The Forum: After the Flood: Legal Issues Surrounding the Gulf Oil Spill

How best to deal with low probability industrial accidents that have the potential for enormous environmental harm? The BP spill this summer thrust myriad questions related to that issue into the headlines. What right -- or duty -- does the government have to step in to try halt the consequences of such a catastrophe? When the government and companies act in tandem, who is in charge? Do we best protect against similar events through more stringent regulation and government oversight; through exposure to criminal sanctions, civil penalties, and private claims for damages; or through novel forms of public-private cooperation in risk management? Do we want to impose unlimited liability on the extraction industry, given the nation's vital need for plentiful, affordable energy? And liability for what: Cleaning up the mess, remediating injury to the environment, or compensating individuals and businesses for economic losses? Join us for a discussion at the complex intersection of law, regulation, economics, science, business, and the environment.

-Richard B. Stewart, John Edward Sexton Professor of Law, Chair and Faculty Director, Hauser Global Law School Program, Director, Guarini Center for Environmental and Land Use Law, NYU School of Law
-Richard Epstein, Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law, NYU School of Law
-Amy Salzman '85, Associate Director for Policy Outreach, White House Council on Environmental Quality
-Albert Huang, Environmental Justice Attorney, Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC)

Moderator:
Barry Friedman, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Professor of Law, NYU School of Law
Location: Vanderbilt Hall, Greenberg Lounge

Category:

Education

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• NYU Law
• the Forum