Deepwater Horizon and the Law of the Sea: Was the Cure Worse than the Disease?

Post Date January 31, 2014
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View the paper “Deepwater Horizon and the Law of the Sea: Was the Cure Worse than the Disease?”

The number 4.9 million is commonly known as the number of barrels of crude oil that entered the Gulf of Mexico during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. Less known, but perhaps equally disconcerting, is the number 1.7 million—the number of gallons of Corexit, a toxic dispersant used to mitigate oil spills, that was also released into the Gulf of Mexico. Some observers claim that Corexit spared …

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Grant Wilson Gives Lecture on International Law for Geoengineering

Post Date September 25, 2013
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Category emerging technologies, environmental change, law & policy, online lectures

On Wednesday 18 September, GCRI hosted an online lecture by Grant Wilson entitled ‘Murky Waters: Ambiguous International Law for Ocean Fertilization and Other Geoengineering’. Wilson is GCRI’s Deputy Director and a recent graduate of Lewis & Clark Law School, where he specialized in international law regarding emerging technologies and the environment. The lecture is based on a draft paper of the same title.

Emphasis on geoengineering comes from increasingly dire projections of climate change, amounting to a significant global catastrophic risk. The international community’s failure to …

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Grant Wilson To Deliver Online Lecture On Geoengineering International Law 18 September

Post Date August 21, 2013
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Category emerging technologies, environmental change, law & policy, online lectures

This is the pre-event announcement for an online lecture by Grant Wilson, GCRI’s Deputy Director. The lecture is based on a draft paper of the same title.

Here is the full talk info:

Murky Waters: Ambiguous International Law for Ocean Fertilization and Other Geoengineering
Wednesday, 18 September 2013, 17:00 GMT (10:00 Los Angeles, 13:00 New York, 18:00 London)
To be held online via Skype. RSVP required by email to Seth Baum (seth [at] gcrinstitute.org). Space is limited.

Abstract:

In July 2012, the Haida Salmon Restoration Corporation (HSRC) dumped about 100 tons …

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New Paper: Ethics & Dual-Use Bioengineering

Post Date June 28, 2013
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Category emerging technologies, ethics, law & policy, publications

GCRI has a new academic paper out. The ethics of global catastrophic risk from dual-use bioengineering, by Seth Baum and Grant Wilson, has been accepted for publication in Ethics in Biology, Engineering and Medicine. The paper was written for a talk of the same title presented at the 7th Annual International Conference on Ethical Issues In Biomedical Engineering.

The paper discusses ethics and law issues raised by dual-use bioengineering. Dual-use technologies are technologies with both beneficial and harmful applications. Bioengineered technologies can be both very beneficial …

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New Paper: Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

Post Date May 03, 2013
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GCRI has a new academic paper out. Deepwater Horizon and the Law of the Sea: Was the cure worse than the disease?, by Grant Wilson, has been accepted for publication in a law journal to be determined. This paper analyzes the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in relation to international law. The paper focuses on the use of the oil dispersant Corexit, suggesting that this may have been in violation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The paper also explores …

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GCR News Summary Trial Run

Post Date March 08, 2013
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GCRI, in partnership with Robert de Neufville, is trying out a new project on global catastrophic risk news. The basic idea of the project is to compile various news items related to GCR, and then periodically (probably once or twice per month) summarize them on the GCRI blog. The aim is to help keep people informed with what’s going on in the GCR world. We’re using ‘news’ in the broadest sense of the word, to include anything new: current events, commentaries, announcements, etc, related to …

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Grant Wilson Promoted To Deputy Director

Post Date March 04, 2013
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I am delighted to announce that Grant Wilson has been promoted to Deputy Director of GCRI. He was previously a Professional Associate. The promotion acknowledges the growing leadership role that Grant has come to play for GCRI. Grant is now right there with Tony Barrett and myself in helping build the organization. His legal background and nonprofit experience have been especially valuable. He is also contributing to GCRI’s research, in particular his law article Minimizing global catastrophic and existential risks from emerging technologies through international …

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Meet The Team Tuesdays: Grant Wilson

Post Date November 27, 2012
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Category emerging technologies, environmental change, law & policy, meet the team Tuesdays

This post is part of a weekly series introducing GCRI’s members.

This past June, I was getting ready for a trip overseas when I get an email from a recent law school graduate interested in global catastrophic risk and looking for career suggestions. I was immediately intrigued. Legal thinking has an important role to play in GCR, but not many people in law gravitate to GCR. (See discussion in Arden Rowell’s Meet The Team interview.) Grant was so interested in GCR that he wanted career advice …

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