[Draft] Access to Electricity Act

[New Markesia]

OOC: Hey Everyone! After continued discussion with a real electrical engineer (Thank you so much New-Brussels), my original resolution has been amended (again) to the following. I will continually update it as we adress concerns voiced in the discussion thread.

Access to Electricity Public Draft

Category : Human Rights

Strength : Strong


The World Assembly,

AFFIRMING that the reliable access to electricity is a topic that is paramount to modern civilized life, and

ALARMED at the harms of an unstable or unsufficient electrical power supply on impoverished peoples and those reliant on electricity for work, and

CONVINCED that a global framework for the physical distribution of electricity should be established, but

AGREEING that a gap in international legislation exists in the domain of electrical engineering,

Hereby,

1. DEFINES, for the purposes of this resolution :
   
   
   
   
   1. Electrical power as the nature of the power used by devices requiring electricity to function;
      
   2. Power distribution grids as power carrier networks designed to connect inputs and outputs of the grid from any distance, all the required infrastructure and by extension all the devices powering the grid;
      
   3. Sufficience, in the context of powering an electrical device, as a physical stability and amplitude threshold below which the device cannot function reliably;
      
   4. Access to electricity as the ability to reliably draw a sufficient amount of electrical power from a distribution grid;
2. DECLARES that electricity is an essential resource for human well-being and development;
   
3. URGES member nations to respect the integrity of electrical distribution grids as much as the physical integrity of their users, especially in the context of war and civil unrest, in the confines of this resolution and all past international legislation on the matter;
   
4. REQUIRES that member nations uphold a minimum standard for the reliability and effectiveness of electrical distribution grids;
   
5. PROCLAIMS the following basic international rules on electrical distribution grids :
   
   1. Distributions grids shall be designed and managed with respect to the complexity of their network;
      
   2. The creation, maintenance and operation of distribution grids shall be performed diligently, with all reasonable means available and with the goal of maintaining or improving the global distribution grid’s integrity;
      
   3. All implicated technology shall be tested for its intrinsic hazard to public health before being integrated into a distribution grid, in compliance with relevant international health hazard standards and laws;
      
   4. All public distribution grids shall officially be mapped and listed to be accessed as reference;
   
   
   
   
6. ESTABLISHES the World Electrical and Electronics Engineers BodyGeneral Electrotechnical Coordination Committee, whose purpose is to coordinate global scientific and industrial knowledge pertaining to electricity and electronics and to survey the global electrical distribution infrastructure;
   
7. MANDATES the WEEEBGECC to perform the following tasks :
   
   
   1. Devise and maintain international electrical standards and norms in full compliance of international legislation,
      
   2. Cooperate with other major international standards organizations,
      
   3. Offer a worldwide reference on the topic of electricity and electronics, as well as all related technology,
      
   4. Coordinate the global electrical power grid in consultation with member nations and all implicated organizations,
      
   5. Provide all kinds of assistance to all lawful organizations for the coordination of all efforts that implicate, including but not limited to electricity research and education, implementation of electrical technology and the deployment and maintenance of electrical distribution grids,
      
   6. Manage the granting of subventions dispensed by the World Assembly for that purpose.

DECLARES that the basic rules enunciated beforehand may be the object of WEEEBGECC standards or joint collaborations with other international standards organizations.

[The Inland Emprie]

My first resolution, please tell me if I'm doing anything wrong.

Proposed By: New Markesia
Strength: Significant
Category: Social Justice
-Affirming access to reliable electricity as a basic human right,
-Alarmed at the harms of infrequent or nonexistent electricity on impoverished peoples and those reliant on electricity for work,
The World Assembly hereby,
-Defines, for the purposes of this resolution, "access to electricity" as the ability to gain access to electrical power that is reliable and not exceptionally difficult to gain access to, in terms of cost. Unreliable access may lead to increased poverty rates and higher disparity between incomes of rich and poor.
-Establishes minimum standards that nations must meet to provide electricity for their people,

• -Requires member states to provide access to other basic human rights in accordance with previous World Assembly legislation and ensure that allowing citizens access to electricity does not interfere with other legislation,
• -Mandates reliable electricity at little or no cost to civilians in impoverished regions or cities,
• -Urges governments to create a national power grid and fund power line repair crews,

-Prohibits the intentional revocation of electricity to a civilian populace as an act of war or terror,
-Urges member states to research the possibility of more efficient and secure power networks, and to communicate any knowledge of how to improve existing networks to other states and the World Assembly Science Program,
-Establishes the International Body of Electrical Engineers, and charges it with assisting, upon member states' request, in the repair and construction of nationalized power grids,

• -Provides for the use of dredging and excavation to place underground and underwater power lines without causing harm to agricultural ecosystems, within the limitations of already existing World Assembly law and national law,
• -Recommends that member states use the International Body of Electrical Engineers to build efficient and secured power networks,
• -Affirms that the International Body of Electrical Engineers are to ensure utmost care to not harm ecosystems while repairing or constructing.

I like it, but if you are going to pass this, you need to provide subsidies. This reminds me of the Rural Electrification Act, which mandates that all rural Americans have access to electricity. IBEE is a great idea, but you still need to give subsidies to private business.

[New Markesia]

I like it, but if you are going to pass this, you need to provide subsidies. This reminds me of the Rural Electrification Act, which mandates that all rural Americans have access to electricity. IBEE is a great idea, but you still need to give subsidies to private business.

Is it possible to include a part where countries raise taxes and pay the WA for the help of the IBEE?

Edit: Or the IBEE being free?

[New-Brussels]

OOC : Electronics =/= Electricity

Source : I'm an electrical engineer and I hate high power electricity (would you believe me if I told you I have an exam about that tomorrow) so I'll make sure this draft goes well at least in the technical sense and if I can help otherwise, well...

Sending you a telegram.

[Kenmoria]

"The dashes before each clause aren't standard and don't aid comprehension. Also, I would put a line break between every clause for clarity."

[Araraukar]

OOC: There already is GA #344, Minimum Standard of Living Act, and I would say a reasonable reading of "appropriate utilities" would cover electricity in nations with a working power grid.

To require access to electricity everywhere, on the other hand, is insane. I'm going to guess that you live in an urban area in a "Western" RL nation. That's not the case for a large part of the human species even in Real Life. Not everyone needs or wants access to electricity everywhere.

There are plenty of other issues with this, but the "it's already been done" I'd say is the biggest one due to duplication illegality issues.

[New Markesia]

OOC: There already is GA #344, Minimum Standard of Living Act, and I would say a reasonable reading of "appropriate utilities" would cover electricity in nations with a working power grid.

To require access to electricity everywhere, on the other hand, is insane. I'm going to guess that you live in an urban area in a "Western" RL nation. That's not the case for a large part of the human species even in Real Life. Not everyone needs or wants access to electricity everywhere.

There are plenty of other issues with this, but the "it's already been done" I'd say is the biggest one due to duplication illegality issues.

This proposal is meant to go above and beyond that resolution and expand what citizens are entitled to as a right. Can a GenSec member give their input if this is legal/illegal?

[Araraukar]

This proposal is meant to go above and beyond that resolution and expand what citizens are entitled to as a right. Can a GenSec member give their input if this is legal/illegal?

OOC: Why on earth are you so focused on legality instead of making the proposal good? And like Brussels pointed out to you, electronics does not equal electricity.

In addition to which, trying to make "access to electricity" a human right is just barmy.

Also, you know what makes it more likely to let people have reliable access to electricity? Distributed (instead of concentrated) power generation. The electric grid can be a lot less reliable in the places far from urban regions, than, say, putting solar panels on the roof of a cabin.

[New-Brussels]

This proposal is meant to go above and beyond that resolution and expand what citizens are entitled to as a right. Can a GenSec member give their input if this is legal/illegal?

OOC: Why on earth are you so focused on legality instead of making the proposal good? And like Brussels pointed out to you, electronics does not equal electricity.

In addition to which, trying to make "access to electricity" a human right is just barmy.

Also, you know what makes it more likely to let people have reliable access to electricity? Distributed (instead of concentrated) power generation. The electric grid can be a lot less reliable in the places far from urban regions, than, say, putting solar panels on the roof of a cabin.

We completely agree with all of your concerns and we have entered collaboration with the nation of New Markesia to edit a new version of this proposal that addresses the subject in a better way and with much broader scope.

We will probably post the draft once we agree on the contents of the proposal.

OOC : Good call with distributed power generation, the definitions I have come up with touch upon that concept.

[The New California Republic]

URGES member nations to respect the integrity of electrical distribution grids as much as the physical integrity of their users, especially in the context of war and civil unrest, in the confines of this resolution and all past international legislation on the matter

OOC: Nope. Targeting electrical grids is a legitimate tactic in war. You give no good reasons as to why targeting electrical grids in war should be verboten. Targeting electrical grids that may be powering the defenses of the enemy is a prudent strategy. Strongly against this draft proposal, unless there are substantial changes to this section, or the complete removal of it.

[Kenmoria]

"I would still place line breaks between each active clause, though not sub-clause, for clarity and to aid aesthetics,"

[New-Brussels]

URGES member nations to respect the integrity of electrical distribution grids as much as the physical integrity of their users, especially in the context of war and civil unrest, in the confines of this resolution and all past international legislation on the matter

OOC: Nope. Targeting electrical grids is a legitimate tactic in war. You give no good reasons as to why targeting electrical grids in war should be verboten. Targeting electrical grids that may be powering the defenses of the enemy is a prudent strategy. Strongly against this draft proposal, unless there are substantial changes to this section, or the complete removal of it.

The intent and wording of this clause is to explicitly tell member nations that if they wish to perform acts of war that aim to disrupt the reliability of an enemy electrical distribution grid, then they ought to think how that could adequate to neglecting the physical integrity of the people who necessitate this distribution grid. Please note the usage of "URGES".

A grid used for military purpose will get no concern because targeting military installations is the obvious purpose of acts of war, while grids used by civilians may as be targeted as long as member nations respect the fact that this amounts to not respecting the physical integrity of civilians, as could be said of any essential resource as described in clause 2.

Thus, we logically consider your disapproval of this clause as tantamount to disapproving clause 2. Is this the case ?
OOC : Official announcement that the first draft of the revised proposal has been posted.

[Kenmoria]

"There are currently far too many committees in the World Assembly, and therefore I would strongly advise against adding any new ones unless their duties cannot be fitted under an existing one."

[New-Brussels]

"There are currently far too many committees in the World Assembly, and therefore I would strongly advise against adding any new ones unless their duties cannot be fitted under an existing one."

OOC : The proposed committee fit the roles of two major international standards development organizations IRL, the IEC and the IEEE, as well as proposing even more concrete 'services' and caring about electrical distribution grids, to summarize it roughly. The proposal explicitly gives it an important purpose in its core domain (electricity) and allows for full collaboration with any other relevant organization (in particular whatever committee exists as the WA's ISO)

So yeah, I think there's no concern until there turns out to be a duplication that I missed. (I searched for "electrical" in the repo and found nothing relevant :/)

[Wrapper]

OOC: You should revise the thread title to match your updated proposal title. Still has nothing to do with electronics.

[New Markesia]

OOC: You should revise the thread title to match your updated proposal title. Still has nothing to do with electronics.

OOC: How do you do that?

Also, our glorious nation will most likely be proposing our resolution at sometime during the coming weekend (assuming nothing crazy happens). Please endorse the proposal even if you are against it so it can at least be put up to a vote.

[The New California Republic]

The intent and wording of this clause is to explicitly tell member nations that if they wish to perform acts of war that aim to disrupt the reliability of an enemy electrical distribution grid, then they ought to think how that could adequate to neglecting the physical integrity of the people who necessitate this distribution grid. Please note the usage of "URGES".

OOC: Irrelevant. If military facilities etc are on the grid, that makes power facilities a legitimate target. The fact that the word "urges" is used is irrelevant, the draft still asserts that targeting electrical grids is wrong, even though the reasons given are wholly inadequate for making such an assertion, and appeals more to emotional sentiment than to reason.

A grid used for military purpose will get no concern because targeting military installations is the obvious purpose of acts of war, while grids used by civilians may as be targeted as long as member nations respect the fact that this amounts to not respecting the physical integrity of civilians, as could be said of any essential resource as described in clause 2.

OOC: Electrical grids are not entirely partitioned off into "military" and "civilian". There are substantial overlaps. Many military bases use the normal "civilian" electrical grid, hence why the U.S. Military used Graphite bombs against "civilian" power stations in Iraq and Kosovo.

[The New California Republic]

most likely be proposing our resolution at sometime during the coming weekend.

OOC: Please don't. It is nowhere near ready for submission.

[Wrapper]

OOC: You should revise the thread title to match your updated proposal title. Still has nothing to do with electronics.

OOC: How do you do that?

If you edit the original post, you can change the title.

[Thermodolia]

I’m against this for the same reasons NCR is. The military needs to be able to target power production facilities

[The Inland Emprie]

I like it, but if you are going to pass this, you need to provide subsidies. This reminds me of the Rural Electrification Act, which mandates that all rural Americans have access to electricity. IBEE is a great idea, but you still need to give subsidies to private business.

Is it possible to include a part where countries raise taxes and pay the WA for the help of the IBEE?

Edit: Or the IBEE being free?

I think the IBEE needs to be a free service and not burden poor countries more.

[Araraukar]

Category : Human Rights

OOC: No.

Strength : Strong

LOL, no.

[Tinhampton]

most likely be proposing our resolution at sometime during the coming weekend.

OOC: Please don't. It is nowhere near ready for submission.

MOAROOC: Even if it was, it should still simmer (and that's not even considering whether or not New-Brussels wants to be listed as a resolution co-author) - drafting is a marathon, not a sprint. For starters, you keep banging on about the GECC in Clause 7, yet refer to the WECC in the unnumbered DECLARES clause!

[Essu Beti]

“We can’t afford this,” says Inan, the stand-in representative for Essu Beti in Iksana’s absence. “We will most likely want to build an electrical grid in the future, and when it happens it will by necessity done in a manner that is affordable. And from our experience, international committees rarely take into account the limitations of developing nations when deciding on safety standards and the bureaucracy needed to hire someone.”

[Masurbia]

Provide all kinds of assistance to all lawful organizations for the coordination of all efforts that implicate, including but not limited to electricity research and education, implementation of electrical technology and the deployment and maintenance of electrical distribution grids,

"We can't support a resolution that uses our money to finance an impossible task."