The fiercely anti-UN John Birch Society is leading the opposition to the Law of the Sea Convention in 2009 with <a href="http://www.jbs.org/index.php/freedom-campaign/4437-obama-clinton-senate-poised-to-give-the-un-control-of-everything-about-the-oceans" target=_blank>a post and call for action on their web site. Their call for action has three points, all wrong but satisfying for them to promote:
- Ratification of LOST would constitute a major step toward a United Nations world government and would give the UN control over everything happening over, on, and under the world's oceans and seas.
The LOS Convention recognizes the control of coastal states over the Territorial sea and over the resources of the 200 mile exclusive economic zone as well at the continental shelf when it extends beyond 200 miles. Resources and use of the high seas are governed by rules adopted by states, not by the UN in some form of top-down control. The minerals of the deep seabed are governed by an international organization intentionally created outside the UN in which the US (once a member) would have the power to block adoption of rules, amendments, budgets and distribution of funds. That just doesn't measure up to any kind of threat to the US.
The three points from the recommended letter to senators (printed in italics with response in plain text) are:
- Furthermore, the UN has not demonstrated that it deserves to be given control of over 70% of the earth's surface.
The UN gets no control at all. Near shore the oceans are managed by the coastal states and on the high seas, the rules of Freedom of the Seas continue to guide national use of the oceans.
- Giving the UN with all its terrorists, dictatorships and human rights violators control over all oceans and seas would be like inviting the fox into the chicken coop.
Now this point is just downright fear-mongering at its worst, but this seems to be the best that the JBS can muster.
