Topicality Two

Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
TOC
TOC..............................................................................................................................................................................................................1
RPS Topical..................................................................................................................................................................................................2
Regulations Topical......................................................................................................................................................................................3
Negative Incentives Topical.........................................................................................................................................................................4
Mandatory Untopical...................................................................................................................................................................................6
Mandatory Untopical...................................................................................................................................................................................7
Limits...........................................................................................................................................................................................................8
USFG Can’t Incentivize Itself...................................................................................................................................................................10
Mandatory =/= Voluntary...........................................................................................................................................................................12
Only Cash is Topical..................................................................................................................................................................................13
Taxes Are Topical.......................................................................................................................................................................................14
Incentives Are Economic...........................................................................................................................................................................15
Cap And Trade not Topical........................................................................................................................................................................16
Command and Control not Topical............................................................................................................................................................18
Cap and Trade Topical...............................................................................................................................................................................19
Cap and Trade Topical...............................................................................................................................................................................20
Incentives are Positive and Negative.........................................................................................................................................................21
Incentives are Vague..................................................................................................................................................................................22
AT: It’s Logical..........................................................................................................................................................................................23
Incentives =/= Tax Credits.........................................................................................................................................................................24
Regulation =/= Bans..................................................................................................................................................................................25
Alternatives Exclude Nuclear....................................................................................................................................................................26
Alternatives Exclude Nuclear....................................................................................................................................................................27
Alternatives = Nontraditional (list)............................................................................................................................................................28
Alternatives Include Nuclear.....................................................................................................................................................................29
Alt =/= Renewable.....................................................................................................................................................................................30
Alternative..................................................................................................................................................................................................31
Energy........................................................................................................................................................................................................38
Incentives...................................................................................................................................................................................................39
-1-
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
RPS Topical
RPS is an alternative energy incentive
Joshua Fershee, Assistant Professor of Law at the University of North Dakota School of Law, 2008, Energy
Law Journal, “Changing Resources, Changing Market: The Impact of a National Renewable Portfolio
Standard on the U.S. Energy Industry” L/N
As might be expected, the retail electric suppliers in states with an RPS are expected to account for the bulk of the renewable energy
generating capacity in the United States. n97 It is clear that RPS states have built, and are building, more renewable energy generation
facilities than non-RPS states, but it is not clear to what extent this is the result of an RPS policy. That is, an RPS policy provides
incentives for building new renewable generation capacity, but other factors, especially the availability of renewable energy resources,
also play a significant role. n98
RPS and renewable credits provide an incentive for alternative energy

Joshua Fershee, Assistant Professor of Law at the University of North Dakota School of Law, 2008, Energy
Law Journal, “Changing Resources, Changing Market: The Impact of a National Renewable Portfolio
Standard on the U.S. Energy Industry” L/N
The mere existence of a national RPS would provide some incentive for all utilities to invest in renewable generation because that
investment would have two markets - the market for its electricity and the market for its RECs - instead of just the market for its
electricity for a traditional generation facility. n107 In [*64] addition, it is likely that power projects will require "more equity, less
debt, and shorter debt repayment periods" than in the past. n108 "Developers will probably attempt to sign bilateral contracts with
large end users, marketers, aggregators, and utilities, but contract terms are likely to be shorter than in the past." n109 In fact,
"corporate balance-sheet financing may also become more common." n110 If a utility buys RECs and energy from another supplier,
there is also a risk that purchase agreement would end up showing as a long-term debt on the utility's balance sheet. n111 Thus, how a
national RPS would impact such capital-intensive investments is hard to predict.
-2-
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
Regulations Topical
Incentives are either financial incentives or regulations
Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency, North Carolina State University, 2007,
http://www.dsireusa.org/faq/faq.cfm?&CurrentPageID=9&EE=1&RE=1
What types of renewable energy incentives does DSIRE track?
The DSIRE project tracks information on state, utility, local, and selected federal incentives that promote the use of renewable energy
technologies. For more information on federal incentives, see What federal incentives does DSIRE track. On the DSIRE website,
incentives are grouped into two categories as follows:
(1)Financial Incentives: tax incentives, grants, loans, rebates, industry recruitment, bond programs, and production incentives.
(2) Rules, Regulations, & Policies: public benefits funds, renewables portfolio standards, net metering, interconnection, extension
analysis, generation disclosure, contractor licensing, equipment certification, solar/wind access laws, and construction & design
standards (including building energy codes and energy standards for public buildings), required utility green power options, and green
power purchasing/aggregation policies.
-3-
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
Negative Incentives Topical

Energy incentives can be positive or negative
Economic Commission for Europe, “DRAFT 2006 REVIEW OF STRATEGIES AND POLICIES FOR AIR
POLLUTION ABATEMENT,” 11/14/06
http://www.unece.org/env/documents/2006/eb/EB/ece.eb.air.2006.4.add.2.e.pdf
1. Positive incentives
53. Positive incentives include: grants, subsidies, tax rebates, tax incentives, credit guarantees, soft loans and tradable permits. All of
these aim to have an impact on individual patterns of consumption and to minimize air pollution and its effects. In Canada, under the
Wind Power Production Incentive, companies opting for wind generators were eligible for payments of up to 1.2 cents/kilowatt-hour
produced. In Cyprus, since 2004, the owners of vehicles equipped with catalytic converters paid less tax than owners of non-catalytic
vehicles. Additionally, the following tax incentives were introduced in November 2003: a 15% discount on the excise duty for cars
with CO2 emissions of 150g/km or less and a 10% penalty on cars with CO2 emissions of 275g/km or more. From January 2006 the
purchase of a hybrid car was subsidised by the Government by an amount of £800 CYP (about Euro 1,350) and incentives were
offered for scrappage of vehicles over 15 years old. In Lithuania the Environmental Protection Investment Fund provided subsidies for
environmental protection projects of up to 350,000 litas (approximately 101,000 euros) over a three-year period. The Fund financed
26 environmental protection projects, 18 of which (70%) were related to pollution reduction, conversion to cleaner fuels, renovation of
home boilers, installation of air-treatment filters or other energy-saving measures.
54. Many Parties used subsidies and other financial incentives to promote the use of renewable energy such as solar power or wind
turbines, including in Austria,Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. TheCzech Republic reported that it
offered financial support for pilot projects for the supply of alternative energy, especially thermal energy. Subsidies could be obtained
for the preparation of project documents and for the implementation of projects with a maximum of 100,000 euros over three years.
Since July 2005, the Netherlands has stimulated the use of sulphur-free diesel by reducing the tax charged; since June 2005, the
purchase of new diesel-powered cars equipped with soot filters was encouraged through a 600-euro discount on the tax for personal
motor vehicles. Starting in mid-2006, a subsidy for retrofitting a soot filter into existing, trucks, vans, buses, personal cars, diesel
powered locomotives and inland ships would come into force. A subsidy scheme was also in force since 2006 for catalytic converters
for inland shipping. More than 100 techniques for the reduction of air pollution (e.g. wet scrubbers, desulphurisation processes, low
NOx burners, catalytic reduction system, low emission animal housing systems, etc.) were eligible for fiscal benefits intended to
stimulate environmentally friendly technologies.
55. In Slovenia, subsidies and soft loans were available for energy efficiency measures and for the use of renewable energy sources for
households (e.g. solar heating technologies, energy efficient windows, biomass heating, heat pumps) and for companies (e.g. biomass
technologies). The United Kingdom has allocated over £500 million (approximately 740 million euros) between 2002 and 2008 to
support the development of renewable and low-carbon technologies.
56. Austria noted itoffered subsidies for the rehabilitation of old residential buildings in order to reduce their impact on air pollution.
Positive incentives in Germany included tax incentives for the use of low sulphur fuels and for renewable energies and federal grants
to promote public transport in municipalities.
57. Tradable permits were also being increasingly utilized to minimise emissions. Canadareported it had implemented tradable unit
systems to reduce two toxic substances, tetrachloroethylene and trichloroethylene. At the provincial level, Ontario’s cap and trade
system for NO and SO2 emissions from power plants and British Columbia’s differentiated fees for industrial polluters were
noteworthy. At the federal level, a cap and trade system to phase out methyl bromide and HCFCs had been introduced. In
theNetherlands, a NOxemission trading system, started in July 2005, was based on performance standard rates. It focused on extra
overall reductions in addition to those resulting from the ELVs set forth in national legislation. Slovakia also had an emissions trading
act for SO2 and CO2.
2. Negative incentives
58. Negative incentives include taxes, fees, and various charges. In the Czech Republic, the Air Protection Act imposed fees for air
pollution for the operators of very large, large and medium-sized sources and small stationary sources. For large sources fees were
paid into the State Environmental Fund, which then promoted projects intended primarily to reduce emissions. For small sources, the
fees went directly to the municipality and were earmarked for environmental protection. Germany applied a range of dissuasive
market measures including road user charges for heavy goods transport and emission-based vehicle taxes. Further planned measures
included the reduction of the distance-related tax refund for commuters and the equalisation of fuel tax on petrol and diesel. In
Estonia, a plant that emitted more than was stipulated in its permit was subject to higher taxes.
59. In Lithuania,charges on pollutants discharged to the atmosphere from stationary and mobile pollution sources were introduced
through the 1991 Law on Pollution Charge. Energy plants with a capacity exceeding 1MW (0.5 MW if solid fuel was used) must
possess an environmental permit. Charges on pollution from stationary sources were paid according to the amount of pollutants
-4-
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
actually emitted during a reporting period. If the polluter implemented measures to reduce pollutant emissions by at least 5 per cent
from the maximum allowable, it would be exempted from the charge on the pollutants. Exemptions were valid for the period of
implementation of the air pollution abatement measures, but not more than 3 years.
60. In Switzerland, two taxes were introduced in 2000. One was applied to VOCs whereby CHF 3 (approximately 2 euros) per kg of
VOC was to be paid on imports of solvents. The second was on fuel with a sulphur content higher than 0.1%. Another dissuasive
economic tool applied in Switzerland was the distance-related heavy-duty fee introduced in 2000. This followed the European norms
(EURO 1, 2 or 3) according to the emission category. In Slovenia, taxes were applied to waste, depending on the level of methane
emissions.
-5-
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
Mandatory Untopical
Incentive are positive inducements – this excludes requirements
Ann Turnbull et al, professor of Special Education and Courtesy Professor of Law, Co-Director of the Beach
Center on Families and Disability, University of Kansas, 2001
The term "incentive" is different from the term "requirement." An incentive is a positive reason for acting; a requirement is a legal
duty to act. The differ-ence in meaning is consistent with our argument above that the PBS provisions do create a presumption in favor
of that technology.
Negative ground – they make the topic bidirectional, including “disincentives” means we need an entire
new category of negative arguments because the stick approach is radically distinct from the carrot
Fred Harris, 1989, professor of law at the University of Illinois, “Automobile Emissions Control Inspection
and Maintenance Program: Making It More Palatable to Coerced Participants”
53. The term "incentives," for purposes of this Article, means those devices that induce one into doing something because of the
prospect of reward and, therefore, engender a positive feeling within the actor. An example of incentives in this sense would be tax
incentives like credits and/or deductions. But it appears that Congress, some courts and a few commentators have taken a broader view
of incentives and have categorized items such as extensions to compliance deadlines and, most notably, sanctions in the Act-denials of
federal grants and bans on construction in the event of noncompliance-as incentives to compliance. To be sure, these latter items may
induce compliance but surely not because of the extension of a "carrot." Instead,they epitomize the "stick" or "disincentive" approach
to behavioral modification.
Incentives – even broadly defined – must be positive.

Duncan Knowler, UN Food and Agricultural Organization, 1999, “Incentive Systems for Natural Resource
Management: The Role of Indirect Incentives”, ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/007/x2247e/x2247e00.pdf)
1.8 Incentives may be broadly defined, as in “everything that motivates or stimulates people to act” (Giger 1996). What is important
about such a broad definition is that it allows for incentives to be of either a passive or an active nature. In the former case, we can
think of incentives as signals in the producer’s environment which influence decision-making about farming practices, whether
intended or otherwise. Many macroeconomic policies, being remote from the producer and targeted at objectives other than
promoting sustainable farming practices, would fit into this category. In contrast, the notion of ‘active’ refers to a government’s ability
to actually design or modify policies with a desire to bring about certain conservation outcomes. McNeely (1988), for example, refers
to this concept of incentive when he defines incentives as “any inducement which is specifically intended to incite or motivate
governments, local people, and international organizations” (p.38-39). We draw this distinction because of the need to consider both
active and passive aspects when assessing the importance of incentives for NRM. While governments may be most concerned with
the design of good policies aimed at improving NRM, they need to be cognizant of the sometimes counterproductive influence
exerted by a poor incentive structure, in the passive sense.
1.9 McNeely (1988) also makes the useful distinction between incentives, disincentives and perverse incentives.In contrast to
incentives, which we have described above, disincentives are purposely designed to discourage particular behaviours and can include
taxes, fines and various other penalties or moral suasion. For purposes of this study, we will not consider disincentives as distinct
from incentives per se, but it is useful to be aware of the distinction. In contrast, perverse incentives incite resource users to damage
or deplete the resources in question in a socially inefficient manner and are closely related to the concept of policy failure, which is
discussed in Chapter 2.
Incentives are subsidies and financial assistance

Energy Information Administration, US Department of Energy, 2001, “Renewable Energy 2000: Issues and
Trends”, February, http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/ftproot/renewables/06282000.pdf
The term “incentive” is used instead of “subsidy.” Incentives include subsidies in addition to other Government actions where the
Government’s financial assistance is indirect. A subsidy is, generally, financial assistance granted by the Government to firms and
individuals.
-6-
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
Mandatory Untopical
Incentives are an offer of value meant to alter a course of action
Ruth Grant, professor of political science at Duke, 2002, “The ethics of incentives: Historical Origins and
contemporary understandings”, Economics and Philosophy, Proquest
Increasingly in the modern world, incentives are becoming the tool we reach for when we wish to bring about change. In government,
in education, in health care, between and within institutions of all sorts, incentives are offered to steer people's choices in certain
directions. But despite the increasing interest in ethics and economics, the ethics of the use of incentives has raised very little
concern. From a certain point of view, this is not surprising. When incentives are viewed from the perspective of market economics,
they appear to be entirely unproble-matic. An incentive is an offer of something of value, sometimes with a cash equivalent and
sometimes not, meant to influence the payoff structure of a utility calculation so as to alter a person's course of action. In other
words, the person offering the incentive means to make one choice more attractive to the person responding to the incentive than any
other alternative. Both parties stand to gain from the resulting choice. In effect, it is a form of trade, and as such, it meets certain
ethical requirements by definition. A trade involves voluntary action by all parties concerned to bring about a result that is beneficial to
all parties concerned. If these conditions were not met, the trade would simply not occur. And as inducements in a voluntary
transaction, incentives certainly have the moral high ground over coercion as an alternative.
Taxing bad behavior is an incentive

David Driesen, Assistant Professor of Law, Syracuse University College of Law, J.D., Yale University Spring
1998, “Is emissions trading an economic incentive program?: Replacing the command and
control/economic incentive dichotomy”, Washington and Lee Law review
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3655/is_199804/ai_n8791954/print
A. Taxes The government may tax pollution* to create an economic incentive to reduce pollution.6 In order for a tax to encourage
innovation and superior environmental performance, it must have several characteristics.*' First, the tax must apply to activities of
firms that already comply with all applicable emission limitations, or that have no applicable limitations. Second, the tax must exceed
the marginal costs of making additional reductions.zzs A tax that lacks these features creates insufficient incentives to reduce
emissions below current levels.29
-7-
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
Limits
Defining incentives broadly creates conceptual confusion and makes anything an incentive
This history also allows us to define more clearly what ìncentives' means. Currently, the term is used so broadly that it is often almost
synonymous with motivation altogether. But, despite its current quite general usage, a distinctive specific meaning of the term
remains, one that is easier to identify after taking this historical journey. The specific meaning can be illustrated by identifying those
situations where only the word ìncentive' will do. Very often, the term is now used where another would do equally well. For
example, ìncentive' is sometimes used as if it were a synonym for `reward', but they do not mean exactly the same thing. A reward or
punishment, unlike an incentive or disincentive, is understood to be merited or deserved. Offering a reward may serve as a motivator
or incentive to action, but the two are quite distinct in principle. People can win awards, for example, without even knowing in
advance that they were eligible. They deserve the reward, and there is no element of motivation involved at all.
Similarly, ìncentive' is sometimes used as if it were synonymous with `motivation' generally speaking. But there are several important
sorts of motivation that are not suggested by the term. When we speak in this way, we implicitly deny the phenomena of habitual
behavior, or action motivated by a sense of responsibility or of the reasonableness of a course of action (with reasonableness here
understood as something other than individual utility maximization), or the way in which a role model or ideal can serve as
motivator. Action which is initiated by the individual or understood as internally motivated is not really compre-hended in the concept
of motivation as incentive. Incentives are external prompts to which the individual responds.
The use of ìncentives' to speak of market forces is also problematic, though it is easy to see the logic of this development within the
language of economics. If one company lowers the price of its product, we might readily say that other companies now have an
incentive to lower theirs. But we would not say that the first company offered all other companies an incentive to lower their
prices.55 Market forces are not conscious and intentional, and their rationale is intrinsic to the economic process itself. We might just
as well say in this situation that the first company's lower price is a good reason for other companies to lower theirs given that they
need to remain competitive. The term ìncentive' says nothing that `reason' cannot say as well in this case. A similar logic applies to
speaking of loan conditions as incentives. The International Monetary Fund may make a loan to a nation only on condition that it alter
its inflationary policies. If the reason for the condition is intrinsic to the IMF's own financial aims, ìncentive' may be a misnomer.
The situation is like that of requiring a certain training as a condition for the practice of medicine; we would be unlikely to refer to
this as an ìncentive' to go to medical school for people who wish to become doctors.56 When the IMF is criticized for using
financial incentives unethically to control the internal policies of borrowing nations, it is because the critics suspect that its real
purposes are political rather than strictly limited to the legitimate concern to secure the financial health of the Fund.
The distinction between market forces and incentives can be illustrated further by considering the difference between wages as
compensation and incentives as bonuses in employment. Compensation means `rendering equal', a `recompense or equivalent',
`payment for value received or service rendered', or something which `makes up for a loss' ± as in the term ùnemployment
compensation'. Compensation equalizes or redresses a balance, and so, to speak of `fair compensation' is entirely sensible. But to
speak of a `fair incentive' is not. An incentive is a bonus, which is defined as something more than usually expected, that is,
something that exceeds normal compensation. It is an amount intentionally added to the amount that would be set by the automatic
and unintentional forces of the market. An incentive is also a motive or incitement to action, and so an economic incentive offered to
an employee is a bonus designed to motivate the employee to produce beyond the usual expectation. It should be obvious then, that
compensation and incentives are by no means identical. The per diem received for jury service, for example, is a clear case of
compensation which is not an incentive in any sense.
It is not difficult to see how it might have happened that the boundaries were blurred between the specific conception of incentives
and conceptions of the automatic price and wage-setting forces of the market. Both can be subsumed under very general notions of
the factors that influence our choices or motivate action, and ìncentives' carries this general meaning as well. Nonetheless, the
blurring of that boundary creates a great deal of confusion. Incentives, in fact, are understood better in contradistinction to market
forces than as identical to them. It is only by maintaining a clear view of their distinctive character that the ethical and political
dimensions of their use are brought to light. Moreover, conceptual clarity and historical understanding go hand in hand in this case. It
should no longer be surprising to find that the term ìncentives' is not used by Adam Smith in first describing the operation of the
market, but appears instead at a time when the market seemed inadequate in certain respects to the demands presented by changing
economic circumstances. Other eighteenth and nineteenth- century ideas, often taken as simple precursors of contemporary analyses
of incentives, can now be seen in their distinctive character as well. For example, Hume and Madison offer an analysis of institutional
design which differs significantly from ìnstitutional incentives', though the two are often confused. These thinkers were concerned
with preventing abuses of power. They sought to tie interest to duty through institutional mechanisms to thwart destructive, self-
-8-
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
serving passions and to secure the public good. Contemporary institutional analyses, by contrast, proceed without the vocabulary of
duty or public good and without the exclusively preventive aim. Institutional incentives are viewed as a means of harnessing
individual interests in pursuit of positive goals.57 Similarly, early utilitarian discussions, Bentham's in particular, differ markedly
from twentieth century discussions of incentives despite what might appear to be a shared interest in problems of social control.
Again, Bentham is interested entirely in prevention of abuses or infractions of the rules. The rationale for his panopticon is based on
the observation that prevention of infractions depends upon a combination of the severity of punishment and the likelihood of
detection.58 If the latter could be increased to one hundred per cent, through constant super- vision and inspection, punishment
would become virtually unnecessary. This is a logic that has nothing whatever to do with the logic of incentives as a means of
motivating positive choices or of encouraging adaptive behavior.
Their interpretation unlimits – deviating from the federal definition of alternative energy means alternative
types of oil and natural gas use are also topical
Russell Hasan, President of the Altenews Company, no date, “Introduction to Alternative Energy”,
http://www.altenews.com/Alternative%20Energy%20Overview.pdf
Aside from renewable energy, there are also alternative energy areas in oil and natural gas, which consists of alternative oil and gas
exploration. The traditional reserves of oil and natural gas are becoming depleted, and the global economy’s insatiable demand for
energy will make previously untapped reserves of oil and natural gas highly profitable. Alternative oil and gas exploration will find
and exploit deposits of oil and gas that will help serve to supply energy to the global demand as resources become scarce. The
various forms of alternative oil and gas exploration include oil sand, shale oil, basin centered gas accumulation, tight gas, and coal bed
methane, as well as other areas.
Two kinds of alternative oil exploration are oil sand, which is also called tar sand, and shale oil. Oil sand is a kind of sand from which
oil can be extracted. There are large oil sand reserves in western Canada, centered in the Alberta region, so much so that it makes
Canada a major potential source of oil on equal footing with the Middle East, and the exploration of oil sand is a very hot area. A
growing oil extraction infrastructure has grown up around the Canadian oil sands, and there are many opportunities in that area.
Shale oil is another kind of energy consisting of oil pressed from shale. There are shale oil reserves in Utah and elsewhere, and this is
a very interesting field. Companies are competing for the rights to develop shale oil, and as the infrastructure comes on line shale oil
could produce a lot of oil. Oil sand and shale oil represent sources of oil that have not been previously tapped, and if the oil can be
extracted through cost effective methods then oil sand and shale oil could become highly profitable, as they will produce oil from
nontraditional reserves that have not been depleted in a future when most traditional resources will have run out. This area is very
exciting for energy companies as the traditional sources of oil dry up, and there are many companies currently working to exploit oil
sand and shale oil reserves.
Methods of alternative natural gas exploration include basin centered gas accumulation, in which gas in a basin is extracted, tight gas,
in which the gas is difficult to get to, coal bed methane, in which natural gas is extracted from coal beds, and gas to liquid
technology, in which natural gas from distant locations is converted to a liquid for the purpose of transportation. It should be noted
that natural gas is the cleanest of all the fossil fuels in terms of the toxic emissions released when it is burned, and it can be useful for
electricity generation and home heating. These technologies should be closely watched as traditional oil and gas reserves become
depleted.
-9-
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
USFG Can’t Incentivize Itself

Incentives are a negotiated offer external to the agent offering it – this means the federal government
can’t offer incentives to itself
Similarly, ìncentive' is sometimes used as if it were synonymous with `motivation' generally speaking. But there are several important
sorts of motivation that are not suggested by the term. When we speak in this way, we implicitly deny the phenomena of habitual
behavior, or action motivated by a sense of responsibility or of the reasonableness of a course of action (with reasonableness here
understood as something other than individual utility maximization), or the way in which a role model or ideal can serve as
motivator. Action which is initiated by the individual or understood as internally motivated is not really compre-hended in the concept
of motivation as incentive. Incentives are external prompts to which the individual responds.
The use of ìncentives' to speak of market forces is also problematic, though it is easy to see the logic of this development within the
language of economics. If one company lowers the price of its product, we might readily say that other companies now have an
incentive to lower theirs. But we would not say that the first company offered all other companies an incentive to lower their
prices.55 Market forces are not conscious and intentional, and their rationale is intrinsic to the economic process itself. We might just
as well say in this situation that the first company's lower price is a good reason for other companies to lower theirs given that they
need to remain competitive. The term ìncentive' says nothing that `reason' cannot say as well in this case. A similar logic applies to
speaking of loan conditions as incentives. The International Monetary Fund may make a loan to a nation only on condition that it alter
its inflationary policies. If the reason for the condition is intrinsic to the IMF's own financial aims, ìncentive' may be a misnomer.
The situation is like that of requiring a certain training as a condition for the practice of medicine; we would be unlikely to refer to
this as an ìncentive' to go to medical school for people who wish to become doctors.56 When the IMF is criticized for using
financial incentives unethically to control the internal policies of borrowing nations, it is because the critics suspect that its real
purposes are political rather than strictly limited to the legitimate concern to secure the financial health of the Fund.
The distinction between market forces and incentives can be illustrated further by considering the difference between wages as
compensation and incentives as bonuses in employment. Compensation means `rendering equal', a `recompense or equivalent',
`payment for value received or service rendered', or something which `makes up for a loss' ± as in the term ùnemployment
compensation'. Compensation equalizes or redresses a balance, and so, to speak of `fair compensation' is entirely sensible. But to
speak of a `fair incentive' is not. An incentive is a bonus, which is defined as something more than usually expected, that is,
something that exceeds normal compensation. It is an amount intentionally added to the amount that would be set by the automatic
and unintentional forces of the market. An incentive is also a motive or incitement to action, and so an economic incentive offered to
an employee is a bonus designed to motivate the employee to produce beyond the usual expectation. It should be obvious then, that
compensation and incentives are by no means identical. The per diem received for jury service, for example, is a clear case of
compensation which is not an incentive in any sense.
It is not difficult to see how it might have happened that the boundaries were blurred between the specific conception of incentives
and conceptions of the automatic price and wage-setting forces of the market. Both can be subsumed under very general notions of
the factors that influence our choices or motivate action, and ìncentives' carries this general meaning as well. Nonetheless, the
blurring of that boundary creates a great deal of confusion. Incentives, in fact, are understood better in contradistinction to market
forces than as identical to them. It is only by maintaining a clear view of their distinctive character that the ethical and political
dimensions of their use are brought to light. Moreover, conceptual clarity and historical understanding go hand in hand in this case. It
should no longer be surprising to find that the term ìncentives' is not used by Adam Smith in first describing the operation of the
market, but appears instead at a time when the market seemed inadequate in certain respects to the demands presented by changing
economic circumstances. Other eighteenth and nineteenth- century ideas, often taken as simple precursors of contemporary analyses
of incentives, can now be seen in their distinctive character as well. For example, Hume and Madison offer an analysis of institutional
design which differs significantly from ìnstitutional incentives', though the two are often confused. These thinkers were concerned
with preventing abuses of power. They sought to tie interest to duty through institutional mechanisms to thwart destructive, self-
serving passions and to secure the public good. Contemporary institutional analyses, by contrast, proceed without the vocabulary of
duty or public good and without the exclusively preventive aim. Institutional incentives are viewed as a means of harnessing
individual interests in pursuit of positive goals.57 Similarly, early utilitarian discussions, Bentham's in particular, differ markedly
from twentieth century discussions of incentives despite what might appear to be a shared interest in problems of social control.
Again, Bentham is interested entirely in prevention of abuses or infractions of the rules. The rationale for his panopticon is based on
the observation that prevention of infractions depends upon a combination of the severity of punishment and the likelihood of
detection.58 If the latter could be increased to one hundred per cent, through constant super- vision and inspection, punishment
- 10 -
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
would become virtually unnecessary. This is a logic that has nothing whatever to do with the logic of incentives as a means of
motivating positive choices or of encouraging adaptive behavior.
We are now in a position to identify a core understanding or a distinctive meaning of the concept of incentives; what we might call
incentives `strictly speaking'. Incentives are employed in a particular form of negotiation. An offer is made which is an extrinsic
benefit or a bonus, neither the natural or automatic consequence of an action nor a deserved reward or compensation. The offer is
usually made in the context of an authority relationship - for example, adult/child, employer/employee, government/citizen or
government/organization. The offer is a discrete prompt expected to elicit a particular response. Finally and most importantly, the
offer is intentionally designed to alter the status quo by motivating a person to choose differently than he or she would in its absence.
If the desired action would result naturally or automatically, no incentive would be necessary. An incentive is the added element
without which the desired action would not occur. For this reason, it makes sense to speak of ìnstitutional incentives' when referring
to arrangements designed to encourage certain sorts of responses. `Perverse incentives' is also an expression that implies that
incentives are meant to direct people's behavior in particular ways. Central to the core meaning of incentives is that they are an
instrument of government in the most general sense. The emergence of the term historically within discourses of social control is
illustrative of this point.
- 11 -
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
Mandatory =/= Voluntary

There is a contextual difference between mandatory regulations and voluntary incentives
Sam Schoofs, Calvin College, 2004 [ 6 August 2004 A federal Renewable Portfolio Standard: Policy Analysis
and Proposal, http://www.wise-intern.org/ journal/2004/WISE2004-SamSchoofsFinalPaper.pdf.]
D. Renewable Energy Policy Overview
There are two main categories of renewable energy policies. The first category gives some financial incentives to encourage renewable
energy that includes tax incentives, grants, loans, rebates, and production incentives [13]. Tax incentives cover personal, sales,
property, and corporate taxes and they help to reduce the investment costs and to reward investors for their support of renewable
energy sources [12], [13]. As an example, 24 states currently have some form of grant program in place that ranges from as small as
$500 up to $1,000,000 [13]. The second category of renewable energy policies is called rules and regulations, which mandate a certain
action from an obligated entity. Included within this category are renewable portfolio standards, equipment certification, solar/wind
access laws, and green power purchasing/aggregation polices [13]. As an example, equipment certification allows the states to regulate
the performance criteria that equipment is required to meet in order to be eligible for financial incentives [12]. Seven states currently
have equipment certification programs in place
- 12 -
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
Only Cash is Topical

Incentives are limited to cash or in-kind transfers to speed up adoption
Suzannah Cooley, Cranfield University, Masters of Science, 2007, “GROWTH OF THE UK LOW CARBON
DIOXIDE AND ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGY VEHICLE MARKET: INVESTIGATING INFLUENTIAL FACTORS IN THE
ADOPTION OF LOW CARBON VEHICLES,” September,
https://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/bitstream/1826/2401/1/Sue%20Cooley%20Thesis%20final%20v2.pdf)
Incentives can be used to introduce or increase actual or perceived relative advantages. Rogers (2003) defines incentives as a direct or
indirect payment of cash or in kind that is given to an individual or system in order to encourage behaviour change and speed up
adoption. Incentives can take many forms for example, taxes, grants, penalties, finder’s fees, bonuses. Oltra & Saint-Jean (2006)
suggest that government grants to support alternative fuel infrastructure, tax exemptions for inconvenience and negative taxation for
ICEV could secure the switch from ICEVs to LCVs. Akerman & Hojer (2006) observes in the 1980’s tax incentives on unleaded
petrol and lower emitting vehicles successfully promoted three-way-catalytic-converters. For high mileage users, Vries & Rouwendal
(1999) and Wissen & Golob (1992) also found financial incentives encouraged LCV adoption. Moreover, Lane & Potter (2007)
emphasises that the benefit of incentives in combating the barriers of high purchase price, serving costs and long payback periods
associated with many LCVs, concluding that the UK company car tax is a crucial factor in determining employee’s car choice and the
UK Government’s Powershift grant to be an important factor encouraging the purchase of the Toyota Prius hybrid.
- 13 -
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
Taxes Are Topical

Taxes are incentives
A tax, unlike emissions trading, may offer a continuous incentive for environmental improvement. The operator can always reduce the
tax by making additional innovations until the taxed pollution reaches the zero level, at least in theory.244 A significant tax may be
necessary to secure management work on developing and implementing innovation.2' But the tax may provide an adequate incentive
to implement further control anytime an innovation shifts the marginal cost of control to a level less than that of the tax.246 If the
government adopts pollution taxes, it must enhance monitoring of emissions and enforcement activities." Otherwise, it may allow
taxable pollution to remain untaxed.24 Hence, an enforcement difficulty remains. In sum, taxes may provide a greater incentive for
continuous innovation than traditional regulations or emissions trading. They do not require governments to set emission levels. Like
emissions trading and traditional regulation, they rely upon difficult government decision making as the stimulant for emission
reductions.2A9
Pollution taxes are incentives

Part IV develops a true economic incentives theory to describe the requisites for programs that will actually induce more innovation
and continuous improvement than traditional regulation or emissions trading.31 Pollution taxes may provide continuous incentives for
innovation in theory, but taxes rely upon government decision making as the stimulant for reductions.32 Making economic
competition to reduce pollution the source of economic incentives, rather than the magnitude of politically-determined fees may do
more to stimulate innovation and continuous improvement.33 Emissions trading has limited utility, because it makes little use of
economic incentives, suffers from many of the impediments that frustrate the traditional regulatory system, and creates new
enforcement and design difficulties
- 14 -
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
Incentives Are Economic

Incentives have to be economic
IV. True Economic Incentives This Part develops a theory of true economic incentives as an alternative to reliance upon repeated
governmental decisions concerning the scale of emission reductions. Emissions trading does not provide a meaningful alternative to
traditional programs, because it relies upon government decisions about the scale of reductions instead of decentralized responses to
continuous incentives to reduce pollution. Hence, it makes sense to distinguish true economic incentive programs, programs that rely
solely on positive and negative economic inducements to secure reductions, from mixed programs like emissions trading and
traditional regulation, that rely on a combination of negative economic inducements, in the form of monetary penalties for
noncompliance, and government commands.' This Part discusses economic incentive programs that use economic incentives to
overcome traditional regulation 's weak stimulation of innovation and continuous improvement. It discusses the classic economic
incentive of a pollution tax.u4 While this incentive does create an incentive for continuous improvement, unlike emissions trading, it
still relies largely on government decision making, which may weaken the incentive's ability to stimulate innovation. This Part also
discusses the creation of more dynamic economic incentives that rely upon private initiative, rather than government decision making,
to drive innovation.
Incentives have to be economic

IV. True Economic Incentives This Part develops a theory of true economic incentives as an alternative to reliance upon repeated
governmental decisions concerning the scale of emission reductions. Emissions trading does not provide a meaningful alternative to
traditional programs, because it relies upon government decisions about the scale of reductions instead of decentralized responses to
continuous incentives to reduce pollution. Hence, it makes sense to distinguish true economic incentive programs, programs that rely
solely on positive and negative economic inducements to secure reductions, from mixed programs like emissions trading and
traditional regulation, that rely on a combination of negative economic inducements, in the form of monetary penalties for
noncompliance, and government commands.' This Part discusses economic incentive programs that use economic incentives to
overcome traditional regulation 's weak stimulation of innovation and continuous improvement. It discusses the classic economic
incentive of a pollution tax.u4 While this incentive does create an incentive for continuous improvement, unlike emissions trading, it
still relies largely on government decision making, which may weaken the incentive's ability to stimulate innovation. This Part also
discusses the creation of more dynamic economic incentives that rely upon private initiative, rather than government decision making,
to drive innovation.
- 15 -
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
Cap And Trade not Topical

Cap and trade is not topical, it net decreases incentives
In theory, emissions trading probably weakens net incentives for innovation.2"' If a regulation allows facilities to use trading to meet
standards, the low-cost facilities tend to provide more of the total reductions than they would provide under a comparable traditional
regulation. Conversely, the high-cost facilities will provide less of the total required reductions than they would have under a
comparable traditional regulation. The low-cost facilities probably have a greater ability to provide reductions without substantial
innovation than high-cost facilities. A high-cost facility may need to innovate to escape the high costs of routine compliance; the low-
cost facility does not have this same motivation. Hence, emissions trading, by shifting reductions from highcost to low-cost facilities,
may lessen the incentives for innovation.
Cap and trade reduces incentives

These observations are not meant to suggest that emissions trading is bad. Lowering short-term costs is desirable. But, short-term
savings do not necessarily coincide with the encouragement of technological advancement or long-term savings.220 Significant up-
front investment and stringent technical demands often play an important role in stimulating technological advances. C. Theoretical
Lessons From Emissions Trading Emissions trading, traditionally considered an "economic incentive" program, may provide a less
potent economic incentive to reduce pollution and innovate than a comparable traditional regulation.' An understanding of the reasons
for this may contribute to a theory that would help guide design of better environmental programs. Analyzing a program's ability to
provide economic incentives for pollution reduction requires an evaluation of all potentially relevant monetary flows. In simpler
terms, "follow the money." Emissions trading programs are often characterized as economic incentives because they use positive
economic inducements. The lower cost source can increase revenue by reducing pollution below regulatory limits and selling credits
to the higher cost source. The money to provide a positive inducement, however, must come from somewhere. An emissions trading
program produces no net incentive to do better than traditional regulation in any way because emission increases finance emission
decreases. High-cost sources decrease costs by exceeding a regulatory limit. The savings the high-cost source realizes by exceeding a
regulatory limit on pollution finance the low-cost source's "additional" pollution reductions. The emissions trading example teaches
that mimicking free market features that do not coincide with desired policy outcomes proves counterproductive. Emissions trading
programs, although they create no special net incentives to reduce emissions, encourage trade in emission reduction credits. As
mentioned above, one can always motivate trading by allowing pollution sources to avoid real reduction obligations by purchasing
paper credits or allowing poorly monitored emissions reduction claims to become creditable. While this may create a robust market, it
produces cost savings through inferior performance.222 A theory focusing on developing robust markets leads to investment of scarce
public resources in programs that fail to use economic incentives to motivate at least equivalent environmental achievement at lower
cost. The emissions trading example reveals that the term "economic incentive" has very little meaning if defined to include
everything that relies on some kind of monetary penalty or benefit. Indeed, to the extent the term "economic incentive" should not
apply to traditional regulation, it also should not apply to emissions trading. Both types of programs rely on monetary penalties to
induce compliance with government set limits. Neither creates incentives for sources to continuously realize net reductions
substantially surpassing the specifically mandated reductions. The emissions trading example shows that one must carefully analyze
programs to see which free market-like advantages they might offer. While emissions trading may have the capacity to use private
sector compliance resources efficiently, it may use government resources for program design and enforcement inefficiently.
- 16 -
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
Emissions trading may provide no more incentive for continual improvement or innovation than traditional regulation. Emissions
trading does not stimulate competition to maximize environmental performance. It simply authorizes some trading around of
obligations the government has created.
- 17 -
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
Command and Control not Topical

Command and control regulations are not incentives
Rather than define economic incentives, scholars employ a conventional dichotomy that contrasts "command and control" regulations
(rules that dictate precisely how a polluter must clean-up) with economic incentives.5 They claim that command and control
regulations work inefficiently, discourage innovation, and fail to provide continuous incentives to reduce pollution, but that emissions
trading and other economic incentive programs overcome these problems.
- 18 -
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
Cap and Trade Topical

Cap and trade and other command and control regulations are incentives
This failure to define economic incentives leaves unsupported the suggestion that emissions trading realizes environmental goals
through economic incentives, but that traditional regulations (rules that limit discharges of pollutants into the environment without
allowing trading) do not. Both traditional regulation and emissions trading rely upon the threat of a monetary penalty to secure
compliance with government commands setting emission limitations.3 Perhaps neither traditional regulation nor emissions trading
should be considered economic incentive programs, because both rely upon government commands.4 Or perhaps both should be
considered economic incentive programs, because monetary penalties provide a crucial economic incentive in both systems.
Cap and trade is an economic incentive

The trading mechanism creates additional incentives for some polluters within the trading program, specifically where large
differences in marginal control costs exist. It creates an economic incentive for polluters facing high marginal control costs to increase
emissions above the otherwise applicable limit, at least to the extent that the high-cost polluters plans to purchase relatively cheap
credits from other sources.2" It also creates an incentive for polluters facing low marginal control costs to decrease emissions, at least
to the extent the polluter plans to sell credits to sources with high costs.20' If the market functions smoothly, then trading occurs, the
incentives cancel each other out, and the net economic incentive mirrors that of a comparable traditional regulation (except for
weakened enforcement's tendency to increase emissions). Because a well designed trading program may induce pollution sources with
low marginal control costs to go beyond regulatory limits to a greater degree than they would under a traditional regulation,
commentators focusing only on the low-cost sources have argued that emissions trading creates greater incentives for technological
innovation than traditional regulation.208 As some economists have realized, this argument ignores the incentive for high-cost sources
to avoid pollution reduction activities.209 Trading reduces the incentive for high-costs sources to apply new technology.
Cap and trade is historically defined as an incentive program

The dichotomy between command and control regulations and economic incentives has had a powerful influence upon policy.7 On
October 22, 1997, President Clinton outlined his plans to address global climate change, an increase in global mean surface
temperatures that emissions of carbon dioxide and other "greenhouse gases" cause.8 The President's speech stressed the issue's
importance by referring to some possible consequences of climate change including "disruptive weather events" (such as droughts and
floods), the spread of "disease bearing insects," and receding glaciers (which might cause inundation of coastal areas).9 President
Clinton did not mention a single new traditional regulatory program or propose any specific cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, such as
carbon dioxide, below 1990 levels to combat this potential menace. Instead, he announced a "package of strong market incentives, tax
cuts and cooperative efforts with industry."'o The President's package included emissions trading, which is the "economic incentive
program" most often implemented. His proposal would allow polluters in one country to avoid greenhouse gas reductions at home in
exchange for pollution reductions abroad." Not surprisingly, emissions trading became an important element of the subsequently
negotiated Kyoto Protocol on climate change, in which the developed countries apparently agreed to modest cuts in greenhouse gas
emissions.'
- 19 -
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
Cap and Trade Topical

Cap and trade is an economic incentive
The trading mechanism creates additional incentives for some polluters within the trading program, specifically where large
differences in marginal control costs exist. It creates an economic incentive for polluters facing high marginal control costs to increase
emissions above the otherwise applicable limit, at least to the extent that the high-cost polluters plans to purchase relatively cheap
credits from other sources.2" It also creates an incentive for polluters facing low marginal control costs to decrease emissions, at least
to the extent the polluter plans to sell credits to sources with high costs.20' If the market functions smoothly, then trading occurs, the
incentives cancel each other out, and the net economic incentive mirrors that of a comparable traditional regulation (except for
weakened enforcement's tendency to increase emissions). Because a well designed trading program may induce pollution sources with
low marginal control costs to go beyond regulatory limits to a greater degree than they would under a traditional regulation,
commentators focusing only on the low-cost sources have argued that emissions trading creates greater incentives for technological
innovation than traditional regulation.208 As some economists have realized, this argument ignores the incentive for high-cost sources
to avoid pollution reduction activities.209 Trading reduces the incentive for high-costs sources to apply new technology.
- 20 -
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
Incentives are Positive and Negative

Incentives are both positive and negative therefore command and control regualtions are topical
An economic incentive program can be defined as any program that provides an economic benefit for pollution reductions or an
economic penalty for pollution. Defining economic incentives to include both positive and negative incentives includes pollution taxes
in the definition.' Does command and control regulation qualify as an economic incentive program under this definition? Imagine a
pure command and control law. The law commands polluters to perform specific pollution reducing acts, but provides no penalties for
non-compliance. This law would probably motivate little or no pollution reduction, because polluters could violate the commands
without consequence.156 Command and control regulation only works when an enforcement mechanism exists.'57 Traditional
regulation relies upon a negative economic incentive - a monetary penalty for non-compliance - as the principle inducement to comply
with regulatory requirements, true command and control requirements, such as work practice standards, and the more common
performance standards.lss Indeed, a traditional regulation's success depends heavily upon the adequacy of these monetary
penalties.l59
- 21 -
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
Incentives are Vague

Incentives aren’t well defined.
Is an emissions trading program' an economic incentive program? Emissions trading programs allow polluters to avoid pollution
reductions at a regulated pollution source, if they provide an equivalent reduction elsewhere.2 Most scholars, government officials,
and practitioners equate emissions trading with economic incentives, but they do not define "economic incentives."
Incentive is superbly vague word, even government actions confirm it can be regulations or deregulation.
A few days prior to Clinton's speech on climate change, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its proposal to address
interstate pollution, an important impediment to delivering healthful air under the 1990 Amendments to the Clean Air Act.'3 The EPA,
predictably, called for an interstate emissions trading program.'4 This Article develops a theory of economic incentives. Any program
to regulate or to deregulate creates economic incentives.'5 The programs referred to as "economic incentive" programs all envision a
substantial governmental role of some kind. That is why lawyers, experts in law, write about them.'6
This T is stupid
We should replace the command and control/economic incentive dichotomy with a more nuanced analytical approach to both
traditional regulation and economic incentive programs. Quasi-religious faith in programs labeled economic incentives and
demonization of traditional regulation will not suffice. II. The Command and Control/Economic Incentive Dichotomy This Part
evaluates the conventional critique of traditional regulation as command and control regulation." An account of the claims made for
emissions trading and some of its history follow. A. Traditional Regulation: Commanding and Controlling? Below, several
conventional criticisms of traditional regulation are examined. First, critics claim that traditional regulation is excessively rigid and
consequently discourages innovation.36 Second, critics argue that traditional regulation provides no incentive for continuous
environmental improvement.3' Third, critics argue that the process of establishing technology-based regulations involves inordinate
complexity and delay.38 Fourth, critics state that uniform standards are inefficient." These criticisms contain some truths, but they also
include distortions that unfairly disparage traditional regulation and misinform discussion of economic incentives. 1. The Rigidity
Critique: The Myth of Pervasive "Command and Control"Regulation
- 22 -
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
AT: It’s Logical

Logic is stupid – anything can be considered an incentive positive or negative
A formal definition of an economic incentive program as any program relying on positive or negative economic inducements to secure
pollution reductions plausibly applies to just about any regulatory program. To evaluate possible explanations for the dichotomy's
assumption that emissions trading relies on economic incentives, but traditional regulation does not, a functional analysis is helpful.
Parties to this debate need to analyze whether emissions trading overcomes traditional regulation's weaknesses in spurring innovation
and providing continuous incentives. This will require examination of the sources of economic inducements, the financing
mechanisms, the likely responses of regulated polluters (both strategic and desired), and the governmental role in emissions trading.
These questions provide the tools to develop a functional theory of economic incentives.
- 23 -
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
Incentives =/= Tax Credits

Incentives are distinct from tax credits – they require linking behavior to future action, not credit for
actions already taken
Gary Bingel, senior manager of state and local taxes with Smart and Associates LLP, summer 2004,
“Getting to the STATE'S CAPITAL: Negotiating Business Incentives”, Pennsylvania CPA Journal, proquest
When considering financial assistance from governmental authorities, it is important to keep in mind the definitions of "incentive" and
"credit." "Incentive" is something that stimulates one to take action,1 and "credit" is to give deserved commendation for; to commend
one for.2 These concepts are at the root of why governments give assistance to businesses in the form of incentives and tax credits.
Incentive programs are usually offered to stimulate businesses to take some form of action, and are considered forward-looking. Tax
credits are often offered to reward businesses that took some form of desired action, and are a reaction to steps already taken. There
are some programs, however, that combine these concepts, such as negotiated tax credits and those that require preapproval, that are
used to promote some future action. There are also incentives programs that, while negotiated and subject to preapproval, are only
rewarded once a specified action, or promise, has been fulfilled. The following discussion will focus on true incentives programs,
those that require preapproval and negotiation, as opposed to pure tax credits, which merely reward past behavior and that do not
require any form of preapproval or negotiation.
- 24 -
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
Regulation =/= Bans

Regulatory incentives are distinct from bans – they require some discretion
Noel Uri, Senior Industry Economist in the Pricing Policy Division, Wireline Competition Bureau, Federal
Communications Commission, 2003, “The change in technical and allocative efficiency of local exchange
carriers in the United States” Info : the Journal of Policy, Regulation and Strategy for Telecommunications,
Information and Media, Proquest)
Incentive regulation is typically defined as the implementation of rules that encourage a regulated firm to achieve desired goals by
granting some, but not complete, discretion to the firm. Three aspects of this definition of incentive regulation are important. First,
regulatory goals must be clearly specified before incentive regulation is designed. The properties of the best incentive regulation plan
will vary according to the goals the plan is designed to achieve. Second, the regulated firm is granted some discretion under incentive
regulation. For example, while the firm may be rewarded for reducing its operating costs, it is not told precisely how to reduce these
costs. Third, the regulator imposes some restrictions on relevant activities or outcomes under incentive regulation (Baron, 1991;
Bernstein and Sappington, 1999).
One popular incentive regulation plan is the price cap plan. The central idea behind price cap regulation is to control the prices
charged by the regulated firm, rather than its earnings. Essentially, price cap regulation plans require the regulated firm's average real
prices to fall annually by a specified percentage (Mitchell and Vogelsang, 1991). This percentage is nominally referred to as the "X-
factor" or the productivity offset[1].
- 25 -
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
Alternatives Exclude Nuclear

Alternative energy excludes nuclear and all fossil fuels
Christopher Simon, professor of political science at the University of Nevada, 2007, Alternative energy:
political, economic, and social feasibility, p. 39-40)
The federal definition of alternative energy is best summarized by Title 26, chapter 79, §7701 of the revised U.S. Code: “the term
‘alternative energy facility’ means a facility for producing electrical or thermal energy if the primary energy source for the facility is
not oil, natural gas, coal, or nuclear power.” The primary purpose of this definition relates to the issuance of tax credits to “alternative
energy facility[ies],” which meet certain standards as defined in Title 26, chapter 1, §48 “Energy Credit.” Tax credits are one method
by which the federal government encourages the private sector to make certain economic choices; in the case of energy policy, this
definition of alternative energy will have a definitive impact on how alternative energy will be defined by those individuals and
corporate bodies seeking federal recognition (and benefit) by adopting a particular definition of alternative energy. Many state
definitions of alternative energy closely follow federal definitions. Case law confirms that federal guidelines supercede state-level
guidelines. Federal standards also impact the state and local receipt of alternative energy grants, subsidies, and tax exemptions. It is
reasonable, therefore that state and local definitions would be consistent with federal policy. Consistency between federal and state
definitions does not mean there are not a few variations. In many ways, variation at the state level illustrates the dynamic and
evolving alternative energy paradigm, which is by no means unique to the U.S. policy process.
Alternative energy excludes nuclear and fossil fuels – U.S. code

U.S. Code, 4/25/08, TITLE 26. INTERNAL REVENUE CODE, 26 USCS § 7701
(D) Alternative energy facility. For purposes of subparagraph (A), the term 'alternative energy facility' means a facility for producing
electrical or thermal energy if the primary energy source for the facility is not oil, natural gas, coal, or nuclear power.
Alternative energy excludes nuclear and fossil fuels

Judge William Bertinelli, Court of Appeal of California, First Appellate District, Division Four, 1987, 195 Cal.
App. 3d 982; 241 Cal. Rptr. 215; 1987 Cal. App. LEXIS 2255, 10/28, lexis)
17 Public Resources Code section 26003, subdivision (d), defines alternative energy sources as including geothermal sources of
energy and any other source of energy, "the efficient use of which will reduce the use of fossil and nuclear fuels."
Alternative energy is renewable energy – excludes uranium because it’s a single use resource
ABS Alaskan, 2008 (“Alternative Energy Information”, http://www.absak.com/library/alternative-renewable-
energy)
The term "alternative energy" (also: renewable energy) encompasses a variety of power generation sources. Generally, it refers to
electrical power derived from "renewable" resources such as solar or wind energy, as opposed to "single-use" resources such as coal or
uranium. The most common forms of alternative energy available for homeowner use today are solar power, wind power and "micro-
hydro" power.
- 26 -
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
Alternatives Exclude Nuclear

Alternative energy excludes conventional sources of energy – nuclear power is a fully conventional source
Kent Welter, Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from Oregon State University and Executive Committee Member,
Enviromental Sciences Division, American Nuclear Society 5/9/07, “Nuclear Power,”
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Nuclear-Power-2462/Alternative-Energy.htm
Question
Ok. I'm going to play devil's advocate and say, "There are alternative fuels instead of nuclear power plants that can replace fossil fuels.
For instance, hydroleuic power, wind power, solar power, and geothermal power." What can you say about this?
Answer
Let's start by defining some terms, so that we're on the same page. Fuel is a substance that can be transformed (by burning, nuclear
reaction, etc) into useful forms of energy through work (turning of a turbine, cylinders in a car, etc), to produce electricity (in our
case). Usually, we speak of alternative fuels when talking about replacements for gas in car engines and alternative energy when
speaking about power plants. By the nature of your question, I will assume we are speaking about alternative energy.
This is a funny term to me, actually, because it is a catch phrase picked up by the mainstream news to describe everything but coal,
gas, and nuclear power plants, which make up about 80% of our electricity generation. My opinion is that we always need a healthy
mix of energy solutions at any one time and should strive for increasing our reliance on renewable and more environmentally
conscious energy sources. Infrastructure development takes a long time. Power plants are ordered ten years in advance. Even if new
technologies become more viable, we still need to wait a while for them to come online. They are very large structures and take a lot
of time to build. Anyway, digressing a little again.
Nuclear and coal are considered baseload power. They provide the backbone of the US energy grid. As power demands change daily,
weekly, seasonally, other plants come online to fill in the gaps. Namely wind, hydro, gas, and solar. One of the reasons is that the
energy density of these other power sources is much less than coal or nuclear. Because of its huge environmental impact, hydro dams
probably won't be built anymore. I mean, you have to flood an entire valley! But we should rely on the ones we currently have, since
they are considered renewable. As for solar, this technology is better suited for distributed power. In other words, better suited for
individuals or organizations to power their own buildings, it will never become viable as a large scale energy source because you are
limited by physics. There is only a certain amount of energy that gets transported by the sun to earth per square foot of ground. That
will never change. Even if solar panels are 100% efficient, you can't change the fact that the sun only shines 50% of the time on the
ground and really doesn't transfer a whole lot of energy to the earth at a local scale. In total, yes, but not on a square foot bases.
- 27 -
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
Alternatives = Nontraditional (list)

Alternative energy must be nontraditional
Environmental Protection Agency, 2006, Environmental Protection Agency Terminology Reference System,
http://iaspub.epa.gov/trs/trs_proc_qry.navigate_term?p_term_id=688&p_term_cd=TERM
alternative energy
Energy derived from nontraditional sources (e.g., compressed natural gas, solar, hydroelectric, wind). (Source: Office of Policy:
Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks. Annex T: Glossary Term Detail)
- 28 -
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
Alternatives Include Nuclear

Recent legislation defines nuclear power as alternative energy
Drew Winter, EJ Magazine, 2007, “Nuclear Renaissance”,
http://www.ejmagazine.com/2007b/pdfs/nuclear.pdf
The reason for the sudden interest in nuclear power is due largely to a streamlined licensing process and the Energy Policy Act of
2005.
The act, sponsored by Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn, and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., grants numerous subsidies to utilities
building nuclear power plants. These plants are listed as an alternative energy source along with wind, solar and other so-called green
options. Subsidies include up to $125 million in annual tax credit, an 80 percent loan on construction costs and other benefits for
reactors using new technology.
Nuclear power is alternative energy

One last kind of alternative energy to discuss is nuclear power. Often classified as a traditional power source, it is possible to think of
nuclear as an alternative to fossil fuels. Nuclear power plants do not produce air pollution, so they are clean compared to oil, gas and
coal. However, nuclear power produces radioactive waste as a byproduct, and nuclear reactor accidents can have catastrophic effects,
so the environmental value of nuclear is debatable. However, it cannot be denied that nuclear power can replace fossil fuels to some
extent as they run out, and there are many countries around the world that are currently planning to build new nuclear power plants.
- 29 -
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
Alt =/= Renewable

Alternative energy is distinct from renewable energy
An overview of the various kinds of alternative energy follows. At the outset we must differentiate between alternative energy, and
renewable energy. Alternative energy refers to any form of energy which is an alternative to the traditional fossil fuels of oil, natural
gas and coal. Renewable energy are the forms of alternative energy that are renewed by the natural processes of the Earth, such as
sunlight from the sun or wind from the air, and so are environmentally friendly. We cover all alternative energies, but we will begin
the overview with the renewable energy sources.
- 30 -
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
Alternative
Alternative can mean many things.
Dictionary.com Unabridged, no date, http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alternative
1. a choice limited to one of two or more possibilities, as of things, propositions, or courses of action, the selection of which precludes
any other possibility: You have the alternative of riding or walking.
2. one of the things, propositions, or courses of action that can be chosen: The alternative to riding is walking.
3. a possible or remaining course or choice: There was no alternative but to walk.
–adjective
4. affording a choice of two or more things, propositions, or courses of action.
5. (of two things, propositions, or courses) mutually exclusive so that if one is chosen the other must be rejected: The alternative
possibilities are neutrality and war.
6. employing or following nontraditional or unconventional ideas, methods, etc.; existing outside the establishment: an alternative
newspaper; alternative lifestyles.
7. Logic. (of a proposition) asserting two or more choices, at least one of which is true.
You’re not allowed to look at my interpretation.

Encyclopedia Britannica, no date
To learn more about alternative visit Britannica.com
Alternative is a noun, maybe.

American Heritage Dictionary, no date
n.
The choice between two mutually exclusive possibilities.

A situation presenting such a choice.
Either of these possibilities. See Synonyms at choice.
Usage Problem One of a number of things from which one must be chosen.
adj.
Allowing or necessitating a choice between two or more things.
Existing outside traditional or established institutions or systems: an alternative lifestyle.

Espousing or reflecting values that are different from those of the establishment or mainstream: an alternative newspaper; alternative
greeting cards.
Usage Problem Substitute or different; other.
This one also says alternative might be a noun.

Wordnet, no date
alternative
adjective1. serving or used in place of another; "an alternative plan" [syn: alternate] 2. necessitating a choice between mutually
exclusive possibilities; "alternative possibilities were neutrality or war" 3. pertaining to unconventional choices; "an alternative life
style"
noun1. one of a number of things from which only one can be chosen; "what option did I have?"; "there no other alternative"; "my
only choice is to refuse" [syn: option]
- 31 -
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
Did you know you can say alternative in so many languages?

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary, no date
offering a choice of a second possibility
Example: An alternative arrangement can be made if my plans don't suit you.
- 32 -
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
Arabic: Japanese:
‫بَدِيل‬ 代りの
Chinese (Simplified): Korean:

可供替换的 대신의, 양자 택일의
Chinese (Traditional): Latvian:

可供替換的 alternatīvs; izvēles-
Czech: Lithuanian:
jiný alternatyvus
Danish: Norwegian:
alternativ alternativ
Dutch: Polish:
alternatief alternatywny
Estonian: Portuguese (Brazil):

alterna- tiivne alternativo
Finnish: Portuguese (Portugal):

vaihtoehtoinen alternativo
French: Romanian:
autre alt
German: Russian:
alternativ альтернативный
Greek: Slovak:
εναλλακτικός alternatívny
Hungarian: Slovenian:
alternatív drugačen
Icelandic: Spanish:
sem um er að velja, alternativo
annar (kostur)
Swedish:
Indonesian: annan, alternativ-
alternatif
Turkish:
Italian: başka, öbür, alternatif
alternativo
- 33 -
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
alternative [oːlˈtəːnətiv] noun

a choice between two (or sometimes more) things or possibilities
Example: You leave me no alternative but to dismiss you; I don't like fish. Is there an alternative on the menu?
- 34 -
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
Arabic: Japanese:
‫خَيار بَيْن إ ْثنَين‬ 二者択一
Chinese (Simplified): Korean:

两者挑一 양자 택일, 대안
Chinese (Traditional): Latvian:

兩者挑一 alternatīva; izvēle
Czech: Lithuanian:
jiná možnost alternatyva, kitas
pasirinkimas
Danish:
alternativ; valg Norwegian:
valg, alternativ
Dutch:
alternatief Polish:
alternatywa, inna
Estonian: możliwość
valikuvõimalus
Portuguese (Brazil):
Finnish: alternativa
vaihtoehto
Portuguese (Portugal):
French: alternativa
alternative
Romanian:
German: alternativă
die Alternative
Russian:
Greek: альтернатива
εναλλακτική λύση
Slovak:
Hungarian: iná možnosť
választás(i lehetőség)
Slovenian:
Icelandic: (druga) izbira
valkostur
Spanish:
Indonesian: alternativa
alternatif
Swedish:
Italian: alternativ, val
alternativa
Turkish:
*
- 35 -
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
- 36 -
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
Lol.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, no date
Alternative
Al*ter"na*tive\, a. [Cf. F. alternatif.]
1. Offering a choice of two things.
2. Disjunctive; as, an alternative conjunction.
3. Alternate; reciprocal. [Obs.] --Holland.
I thought they just defined it.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, no date
Al*ter"na*tive\, n. [Cf. F. alternative, LL. alternativa.]
1. An offer of two things, one of which may be chosen, but not both; a choice between two things, so that if one is taken, the other
must be left.
There is something else than the mere alternative of absolute destruction or unreformed existence. --Burke.
2. Either of two things or propositions offered to one's choice. Thus when two things offer a choice of one only, the two things are
called alternatives.
Having to choose between two alternatives, safety and war, you obstinately prefer the worse. --Jowett (Thucyd.).
3. The course of action or the thing offered in place of another.
If this demand is refused the alternative is war. --Lewis.
With no alternative but death. --Longfellow.
4. A choice between more than two things; one of several things offered to choose among.
My decided preference is for the fourth and last of these alternatives. --Gladstone.
- 37 -
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
Energy
Lolcrabs.
Online Etymology Dictionary, no date
1599, from M.Fr. energie, from L.L. energia, from Gk. energeia "activity, operation," from energos "active, working," from en- "at" +
ergon "work" (see urge (v.)). Used by Aristotle with a sense of "force of expression;" broader meaning of "power" is first recorded in
Eng. 1665. Energize "rouse to activity" is from 1753; energetic of persons, institutions, etc., is from 1796. Energy crisis first attested
1970.
You’re totally not topical

Wordnet, no date
energy
noun1. (physics) a thermodynamic quantity equivalent to the capacity of a physical system to do work; the units of energy are joules
or ergs; "energy can take a wide variety of forms" 2. forceful exertion; "he plays tennis with great energy"; "he's full of
zip" 3. enterprising or ambitious drive; "Europeans often laugh at American energy" 4. an imaginative lively style (especially style of
writing); "his writing conveys great energy"; "a remarkable muscularity of style" 5. a healthy capacity for vigorous activity; "jogging
works off my excess energy"; "he seemed full of vim and vigor"
You are most definitely totally not topical

US Gazetteer, no date
Energy, IL (village, FIPS 24166) Location: 37.77537 N, 89.02575 W
Population (1990): 1106 (408 housing units)
Area: 3.3 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
- 38 -
Topicality
William Huang
DDI ‘08
Kernoff/Olney
Incentives
zomgz
American Heritage Dictionary, no date
n. Something, such as the fear of punishment or the expectation of reward, that induces action or motivates effort.
adj. Serving to induce or motivate: an incentive bonus for high productivity.
- 39 -

Topicality Two

Caricato da

Informazioni sul documento

Descrizione originale:

Copyright

Formati disponibili

Condividi questo documento

Condividi o incorpora il documento

Opzioni di condivisione

Hai trovato utile questo documento?

Questo contenuto è inappropriato?

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

Topicality Two

Caricato da

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

Topicality

RPS and renewable credits provide an incentive for alternative energy

Negative Incentives Topical

Incentives – even broadly defined – must be positive.

Incentives are subsidies and financial assistance

Taxing bad behavior is an incentive

USFG Can’t Incentivize Itself

Mandatory =/= Voluntary

Only Cash is Topical

Taxes Are Topical

Pollution taxes are incentives

Incentives Are Economic

Incentives have to be economic

Cap And Trade not Topical

Cap and trade reduces incentives

Command and Control not Topical

Cap and Trade Topical

Cap and trade is an economic incentive

Cap and trade is historically defined as an incentive program

Cap and Trade Topical

Incentives are Positive and Negative

Incentives are Vague

AT: It’s Logical

Incentives =/= Tax Credits

Regulation =/= Bans

Alternatives Exclude Nuclear

Alternative energy excludes nuclear and fossil fuels – U.S. code

Alternative energy excludes nuclear and fossil fuels

Alternatives Exclude Nuclear

Alternatives = Nontraditional (list)

Alternatives Include Nuclear

Nuclear power is alternative energy

Alt =/= Renewable

You’re not allowed to look at my interpretation.

Alternative is a noun, maybe.

The choice between two mutually exclusive possibilities.

Existing outside traditional or established institutions or systems: an alternative lifestyle.

This one also says alternative might be a noun.

Did you know you can say alternative in so many languages?

Chinese (Simplified): Korean:

Chinese (Traditional): Latvian:

Estonian: Portuguese (Brazil):

Finnish: Portuguese (Portugal):

alternative [oːlˈtəːnətiv] noun

Chinese (Simplified): Korean:

Chinese (Traditional): Latvian:

I thought they just defined it.

You’re totally not topical

You are most definitely totally not topical

Potrebbero piacerti anche