A LAW FOR THE SEAS!

This fall, legislators have one solid shot at simultaneously pleasing George W. Bush, angering Michelle Malkin and Pat Buchanan, appeasing both oil company executives and environmentalists, and proving to the rest of the world that the United States is ready to re-engage in global diplomacy. How? Through a little-known treaty called the Law of the Sea. With the specter of a post-Kyoto climate treaty looming in the distance, an easy victory on an international agreement regulating the high seas is the quickest way to give Democrats and the United States some wind in the proverbial sails for ratifying other global pacts, while pointing out the opposition from the right wing for what it really is: knee-jerk nationalism.The story behind the Law of the Sea begins in the 1960s. Before then, the 70 percent of the earth's surface covered by oceans had been generally considered neutral territory, but there was growing international pressure to create a system for negotiating drilling, mining, and fishing rights.