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Multidimensional Governance And The Bp Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Hari Osofsky

Hari Osofsky

This Article explores the governance challenges posed by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and proposes strategies for developing more inclusive, responsive institutions to help meet them. It begins by analyzing the incident through five core dimensions—vertical, horizontal, direction of hierarchy, cooperativeness, and public-private—to demonstrate the multi-level, multi-actor interactions taking place in offshore drilling and oil spill regulation. It then explains the ways in which the complex interactions in these dimensions translate into four core governance challenges: scientific and legal uncertainty, simultaneous overlap and fragmentation, the difficulties of balancing efficiency and inclusion, and inequality and resulting injustice. The Article next …