Posted on 08/04/2008 9:48:29 PM PDT by Jim Robinson
Where is the constitutional authority that empowers the federal government to ban offshore oil drilling, much less save the planet?
Answer: There is none. It's an extra-constitutional power they gave themselves.
According to this 2006 Congressional Research Service report, it's based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III), a treaty that has NOT been ratified by the United States:
https://www.policyarchive.org/bitstream/handle/10207/2821/RL33404_20060714.pdf?sequence=1Federal Jurisdiction. While a signatory to UNCLOS III, the United States has not ratified the treaty. Regardless, many of its provisions are now generally accepted principles of customary international law and, through a series of Executive Orders, the United States has claimed offshore zones for itself that are virtually identical to those described in the treaty.5 In a series of related cases, the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed federal control of these offshore areas.6 Federal statutes also regularly refer to these areas and, in some instances, define them as well. Of particular relevance, the primary federal law governing offshore oil and gas development indicates that it applies to the “outer Continental Shelf,” which it defines as “all submerged lands lying seaward and outside of the areas ... [under state control] and of which the subsoil and seabed appertain to the United States and are subject to its jurisdiction and control ....”7 Thus, the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) would appear to comprise an area extending at least 200 nautical miles from the official U.S. coastline and possibly further where the geological continental shelf extends beyond that point. The federal government’s legal authority to provide for and to regulate offshore oil and gas development therefore applies to seemingly all areas under U.S. control except where U.S. waters have been placed under the primary jurisdiction of the states.
They will not stop until they’ve taken us all down with them.
Thanks Jim!
Just a cursory reading here means that if CA and FL wants to begin allowing drilling, then they can. There is nothing congress or the courts can do about it...
Where’s the Constitutional power that allows them to do 80% of what they do? You’re mistaken if you think they give a rat’s ass about the Constitution, unless they can manipulate it to undermine our armed forces, destroy traditional American values, or protect treasonous entities.
The Liberal enviroMental madness that just keeps going, and going, and going...
Respect for property rights is where the authority comes from the US Constitution. The Federal government owns the continental shelf to some point. Since it is their property, the US Constitution respects their rights to do with it as they please, within limits.
Now I guess one could argue in court whether or not the US’s claim of overship of this land is legal. But it is hard for me to see who else might have a claim to it?
Are you suggesting that the US government does not have jurisdiction out 200 miles off the coast or that even if the government does that they don’t legitimately control the oil drilling rights?
The most openly radical Speaker of the House with a mission to destroy our economy and relegate the United states to a third world nation. These people must be stopped!
They create their own authority and selectively pick and choose what in the constitution they will ignore or create out of whole cloth.
And where did the power come from on executive orders?
I don’t know. I was simply looking for the feds constitutional authority to ban oil drilling and save the planet and didn’t see it in the document, so did a google search.
Unfortunately, the ban on offshore drilling has been a bipartisan effort over the last 25 years and it has taken $130.00 oil to capture the attention of the GOP.
Uh? The Commerce Clause?
All it takes is action, but that would require a spine and the opposition is missing one. They have no fear of any of their actions because they know Republicans are no able to stand strong and go full force and draw attention to their mideeds.
That’d be a stretch.
It’s a statutory right: Submerged Lands Act, 43 U.S.C.
1301
Get over your self righteousness and kiss the freakin boot.
A great Constitutional question, and I’m sure you are correct in your assessment. I’d love to see the prohibitions challenged in the federal courts, but I’m certain some Carter or Clinton appointed judge would rule against drilling.
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