[DRAFT] Establishment of Uniform Energy Regulations

[Clever Homo Sapiens]

Hello, all. I just came up with this WA proposal draft, and would like to get your opinion.


The World Assembly,

Noting that multiple nations contribute to the production and distribution of energy sources, and that regulations concerning energy sources and energy markets vary between nations,

Acknowledging the fact that energy markets are increasingly internationally integrated,

Concerned about the potential of energy market disruptions in one nation to spread and cause disruptions internationally, hindering global economic development,

Recognizing that responsible, expert-driven regulatory policies play a key role in the prevention and minimization of effects of these disruptions,

Defines, for the purposes of this resolution,

1. Energy sources as anything which can have useful energy (an umbrella term for all physical forces needed to perform work on and/or heat tangible objects), derived from it, through means of a conversion to another form (such as through combustion, nuclear fusion and fission, photovoltaic and other electromagnetic processes, and so on),

2. Energy markets as a collection of commodity markets over which energy sources are bought and sold,

Establishes the World Assembly Energy Council (WAEC), which shall:

1. Be a professional organization, fostering cooperation between, setting primary regulatory policy for, and enforcing regulations through existing WA organizations involved in the production, distribution, and utilization of energy sources and/or energy markets, such as the World Assembly Oil Transportation Committee (WAOTC) and Nuclear Energy Safety Commission (NESC),

2. Have the ultimate say on regulatory legislation of member nations in regards to energy sources and markets, with WAEC regulatory policy also taking precedence over said legislation in cases where they conflict,

3. Consist of eleven experts on energy sources and energy markets, which shall


a. have its members chosen by the WA organizations mentioned above, in proportion to the number of individuals which they employ, with their choices able to be altered at any time,

b. be responsible for setting the WAEC’s regulatory policy, with an emphasis on the minimization of disruptions and maximization of economic progress, and

c. meet at least once annually to discuss the current status of energy sources and markets, and make changes to WAEC policy, if need be.

[Imperium Anglorum]

3. Consist of eleven experts on energy sources and energy markets, which shall

a. have its members chosen by the WA organizations mentioned above, in proportion to the number of individuals which they employ, with their choices able to be altered at any time,

b. be responsible for setting the WAEC’s regulatory policy, with an emphasis on the minimization of disruptions and maximization of economic progress, and

c. meet at least once annually to discuss the current status of energy sources and markets, and make changes to WAEC policy, if need be.

[/list]

Specifying the membership of a committee is prohibited by the committee rule. While the rule text itself only proscribes provisions on 'who can/cannot staff the committee, how members are chosen, and term lengths', I think that the spirit of that rule includes specifying the number of members, and definitely includes something like that done by subsection (a) supra.

Re the proposal as a whole, I can imagine that someone might claim that it would break the current committee rule, which requires 'member states to interact with the committee somehow... provided the interaction creates a measurable burden'. The current draft seems, however, to meet that burden by overriding existing regulations. Overriding regulations surely is a measurable burden: setting policy is far more than filing paperwork.

2. Have the ultimate say on regulatory legislation of member nations in regards to energy sources and markets, with WAEC regulatory policy also taking precedence over said legislation in cases where they conflict,

You need to be more specific as to what your committee does. Right now, it seems to be a committee is that all things for all people in which we know nothing about how it works or makes decisions. A committee should have a clearly defined task executed with relatively confined terms of reference. Instead of writing a proposal to find a solution for you, you should find the solution yourself and implement that solution in a proposal.

This committee is as if I created a committee to perfectly and magically plan a transition to clean or renewable energy in every member nation and said 'the committee will handle it all, make all relevant decisions, etc'. Contrast that to something where a committee finds facts which are used to guide some setting on some policy a la GA 445 'Greenhouse Cap and Trade Program'.

[Clever Homo Sapiens]

3. Consist of eleven experts on energy sources and energy markets, which shall

a. have its members chosen by the WA organizations mentioned above, in proportion to the number of individuals which they employ, with their choices able to be altered at any time,

b. be responsible for setting the WAEC’s regulatory policy, with an emphasis on the minimization of disruptions and maximization of economic progress, and

c. meet at least once annually to discuss the current status of energy sources and markets, and make changes to WAEC policy, if need be.

[/list]

Specifying the membership of a committee is prohibited by the committee rule. While the rule text itself only proscribes provisions on 'who can/cannot staff the committee, how members are chosen, and term lengths', I think that the spirit of that rule includes specifying the number of members, and definitely includes something like that done by subsection (a) supra.

Re the proposal as a whole, I can imagine that someone might claim that it would break the current committee rule, which requires 'member states to interact with the committee somehow... provided the interaction creates a measurable burden'. The current draft seems, however, to meet that burden by overriding existing regulations. Overriding regulations surely is a measurable burden: setting policy is far more than filing paperwork.

2. Have the ultimate say on regulatory legislation of member nations in regards to energy sources and markets, with WAEC regulatory policy also taking precedence over said legislation in cases where they conflict,

You need to be more specific as to what your committee does. Right now, it seems to be a committee is that all things for all people in which we know nothing about how it works or makes decisions. A committee should have a clearly defined task executed with relatively confined terms of reference. Instead of writing a proposal to find a solution for you, you should find the solution yourself and implement that solution in a proposal.

This committee is as if I created a committee to perfectly and magically plan a transition to clean or renewable energy in every member nation and said 'the committee will handle it all, make all relevant decisions, etc'. Contrast that to something where a committee finds facts which are used to guide some setting on some policy a la GA 445 'Greenhouse Cap and Trade Program'.

Thank you for the feedback... would incentives for nations bringing their regulations in line with those with the WAEC be acceptable? I don't think that would qualify as a "measurable burden" for non-compliant nations...