposes renewed focus—and standardized
methods—to track resistant strains across the globe. There is currently no global consensus on
methodology and data collection in this area.
There are also essential everyday solutions that communities and clinicians should adopt—including
better hygiene practices by health care workers, such as washing hands more frequently and vaccinating
populations against key diseases to reduce the need for antibiotics in the first place. Patients, too, have
a vital part to play by using antibiotics only when they are prescribed, WHO said.
New antibiotics can’t solve – Bacteria will catch back up
Alanis 2005 –Works at the Lilly Research Laboratories, MD (Alfonso, “Resistance to Antibiotics: Are
We in the Post-Antibiotic Era?,” The Elsevier Archives of Medical Research,
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CFYQ
FjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffaculty.tamucc.edu%2Fplarkin%2F4292folder%2FAb%2520resistance%2520%2520Post%2520AB%2520Era.pdf&ei=Zfq_U76KKa6M7AbT2oDoAw&usg=AFQjCNFYtNIZD8Pl73EWW_f
eWpRZiXu_Aw&sig2=ciu_aXYwg3L2fDdAklUTfA)
In the final analysis, however, the problem of antibiotic resistance will not be solved with the creation
of many more, or stronger, bactericidal antimicrobials. If past history is in any way a good predictor of
future history, microorganisms will consistently continue to adapt to their environment by developing
resistance to newer antibiotics and serious infections caused by these bacteria will continue to pose a
major challenge to the practicing clinician.
It will take a collaborative effort among industry, academia and government for us to strike a ‘‘ balance’’
in the war against pathogenic bacteria. An effort which will include the implementation of several
strategies simultaneously such as a better and broader use of existing public health and preventive
measures to avoid infections in the first place, better infection control practices, better availability of
diagnostic tools that allow us to more clearly and rapidly distinguish those patients, especially those in
the outpatient community, who truly require an antibiotic prescription. All of this needs to be done at a
reasonable cost.
It will also take a far more rational use of antibiotics emphasizing the need to use narrow-spectrum
agents while saving the broad-spectrum ones for special circumstances. Finally, it will also take the
creation and broader use of vaccines capable of preventing infections with some of these multi-resistant
bacteria.
AT: Overfishing
The impacts of overfishing are exaggerated and your authors are environmentalist
hacks
Hilborn, 11/29/10—Professor, Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, (Ray,
“Apocalypse Forestalled: Why All the World’s Fisheries Aren’t Collapsing,”
http://blog.nature.org/conservancy/2010/11/29/fisheries-apocalypse-ocean-fish-stock-peter-kareivaray-hilborn/)//RTF
If you have paid any attention to the conservation literature or science journalism over the last five
years, you likely have gotten the impression that our oceans are so poorly managed that they soon will
be empty of fish — unless governments order drastic curtailment of current fishing practices, including
the establishment of huge no-take zones across great swaths of the oceans. To be fair, there are some
places where such severe declines may be true. A more balanced diagnosis, however, tells a different
story — one that still requires changes in some fishing practices, but that is far from alarmist. But this
balanced diagnosis is being almost wholly ignored in favor of an apocalyptic rhetoric that obscures the
true issues fisheries face as well as the correct cures for those problems. Where the Apocalyptic
Rhetoric Comes From To get the storyline correct, it is important to go back to the sources of the
apocalyptic rhetoric. In 2006, a paper was published by Boris Worm in Science (Worm et al. 2006) that
received enormous press coverage. It argued that, if current trends continued, all fish stocks would
collapse by 2048. Worm and his coauthors concluded their paper with the following sentence: “Our
analyses suggest that business as usual would foreshadow serious threats to global food security,
coastal water quality, and ecosystem stability, affecting current and future generations.” Others joined
in, chief among them Daniel Pauly, who rang and continues to ring the apocalyptic note. “There are
basically two alternatives for fisheries science and management: one is obviously continuing with
business as usual…,” wrote Pauly in 2009 (Pauly 2009a). “This would lead, in addition to further
depletion of biodiversity, to intensification of ‘fishing down marine food webs,’ which ultimately
involves the transformation of marine ecosystems into dead zones.” It might surprise you to learn
Pauly’s views are not universally held among scientists. Indeed, these papers exposed a deep divide in
the marine science community over the state of fish stocks and the success of existing fisheries
management approaches. Numerous critiques of the apocalyptic stance were published after the 2006
paper, suggesting that Worm et al. had greatly exaggerated the failings of “business as usual.” For
instance, Steve Murawski, director of scientific programs and chief science advisor, defended the U.S.
fisheries management system and pointed out that the proportion of stocks overfished in the U.S. was
declining, not increasing (Murawski et al. 2007). The Real Question: Are Current Fishing Practices
Decimating Stocks…or Rebuilding Them? No one disagrees on our goals for the world’s fisheries stocks
— we need higher fish abundances. The arguments are largely about where we are now and how we will
get to higher fish abundance and lower fishing pressure. Are current fisheries management systems
working to decimate fish stocks…or rebuild them? Do we need large areas of the oceans closed to
fishing to assure sustainable seafood supply? Daniel Pauly says yes to the latter question: “This
transformation,” he writes, “would also require extensive use of ocean zoning and spatial closures,
including no-take marine protected areas (MPAs). Indeed, MPAs must be at the core of any scheme
intending to put fisheries on an ecologically sustainable basis” (Pauly 2009a). In an attempt to resolve
this dispute, Boris Worm and I several years ago organized a set of four meetings, sponsored by the
National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS), in which we assembled a database on
abundance as measured by fisheries agencies and research surveys. Participants included several of the
authors of the 2006 paper as well as several people from national fisheries management agencies. The
results were published in Science in 2009 (Worm et al. 2009), and showed that, while the majority of
stocks were still below target levels, fishing pressure had been reduced in most ecosystems (for which
we had data) to below the point that would assure long-term maximum sustainable yield of fish from
those ecosystems. About 30 percent of the stocks would currently be classified as overfished — but,
generally, fishing pressure has been reduced enough that all but 17 percent of stocks would be expected
to recover to above overfished thresholds if current fishing pressure continues. In the United States,
there was clear evidence for the rebuilding of marine ecosystems and stock biomass. The idea that 70
percent of the world’s fish stocks are overfished or collapsed and that the rate of overfishing is
accelerating (Pauly 2007) was shown by Worm et al. (2009) and FAO (2009) to be untrue. The Science
paper coming out of the NCEAS group also showed that the success in reducing fishing pressure had
been achieved by a broad range of traditional fisheries management tools — including catch-and-effort
limitation, gear restrictions and temporary closed areas. Marine protected areas were an insignificant
factor in the success achieved. The database generated by the NCEAS group and subsequent analysis has
shown that many of the assumptions fueling the standard apocalyptic scenarios painted by the gloomand-doom proponents are untrue: For instance, the widespread notion that fishermen generally
sequentially deplete food webs (Pauly et al. 1998) — starting with the predators and working their way
down — is simply not supported by data. Declining trophic level of fishery landings is just as often a
result of new fisheries developing rather than old ones collapsing (Essington et al. 2006). Catch data also
show that fishing patterns are driven by economics, with trophic level a poor predictor of exploitation
history (Sethi et al. 2010). Furthermore, the mean trophic level of marine ecosystems is unrelated to (or
even negatively correlated with) the trophic level of fishery landings (Branch et al. 2010). And the oftcited assessment that the large fish of the oceans were collapsed by 1980 (Myers and Worm 2003) is
totally inconsistent with the database we have assembled — for instance, world tuna stocks in total are
at present well above the level that would produce maximum sustained yield, except bluefin tuna and
some other billfish that are depleted (Hutchings 2010). Nevertheless, many in the marine conservation
community appear unwilling to accept these results, continue to insist that all fish may be gone by 2048,
and use declining catches in fisheries where regulations have reduced catches as indications of stock
collapse. No one argues that all fisheries are well-managed, and so far we do not have abundance
estimates for many parts of the world, especially Asia and Africa. Using the catch-based methods of
Worm et al. (2006) and Pauly, these areas appear to have fewer stock collapses and overfished stocks
than in the areas for which we have abundance data. However, we do not know if these areas have
been reducing exploitation rates or if they are still increasing. Finally, in places without strong central
government control of fishing, there is broad agreement that community-based co-management can be
effective. For these fisheries, management tools are very different than those used for industrial fishery
stocks, and MPAs are here often a key ingredient. The lessons from the Worm et al. (2009) paper about
what works to rebuild fish stocks are applicable to industrial fisheries, but probably not to the smallscale fisheries that support many fishing communities.
Immigration CP
Counterplan text: The United States federal government should substantially increase
its cap on H-1B visas.
Solves better—prefer comparative evidence
McDaniel 12—Immigrant Entrepreneur and Innovation Fellow (Paul, "High-Skilled Immigration Boosts
Native-Born Wages in Cities", Immigration Impact, immigrationimpact.com/2014/05/09/high-skilledimmigration-boosts-native-born-wages-in-cities/)//emchen
Despite the soaring demand there are only 85,000 H-1B visas available each year for high-skilled
workers. And as a new report explains, these foreign workers who often work in STEM (science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields are helping to boost the wages of native born
workers without taking away jobs . In the report published by the National Bureau of Economic
Research, economists Giovanni Peri, Kevin Shih, and Chad Sparber examine the effect of foreign STEM
workers on the wages and employment of college educated and non-college educated workers across
219 U.S. cities from 1990 to 2010. It is an update to a 2013 paper, which Immigration Impact described
last year. In their most recent report, the authors note that STEM workers, who make up the majority of
H-1B high-skilled visa holders, “are the main inputs in the creation and adoption of scientific and
technological innovation.” That innovation also helps American workers and boosts local economies.
By looking at the impact of foreign STEM workers on native born workers over a longer period of time,
their research finds that “there is a positive, large, and significant effect of foreign STEM workers on
wages paid to college educated native workers.” The authors examined the distribution of foreign-born
STEM workers in 1980 an.’ d used the introduction and variation of the H-1B visa program in 1990 that
granted entry to new foreign-born college-educated, mostly STEM, workers so that they could study the
before-and-after effects of the H-1B program. That is how they found that “H-1B-driven increases in
STEM workers in a city were associated with significant increases in wages paid to college educated
natives. Wage increases for non-college educated natives are smaller but still significant.” In particular,
they note that “a one percentage point increase in the foreign STEM share of a city’s total employment
increased wages of native college educated labor by about 7-8 percentage points and the wages of noncollege educated natives by 3-4 percentage points.” They also found non-significant effects on the
employment of those two groups.
Why is this the case? The authors suggest that “these results indicate that growth in STEM workers
spurred technological growth by increasing productivity, especially that of college educated workers.”
In an article for Vox, Peri, a professor of economics at UC-Davis, described the impact on wages is likely
a function of increased productivity. As Peri noted, “the largest part of these H1Bs went into information
technology. And what we estimate essentially is that by contributing to innovation and growth in that
sector it contributes to the productivity of all workers because in the 1990s and 2000s the large part of
college educated workers really used this type of technology.” As Vox points out, “by creating
technological innovations and implementing technology, these workers boost the productivity of their
fellow STEM and non-STEM workers alike .”
And innovation industry and STEM jobs tend to have higher than average multiplier effects. Such
effects allow for greater job creation in metropolitan areas with strong innovation industry economies.
For example, an analysis of 320 metro areas in the U.S. shows that each new high-tech job creates five
additional long-term local jobs outside of the high-tech sector across the skills spectrum. It’s no wonder,
then, that even as prospects dim for federal immigration reform, local and state leaders are talking
about the benefits of immigration to local and regional economies and are exploring creative ways in
which to welcome new immigrant innovators and entrepreneurs and encourage and support those
already there.
2nc – immigration CP solves
Plan can’t solve for STEM labor market—only the counterplan can fill in for STEM
occupations due to increased demand
McDaniel 12—Immigrant Entrepreneur and Innovation Fellow (Paul, "Why There Are Not Enough STEM
Workers in the U.S. Labor Market", American Immigration Council: Immigration Impact,
immigrationimpact.com/2013/05/01/why-there-are-not-enough-stem-workers-in-the-u-s-labormarket/)//emchen
Occasional research, such as a report released last week by the Economic Policy Institute, suggests the
U.S. has a sufficient supply of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduates and
workers. However, these conclusions are at odds with a growing number of expert analyses that find the
U.S. does in fact face significant challenges in meeting the growing needs of our expanding knowledgebased economy. Here is a sampling of the evidence:
STEM degree holders have very low unemployment rates and use their skills in STEM and non-STEM
occupations. One of the arguments frequently used to show the absence of shortage is that not all STEM
graduates are hired into STEM jobs. However, there is strong evidence that these degree holders are
doing pretty well in finding jobs, even if those jobs are outside of STEM fields. The unemployment rates
for individuals with advanced STEM degrees are very low: 3.1 percent for U.S citizens with STEM PhDs
and 3.4 percent for those with STEM masters degrees, and often much lower for specific occupations.
The fact that individuals with STEM expertise are working in non-STEM designated occupations doesn’t
mean that they have been pushed out of their field by competition with foreign workers. Similarly, the
fact that some STEM degree holders say they are finding better job opportunities outside of IT
occupations doesn’t mean that IT opportunities are bad. It may simply mean that opportunities in
other areas are better and that more companies are competing for this relatively scarce talent.
Specifically, research suggests as many more companies seek to improve innovation or expand
technology use, there is a broader competition for STEM competencies – knowledge, skills and abilities
such as research, analysis, quantitative and computer skills, and methodologies – among many
businesses and occupations far beyond specific STEM-defined fields.
STEM employers report thousands of unfilled positions. Due to geographic spatial and skills mismatches,
employers report difficulty recruiting individuals with specific skills, particularly in metropolitan areas
where innovation industries agglomerate. In 2010, for example, San Francisco and San Jose had 25 and
19 job openings for every computer graduate, respectively, and in Austin, Des Moines, Washington,
Charleston, Seattle, and Charlotte, that gap was nearly as great. Moreover, a 2011 report describes
3,200 unfilled positions at Siemens, and Microsoft reported over 6,000 unfilled job openings in the
United States in 2012, over half of which are for researchers, developers, and engineers. Collectively,
according to the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, and Oracle have 10,000 U.S. job
openings. If there is no STEM labor shortage, why are so many good paying innovation industry jobs
going unfilled?
Growing evidence shows that the H-1B visa program has a positive effect on wages of U.S. workers,
and local economies benefit from innovation industry jobs with strong multiplier effects . A 2013 report
of 219 U.S. cities from 1990 to 2010 shows that H-1B driven increases in STEM workers in a city were
linked with statistically significant increases in wages for all college-educated native-born workers.
Additionally, a one percent increase in the foreign-born STEM worker share of total employment in a
city increased the wages of both STEM and non-STEM college-educated workers by 4 to 6 percent.
Furthermore, innovation industry and STEM jobs tend to have higher than average multiplier effects.
Such effects allow for greater job creation in metropolitan areas with strong innovation industry
economies. Indeed, an analysis of 320 of the 381 metropolitan statistical areas in the United States
shows that each new high-tech job in a metro area creates five additional long-term local jobs outside of
the high-tech sector across the skills spectrum. In many U.S. metropolitan areas, the innovation
economy, and the high-skilled jobs related to it, drive prosperity for a broader base of workers living in
the region.
In summary, a more precise understanding of the visa programs and employment data is needed for a
balanced understanding of the overall labor market for STEM skills in the United States. As the
innovation industry is critical to economic growth locally and nationally, ensuring a robust labor force
with a strong STEM skills set is important now and in the future.