In the Wake of the Spill Environmental Views along the Gulf Coast

Objectives: We analyze patterns in environmental views of Gulf Coast residents, in the wake of the 2010 oil spill. To what extent do spill-related and other environmental views vary with individual characteristics, personal experience with the spill, or characteristics of place? Methods: About 2,000 residents of selected coastal regions in Louisiana and Florida were interviewed by telephone in late summer 2010. Results: One quarter of the respondents said that their environmental views had changed as a result of the spill. Despite reporting more change, more spill effects, and greater threats from climate-induced sea-level rise, Louisiana respondents were less likely to support a deepwater moratorium, alternative energy, or resource conservation. Conclusions: Results are consistent with real effects from the spill. Differences between Louisiana and Florida respondents are not explained by spill effects or individual characteristics, however. The patterns reflect bio-physical differences of the coastlines that shaped their socioeconomic development. Introduction On April 20, 2010, an explosion at the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling platform off Louisiana killed 11 workers and touched off the largest marine oil spill in history. Oil from a ruptured pipe poured into the deep sea for three months, televised live via robot-operated cameras. Regulatory failures together with shortcuts in safety equipment and procedures precipitated this accident, but in the immediate aftermath questions of blame took second place to worries about the scale of the disaster. By mid-June, oil was washing ashore on wetlands, barrier islands and beaches of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle. An estimated 4.4 million barrels escaped before the wellhead was successfully capped on July 15, and closure ensured by a relief well on September 19 (Crone & Tolstoy 2010). As oil poured into the sea during the summer of 2010, economic and political waves spread ahead of the oil. Much of the Gulf quickly was closed to fishing. The Obama