Clinic Report Identifies Environmental Performance Indicators for Companies Proposing to Drill in the U.S. Arctic

In December 2013, the Emmett Environmental Law & Policy Clinic released a new report, Suggested Indicators of Environmentally Responsible Performance of Offshore Oil and Gas Companies Proposing to Drill in the U.S. Arctic.  As the offshore oil and gas drilling industry expands into U.S. waters off the coast of Alaska, it is criti­cal that policymakers develop environment-specific indicators that are tai­lored for effective oversight of operator performance in this environmentally significant and challeng­ing setting.  In developing this set of suggested indicators, the Clinic focused on both the risk of catastrophic accidents and environmental impacts that occur during the course of normal drilling operations.  The indicators take into account a variety of offshore oil and gas operations in the Arctic, including exploration, drilling, production, and product transportation.

This report is part of the Clinic’s ongoing Offshore Drilling project and was authored by Clinic Director Wendy B. Jacobs, with assistance from David Baake, JD’14 and Mary Schnoor, JD’16.  Other students who contributed to this project are Elisabeth Costa, LLM’13; Ephraim Olson, JD’14; and Jocelyn Sedlet, JD’14.