Foreword: The Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill
Economic and Environmental Consequences of the Deepwater Horizon Disaster
The longstanding debate over the economic benefits of offshore drilling versus the safety risks came into sharp focus on April 20, 2010, when an explosion occurred on the Deep Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, igniting a fire that killed 11 crew members. The rig, leased by the giant energy company BP, sank two days later about 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana. Subsequently, crude oil began gushing out of an open pipe nearly a mile below sea level at a rate of at least 210,000 gallons a day. On May 16, after weeks of fruitless efforts…
