Author : Michael Greenstone
Release : 2011
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Liability and Financial Responsibility for Oil Spills Under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 and Related Statutes - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Liability and Financial Responsibility for Oil Spills Under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 and Related Statutes write by Michael Greenstone. This book was released on 2011. Liability and Financial Responsibility for Oil Spills Under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 and Related Statutes available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Introduction: As I see it, we have two objectives related to oil drilling. The first is to support energy security through increased energy production in the United States. In my view, energy security refers to the reliable and affordable supply of energy in a manner that does not constrain our policy objectives in other arenas, particularly our national security. As a recent Council of Foreign Relations report put it, countries that rely on imported energy have repeatedly seen that "their growing dependence (on imported energy) increases their strategic vulnerability and constrains their ability to pursue a broad range of foreign policy and national security objectives." Indeed, it has been an ongoing goal of policymakers to maximize our nation's capacity for energy production so that the U.S. economy is not beholden to the decisions of foreign oil producers. The second objective is to protect the environment by making sure that energy producers put the appropriate safeguards in place against oil spills and other environmental damages. The American people place tremendous value on clean air and water. After all, a clean environment is necessary for safe recreation at beaches, healthy habitats for wildlife, industries like tourism and fishing, and ultimately preserving the planet for future generations. These two objectives are often in conflict with each other. Let's look at the two extreme cases: On the one hand, removing all environmental controls would maximize domestic energy production. On the other hand, the one guaranteed way to protect the environment from oil spills would be to stop drilling entirely. Of course, neither of these extremes is practical nor desirable. The American people depend on the government to find an appropriate middle ground, and to determine the appropriate level, type and location for drilling. An important part of these efforts can be achieved through sensible government regulation -- setting safety standards and conducting inspections. The challenge, however, is that the government is almost always at an information disadvantage relative to the oil companies. This is to be expected because the oil companies set up the rigs, know the local conditions, and generally invest many more worker hours on site analyzing the resulting data. Without access to full information, it is practically impossible for the government to know all of the decisions that are key for preventing spills. And, of course, it is vital that government regulators conduct independent inspections free of influence from the regulated companies. In the face of this information disadvantage, it is crucial that drillers face the proper economic incentives to prevent spills. This requires that oil companies be held responsible for clean-up costs and economic damages. The assignment of full liability to oil companies means that market forces will guide oil companies investment decisions and cause them to consider the full costs of potential spills in making these decisions. However, current law protects oil companies and actually provides economic incentives for spills, rather than preventing them. The 1990 Oil Pollution Act capped firms' liability for economic damages from oil spills at $75 million, not adjusted for inflation and in addition to all removal costs. My primary argument here today is that the removal, or substantial increase, of the liability cap on economic damages from oil spills is the most effective way to align oil companies' incentives with the American people's interests. It is natural to ask whether the removal of the liability cap would compromise our energy security goals by reducing U.S. production. This question cannot be answered definitively without access to data from oil, shipping, and insurance companies that is not currently in the public domain. Nevertheless if the removal of a cap were to compromise energy security goals, it could be paired with economically sound polices that promote domestic production or reduce oil consumption without putting our environmental goals at risk. Such a pairing would allow us to achieve our energy security and environmental goals.