The BP Spill: A Policy Turning Point or a Further Case of Fickle Social Ripples?

摘要

Despite the preliminary nature of the available data, what are the underlying, intermediate and proximate causes of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, its main consequences and possible future developments?ududA little over a month after the Macondo well started gushing oil off the Gulf of Mexico, Carol Browner said ‘this is probably the biggest environmental disaster we have ever faced in this country’. This overarching statement is yet to be precisely quantified and qualified in order to be able to make a full damage assessment, necessary to help in planning compensation and the restoration of the damaged environment. In this ARI it is argued that a preliminary discussion of the causes of the oil spill and a brief reflection on its consequences can shed light on the key issues and help understand accidental oil spills such as this. The analysis is also intended to bring to the fore some of the recently suggested improvements in safety initiatives as well as the political and oil-industry fallout.