[GA - Withdrawn] Oceans Protection Act

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Oceans Protection Act
Category: Environmental | Industry Affected: All Businesses
Proposed by: Nagatar Karumuttu Chettiar | Onsite Topic​
The General Assembly,

Believing the gem that is the beautiful blue expanse of the oceans must be protected,

Noting the state of many oceans across the multiverse to be dismal due to such issues,

Shocked by the lack of legislation covering this in the General Assembly,

Saddened by the ever increasing amounts of waste disposed of into the oceans,

Wishing to correct and prevent these actions,

Hereby,

  1. Defines 'toxic waste' as the:
    1. Decidedly endangering results and by-products of nuclear fission,

    2. Unnatural Carcinogens or waste of known Carcinogenic nature,

    3. Waste which can be defined as an industrial chemical bio-hazard (excluding toxic heavy metals),
  2. Prohibits the disposal of such toxic waste in any way shape or form in the oceans,

  3. Bars member nations from dumping of plastic waste and sewage into the oceans,

  4. Creates the Ocean Safety Organization (OSO) to:
    1. Restore whatever oceans may currently be polluted by such contaminants in the Marine Biosphere Restoration Programme which:
      1. Shall clean the oceans of the world with various techniques that must be applied in the given situation,

      2. Shall work only within international waters unless otherwise permitted to work within those of a member state,

      3. Shall work to improve biodiversity in oceans clean of most pollutants,
    2. Create a watch list of marine species in those oceans that may be faced with issues regarding the contaminants,

    3. Protect said species and alert states which may be directly affected by their absence of their endangerment,
  5. Encourages member nations to find more efficient and environmentally friendly ways of disposing of such waste,
Hoping to see further legislation regarding the marine environment,

Establishes the above, implementing the Oceans Protection Act.
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Voting Instructions:
  • Vote For if you want the Delegate to vote For the resolution.
  • Vote Against if you want the Delegate to vote Against the resolution.
  • Vote Abstain if you want the Delegate to abstain from voting on this resolution.
  • Vote Present if you are personally abstaining from this vote.

Detailed opinions with your vote are appreciated and encouraged!
 
Seems ok, as far as it goes. I dislike how it ignores any diversity of oceans across potentially different worlds, but it’s not bad enough to keep me from voting for it.

For.


EDIT: Ok actually, this like **really** ignores tech levels and it’s making me uncomfortable

Against
 
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floof enjoys waters but not laws
floof is conflicted but will vote Against regardless
 
Against.
Clearly, super rushed, and a quick check of forum reveals a real resistance from the author to what was some sound advice. There appears to have been little research done here, and the author doesn't really seem to understand how water-systems work.
An agency that works in international waters only, but can't cross into national boundaries, is pointless, since water currents don't really care about borders. It's not like there's a hard edge where the clean water will start and the polluted water will stop.
The abolition of sewage dumping is nearly impossible to achieve. Even the most advanced sewage treatment systems can get overwhelmed, particularly after extended periods of rain, and raw dumping is sometimes the only means of relieving those systems and preventing back-up into residences.
The proposal focuses on bio-chemicals, heavy water, sewage, plastic, and cancer causing agents but ignores all other forms of garbage, which makes little sense. There is also no way to remove many of these substances from the ocean.
There's no real explanation as to how oceans can be restored, except 'various techniques that must be applied in the given situation', whatever that means, if anything.
Most plastic products and pollutants that end up in oceans get there via rivers, and often they get into rivers via storm drain systems or on the wind. Stopping direct dumping is only addressing half the problem.
...and on...

WA Nation THX1138
 
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I am redrafting this - expect a revised version soon.

I thought I had fixed the issues brought up in the advice, but I was pretty tired, and missed a bunch of stuff.
 
Nagathar:
I am redrafting this - expect a revised version soon. I thought I had fixed the issues brought up in the advice, but I was pretty tired, and missed a bunch of stuff.
Click to expand...
If you are seeking to change one practice, it's always a good idea to provide an alternative to that practice. Resolutions that bring up complications for nations without ready solutions don't tend to do well, so you have to give wide considerations to the cause and effect, including cost. There's definitely the seed of a good idea here, and keeping these substances out of the water system is a worthy cause. I recommend looking over the recent proposal protecting ground water for some ideas on how to do it comprehensively. Sometimes it helps not to be too specific (like simply banning the practice of all generic garbage dumping into the water), sometimes it helps to get right into the nitty-gritty (like exactly how to best address clean-up, and what technologies might be used - research), and sometimes you need to have realistic exemptions to the rule (like the sewage treatment overflow problem, which is extremely common). Good Luck.
 
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