From frequent hurricanes to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in coastal Louisiana: the impact of regulatory change

So-Min Cheong

doi:10.5751/es-06382-190229

Abstract

Cheong, S.-M. 2014. From frequent hurricanes to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in coastal Louisiana: the impact of regulatory change. Ecology and Society 19(2): 29. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-06382-190229

Highlights

Established ways of behavior are commonly shaped by people’s previous experience of disasters but this can, paradoxically, hinder their timely adaptation to new or different, high-impact environmental changes
The issue of whether adaptations to past disasters can impede adaptation to new disasters of a different type or intensity will be analyzed by examining the transition from frequent hurricanes to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in coastal Louisiana
The discourse concerning the transition from hurricanes to the oil spill in terms of disaster response often centers on the difference between a man-made disaster with a responsible party and a natural disaster without a specific entity to blame

Summary

Introduction

Established ways of behavior are commonly shaped by people’s previous experience of disasters but this can, paradoxically, hinder their timely adaptation to new or different, high-impact environmental changes. The initial impacts of these regulatory changes were confusion, resentment, and a heightened sense of uncertainty. The reasons for these responses will be examined. The ways federal, state, and local governments have adjusted to the new set of regulations will be investigated. This will be followed by a discussion of a shift of emphasis to the environment after the oil spill compared to the focus on people in the event of hurricanes. The uncertainty pervasive in the case of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill will be assessed and the cause of heightened uncertainty attributed to changed regulations and the novelty of the disaster rather than the magnitude of the spill

Objectives

Methods

Conclusion