Re: New Utopia

GBurch1@aol.com
Sat, 27 Jun 1998 14:06:38 EDT


In a message dated 98-06-27 13:38:18 EDT, Randy Smith wrote:

> Apparently the founders of New Utopia are of the opinion that 100
> miles from the nearest country is the pertinent distance.
> Appended belwo is a letter taken from the New Utopia website that is
> addressed to the UN:

Yeah, I saw that and, with all due respect, they're completely WRONG. I have
few claims to distinction, but one of them is having worked on a case for TEN
YEARS that actually turned on the legal regime of the Exclsuive Economic Zone
defined in UNCLOS. The EEZ is 200 miles:

"Article 57
BREADTH OF THE EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE
The exclusive economic zone shall not extend beyond 200 nautical miles from
the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured."

http://www.antcrc.utas.edu.au/opor/Treaties/unclos2.html

Here's a map clearly showing the U.S. claim to it's EEZ:

http://www.nwn.noaa.gov/sites/afsc/USEEZ.html

Although there's no scale, it sure looks like 200 miles rather than 100 miles
to me. Here's another source validating the 200 mile figure:

http://www.tradecompass.com/library/books/terms/ExclusiveEconomicZone.htm
l

And here's Australia's claim to 200 miles:

http://www.auslig.gov.au/marbound/eez.htm

Finding these citations took me all of about two minutes. I know of no zone
in the ocean that is set to a 100 mile limit. Maybe these guys need to get
themselves a lawyer before they start pouring concrete.

Greg Burch <Gburch1@aol.com>----<burchg@liddellsapp.com>
Attorney ::: Director, Extropy Institute ::: Wilderness Guide
http://users.aol.com/gburch1 -or- http://members.aol.com/gburch1
"Good ideas are not adopted automatically. They must
be driven into practice with courageous impatience."