Today marks 10 years since the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the largest and most environmentally catastrophic oil spill of all time. The accident killed 11 workers, poured over 3 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, and polluted over 1,300 miles of shoreline. In the aftermath of the spill, a bipartisan presidential commission tasked RFF with conducting a series of studies to inform their investigation and recommendations. As part of that commission and in subsequent studies and magazine articles, RFF scholars reflected on lessons learned and recommended policies to mitigate the risks of similar disasters unfolding in the future.
As the world reflects on progress made over the last decade and considers what more needs to be done to protect the environment, we at Resources magazine offer here a summary of RFF’s work surrounding the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Working Papers and Journal Articles
- Lost Ecosystem Goods and Services as a Measure of Marine Oil Pollution Damages by James W. Boyd | Working Paper, May 2010
- Preliminary Empirical Assessment of Offshore Production Platforms in the Gulf of Mexico by Lucija Muehlenbachs, Mark A. Cohen, and Todd Gerarden | Working Paper, January 2011
- Precursor Analysis for Offshore Oil and Gas Drilling: From Prescriptive to Risk-Informed Regulation by Roger M. Cooke, Heather L. Ross, and Adam Stern | Working Paper, January 2011
- Risk Management Practices: Cross-Agency Comparisons with Minerals Management Service by Lynn Scarlett, Igor Linkov, and Carolyn Kousky | Working Paper, January 2011
- Understanding the Costs and Benefits of Deepwater Oil Drilling Regulation by Alan J. Krupnick, Sarah Campbell, Mark A. Cohen, and Ian W.H. Parry | Working Paper, January 2011
- Deepwater Drilling: Law, Policy, and Economics of Firm Organization and Safety by Mark A. Cohen, Madeline Gottlieb, Joshua Linn, and Nathan Richardson | Working Paper, January 2011
- Managing Environmental, Health, and Safety Risks by Lynn Scarlett, Arthur G. Fraas, Richard D. Morgenstern, and Timothy Murphy | Working Paper, January 2011
- Organizational Design for Spill Containment in Deepwater Drilling Operations in the Gulf of Mexico: Assessment of the Marine Well Containment Company (MWCC) by Robert Anderson, Mark A. Cohen, Molly K. Macauley, Nathan Richardson, and Adam Stern | Working Paper, January 2011
- The Labor Market Impacts of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Oil Drilling Moratorium by Joseph E. Aldy | Working Paper, August 2014
- Real-Time Economic Analysis and Policy Development During the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill by Joseph E. Aldy | Journal Article, December 2010
Issue Briefs
- Who Bears the Long-Term Costs of Stricter Anti-Spill Policy? It’s Not Who You Think by Timothy J. Brennan | Issue Brief, August 2010
- Some Implications of Tightening Regulation of US Deepwater Drilling by Stephen P.A. Brown | Issue Brief, June 2010
- Taxonomy of Oil Spill Costs: What are the Likely Costs of the Deepwater Horizon Spill? by Mark A. Cohen | Issue Brief, May 2010
- Deepwater Horizon and the Patchwork of Oil Spill Liability Law by Nathan Richardson | Issue Brief, May 2010
- Deterring Oil Spills: Who Should Pay and How Much? by Mark A. Cohen | Issue Brief, May 2010
Editorial Content
- How Do You Put a Price on Marine Oil Pollution Damages? by James W. Boyd | Resources Article, August 2010
- Valuing the Oil Spill’s Effects on Nature by James Sanchirico | Common Resources Blog Post, August 2010
- Managing the Risks of Deepwater Drilling by Carolyn Kousky | Resources Article, March 2011
- An Economist's View of the Oil Spill from Inside the White House by Joseph E. Aldy | Resources Article, March 2011
- Preventing Offshore Oil Spill by Roger Cooke, Heather L. Ross, and Adam Stern | Resources Article, March 2011
- Deepwater Drilling: Recommendations for a Safer Future by Mark A. Cohen | Common Resources Blog Post, April 2011
- Deepwater Drilling: Recommendations for a Safer Future by Mark A. Cohen and Alan Krupnick | Common Resources Blog Post, May 2011
- What Did the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling Moratorium Mean for the Workforce? by Joseph E. Aldy | Common Resources Blog Post, August 2014
