Will environmental policy change in wake of oil disaster?

The Deepwater Horizon oil gusher has demonstrated that severe changes in how the U.S. drills for oil are necessary; could this oil disaster be an opportunity for stronger environmental policy?

Some say there is a silver lining to this dark oil cloud, now that the environment is front and center on the nation’s mind and many are calling for major environmental policy changes. Those proposed changes extend far beyond a moratorium on offshore drilling. Ted Nordhaus, the chairman of Breakthrough Institute, a think tank in Oakland, CA, says restricting offshore drilling in the U.S. will just lead us to drill in another country and “outsource the environmental impact to somewhere else.” Nordhaus says, “California and Florida limited offshore drilling and they’re much more beautiful now, but that hasn’t had any impact on our use of oil.”

We also speak with The New York Times’ finance reporter Louise Story, who weighs in on how businesses can lead the way in this new push for an environmental policy overhaul.