2014-2015 NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

DEBATE TOPIC

R3

Oceans
Resolved: The Unit ed St at es federal government should subst ant ially increase it s non-milit ary
explorat ion and/or development of t he Eart hs oceans.
Oceans hold 9 9 percent of the space for Earths liv ing organism s; y et m any experts argue hum ans know less
about the world's oceans than outer space. This fact solidifies the topic as one which offers an opportunity to
exam ine both U.S. and international law on m atters related to the Earths ocean resources. In early 2 01 2 , the
National Ocean Council drafted an Im plem entation Plan to translate President Obam a's National Policy for the
Stewardship of the Ocean. The docum ent indicates a readiness by the U.S. gov ernm ent to address oceanic
exploration and dev elopm ent policies in the areas of m arine planning, coastal com m unities, com m ercial fishing,
agriculture and energy . Possible affirm ativ e cases would include reducing ov erfishing, lim iting ocean
acidification, conducting disease research, restricting inv asiv e species and decreasing ocean dum ping. Other
affirm ativ es could deal with changes in Arctic shipping routes or opportunities for oil and natural gas
exploration. Negativ e positions can focus on international issues, especially with China or Russia, in regard to
control of the Exclusiv e Econom ic Zone of oceans. Som e negativ es m ight take the route of env ironm ental
challenges or threats that dev elopm ent m ight encounter. Additionally , there is a wealth of negativ e inform ation
focusing on the burden additional exploration or dev elopm ent would place on the U.S. econom y .