Time to “Give Back” the EEZ?

Some decades ago, America having (correctly in my view)
decided to reject the Law of the Seas Treaty — in part because it would lock
two-thirds of the world’s resources away forever mired in the UN bureaucracy —
elected to expand its territorial limits 200 miles into the open ocean. Other nations followed suits and the tragedy
of the commons became a bit less serious in these regions.

America’s goal was to ensure that these areas would be used
for more productivitly, yield far more value for the peoples of the world, if
owned by someone rather than if “owned” by everyone. But that was then — America has now abandoned
that wealth creation goal, in effect, creating the domestic equivalent of LOST. Environmental elites now seem to have the
power to lock up the Earth’s legacy of natural resources forever — to ensure
that these valuable minerals and energy sources remain forever frozen
undersea.

Congress seems unwilling to challenge this elitist position
even when gasoline prices soar above the $3 per gallon level. Thus, we see Congress seemingly unable to
allow any offshore drilling. (“We can’t
drill our way out of the energy problem!” — of course, we have for several
centuries but, in politics, logic remains for losers!) But, the greens have gone further banning offshore
windmills! Even fishing is increasingly
restricted.

But all is not lost. Cuba who shares ownership of the Florida/Cuba straits is not so Luddite
and has signed an agreement with China to develop recently discovered oil
fields in that area. The energy markets
are global and better some production somewhere than none at all, so why not
transfer ownership of US offshore lands via an act of recission back to the
world. Some nations will take advantage
of that opportunity — not all nations are so dismissive of wealth creation —
and begin to expand global energy supplies. That would make energy here too more affordable and make the world (and
the US) richer. Another likely result is
that these nations might become less socialist!