The Michigan State University Debate Team will discuss the pros and cons of the United States establishing a domestic climate policy, including at least substantially increasing restrictions on private sector emissions of greenhouse gases in the country.
“We debate energy policy often because there are two strong sides to the issue, it intersects with many major issues: economic growth, environmental sustainability, technological innovation, U.S. leadership, and has endless literature for research,” said Head Coach Will Repko. “This coming year, debates could range from any number of policy proposals included in the resolution above, but I expect we’ll mostly be debating about the desirability of carbon trading schemes, also known as cap-and-trade, and carbon taxes, along with sector-specific policies to restrict greenhouse gas emissions.”
The 2016-17 debate season begins Friday with a tournament at Georgia State University.
This year, the team consists of 15 undergraduate students, led by Honors College and economics major Connor Munsinger, and social relations and public policy major Luc Walkington.
Munsinger and Walkington have already been recognized nationally this year, receiving an invitation to the University of Kentucky Round Robin at the end of the month. The University of Kentucky Round Robin invites the top nine, two-person teams in the country.
The list of other schools represented at the Round Robin include: Emory University, Georgetown University, University of Kentucky, University of Michigan, University of California-Berkeley, Northwestern University, Rutgers University and Wake Forest University.
The full Debate Team schedule is as follows:
• Georgia State University, Sept. 16-20
• University of Kentucky (including Round Robin), Sept. 23-Oct. 4
• Wayne State University, Oct. 21-24
• Gonzaga University, Oct. 28-Nov. 1
• Wake Forest University, Nov. 18-22
• University of Miami, Jan. 2-8
• University of Southern California, Jan. 3-4
• California State University at Fullerton, Jan. 6-9
• Indiana University, Jan. 27-30
• Northwestern University, Feb. 2-7
• D5 Districts, Feb. 17-20
The National Debate Tournament is scheduled for Kansas City, Kansas from March 22-March 28.
The MSU Debate Team is a part of the Honors College.
SOURCE: MSU Today
