Environmental Expert and Author to Speak on Energy and the BP Oil Spill

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico earlier this year proved to be the worst offshore oil disaster in history. In a lecture on Monday, November 15, William Freudenburg, Dehlsen Professor of Environment and Society at UC Santa Barbara, will examine the factors – political and otherwise – that contributed to the environmental and economic catastrophe.

His talk, “Learning Lessons from Disaster – The BP Oil Spill and the Future of Energy in America,” will begin at 5 p.m. in Broida Hall 1610. It is free and open to the public.

Freudenburg is also co-author of the recently published Blowout in the Gulf – The BP Oil Spill Disaster and the Future of Energy in America (The MIT Press, 2010).

“We’ve been getting into increasingly deep water for years, not just literally, but also in terms of our energy policies,” Freudenburg said. “One of the reasons is that until 1959, the United States was a virtual one-nation OPEC. Unfortunately, that was when we set up a lot of new policies that made no sense for a nation with dwindling oil reserves.”

His talk will not only provide a better understanding of the BP oil spill, but also offer insights into the kinds of energy choices that might make more sense for the world today.

Copies of Freudenburg’s book, which was a Publisher’s Weekly Pick of the Week last month, will be available for purchase, and a book signing will be held immediately following his talk.

A live streaming video of this lecture is available here, at 5pm, November 15.

More information about Freudenburg’s lecture is available online.