Even before the Deepwater Horizon platform exploded on April 20, 2010, sending as-yet-untotalled millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, no one, I suspect, thought of the Gulf as a pristine ocean wilderness. And indeed, as the site of significant offshore oil and gas production, a "dead zone" the size of New Jersey, and, at least until recently, highly lucrative commercial and sport fisheries, it's not.

Editors' Summary

Jim McElfish: We at ELI are particularly fond of NEPA [National Environmental Policy Act]. Our Articles of Incorporation were coincidentally filed on the day that NEPA passed the U.S. Senate in December 1969, so our history as an organization is coextensive with our initial environmental policy. It's an association that we think continues to be important.

Editors' Summary: The argument against crafting federal regulations for problems stemming from development in disaster-prone areas (nation-on-edge problems) assumes that these types of problems are essentially local problems requiring unique local solutions. In this Article, Jeffrey G. Miller challenges this assumption, reasoning that a flexible framework of federal regulations would indeed be effective at remedying these problems. He suggests that such a framework could be modeled after the Clean Water Act's (CWA's) point source pollution control regime.

The Clean Water Act (CWA) is designed to "protect and maintain" the "chemical, physical[,] and biological integrity" of the nation's waters. How to get there? Three steps. First, establish water quality standards (standards) to make sure each state water body is safe and clean enough to use for its common purpose, such as drinking, fishing, swimming, and boating. Second, require point sources to implement categorical engineering solutions to reduce pollutants in effluent discharge.

The Deepwater Horizon spill of April 20, 2010, serves as an acute reminder of the potentially devastating consequences of coastal activities. During the 1950s and 1960s, the nation earnestly began to explore how to protect our marine and coastal communities. Then, in 1972, the U.S. Congress passed the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA), and shortly thereafter it enacted the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) Amendments of 1978.

Editor's Summary

The explosion of the BP oil rig Deepwater Horizon has resulted in the single largest oil spill recorded in the Gulf of Mexico. As a result, there are immediate and long-term concerns regarding the environmental health of the northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) region (the Florida Panhandle to Texas).

Economies need nature. Natural systems provide foundational economic goods and services, including oxygen, water, land, food, climate stability, storm and flood protection, recreation, aesthetic value, raw materials, minerals, and energy. All built capital is made of natural capital, including cars, buildings, and food. The coastal economy of the Mississippi River Delta also requires hurricane protection, a stable climate, waste assimilation, and other natural services. No economy can function without nature's provision of economic goods and services.

Jeremy Firestone is an Assistant Professor of Marine Policy, University of Delaware, College of Marine Studies. Jonathan Lilley is a Ph.D. student at the University of Delaware, College of Marine Studies. The authors acknowledge the comments of Howard Schiffman, Jennifer Sepez, and Peter Singer whose insights and wisdom have enriched the manuscript. The views expressed herein, however, are only those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect in whole or in part, the views of the reviewers.