Regulation vs de-regulation and disasters

[Michael Gochfeld]

I was going to mention the Petroleum industry as precisely an example of 
bad management and weak regulation enhancing or allowing disasters, but 
Paul beat me to it by suggesting that it was an example of non-disaster. 
 Unless we think that the Santa Barbara blowout, the dozens of tanker 
wrecks and oil spills (see Burger OIL SPILLS, Rutgers Univ Press) for 
documentation) are NOT disasters (or are acts of god), I think petroleum 
would qualify.  There has been some improved regulation over the past 
decade, requiring for example double-hulled tankers, and it is even 
possible that this enhanced regulation is already manifest in a reduced 
number of accidents over the past five years  (although it may have 
been the prospect of costly settlements and natural resource damage 
assessments rather than regulation). 

I would pose the alternative question. Has anyone seen an example where 
de-regulation has had a beneficial effect. ----back to butterflies, 
still very poor diversity in NJ after rather severe oscillations in 
temperature and rainfall over the past three months. 

Mike Gochfeld