Interview: Gulf Panel Chief on the Complacency Behind the Oil Spill

William K. Reilly is co-chair of the presidential commission on last year’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill, which released its final report on Jan. 11. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, Reilly, a former head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, describes the missteps that led to the spill, the “laughable” response plans to the disaster, and the reforms his commission has recommended to prevent a reoccurrence. He talks about the need to create an “impermeable” wall between the federal officials charged with collecting revenues from offshore drilling and those responsible for safeguarding the environment. And he says that energy companies should create an industry body that will establish stringent safeguards for offshore drilling and ensure they are carried out, as is the case with the U.S. nuclear power industry. “The risk we face,” says Reilly, “is that the country’s span of attention will not maintain support for attending to this spill and its consequences.”

Read the interview