oil spill
BP Spill + 4
Four years ago, the BP Deepwater Horizon was still gushing oil. The well was finally capped in mid- July. There’s been a lot of legal action since then, but it’s hard to keep track of all the piecemeal developments. Here’s quick rundown. The Presidential Commission investigating the spill identified the “root causes” as management failures by industry and …
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CONTINUE READINGBP Agrees to Plead Guilty to Felony Charges Arising Out of Deepwater Horizon Disaster
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that British Petroleum has agreed to plead guilty to felony charges stemming from the Deepwater Horizon disaster that killed 11 workers and precipitated the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. As part of the plea bargain, BP has agreed to pay the federal government $4.5 billion in penalties, including …
CONTINUE READINGU.S. sues BP, eight other defendants for violations of Oil Pollution Act in Deepwater Horizon blowout
Eric Holder, the Attorney General of the United States, announced today that the U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit alleging that BP, Transocean, and seven other firms caused or contributed to the massive Deepwater Horizon oil spill earlier this year. The lawsuit seeks response costs, natural resource damages, and economic damages under the …
CONTINUE READINGBP Deep Water Horizon Oil Commission Takes on All Sides
The Presidential BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling Commission released two new reports yesterday, on the effort to stop the spill and anotheron whether response and clean up technology has kept pace with technology developments for exploration. The reports continue a really impressive pattern emerging from the Commission: taking on hard questions, devoting …
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CONTINUE READINGObama Administration Winning PR War on Oil Spill?
There’s no question that the gulf oil spill that began more than three months ago threatened to become Obama’s Katrina. Public opinion in June, for example, showed increasing discontent with the President’s handling of the disaster; the media criticized him for vacationing in Maine rather than on the Gulf Coast; and the constant stream of video showing …
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CONTINUE READINGTravel Is Broadening–2010 Edition
Having just returned from a trip to Northern Europe, a couple of experiences resonate with me that, I hope, are worthy of sharing here. The first relates to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, British Petroleum, and the distinct ways in which BP’s role and responsibility for the spill are viewed, depending on one’s geographical roots. …
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CONTINUE READINGLegislative response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster
What’s happening in Congress since the Deepwater Horizon tragedy and the gusher that followed? There have been a lot of hearings, and a lot of bills introduced. Several are moving ahead. One has become law, one has been passed by the full House, and two have been reported out of Senate committees. 1) Both houses …
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CONTINUE READINGEconomy v. Environment Directly at Issue in Lifting of Drilling Ban
As oil continues to gush into the gulf — more bad news on that front today — a federal judge with financial ties to the oil drilling industry has issued an injunction lifting the federal government’s moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf. The legal intricacies of the lifting of the ban, while interesting to …
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CONTINUE READINGReflections on the BP disaster and today’s Bhopal criminal verdict
As Dan has pointed out, there has been discussion of possible criminal liability for BP for its conduct leading to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. David Uhlmann of the University of Michigan, a former federal environmental criminal prosecutor, has expressed optimism that a robust criminal prosecution of BP would appropriately punish BP, make it more likely …
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CONTINUE READINGMurkowski Favors Bailout for Big Oil, Not for Failing Banks
I thought one of the most audacious political stances I’d seen in many years was the Republican position — dreamed up by GOP pollster Frank Luntz — that a tax on big banks was actually a big bank bailout. Converting a tax to a government bailout was pure political chutzpah, and some sick form of genius. Now …
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