Free Republic

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: Federal 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...