Richard Lazarus named Exec. Director of BP National Commission.

Press Release Summary:



Co-chairs of bipartisan National Commission on BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling have selected Georgetown University law professor, Richard Lazarus, to serve as commission's executive director. Lazarus specializes in environmental law and has participated in 40 cases before U.S. Supreme Court. Professor Lazarus worked for U.S. Department of Justice, both in Environment and Natural Resources Division and Solicitor General's Office, where he was Assistant to Solicitor General.



Original Press Release:



Richard Lazarus Named as Executive Director of National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling



WASHINGTON, D.C. - The co-chairs of the bipartisan National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling have selected a highly regarded Georgetown University law professor to serve as the commission's executive director.

Richard Lazarus, the Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., Professor of Law at Georgetown, will lead the staff of the commission and work at the direction of co-chairs - former two-term Florida Governor and former U.S. Senator Bob Graham and former Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency William K. Reilly - and the other commission members. Lazarus specializes in environmental law and has participated in 40 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. For the past three summers, he has co-taught a course on the history of the Supreme Court of the United States with Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. Professor Lazarus worked for the U.S. Department of Justice, both in the Environment and Natural Resources Division (1979-83) and the Solicitor General's Office (1986-89), where he was Assistant to the Solicitor General. He also serves as Faculty Director of the Supreme Court Institute. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School and earned a B.S. in chemistry and a B.A. in economics at the University of Illinois.

On May 21, 2010, President Obama signed an Executive Order establishing the commission that is to take a comprehensive look at how the oil and gas industry operates and how it is regulated. The commission will examine the facts and circumstances concerning the causes of the Gulf oil spill and develop options for safety and environmental precautions to prevent a similar disaster from happening again.

After naming the other members of the commission last week, the President asked Congress to approve $15 million to fund its work.

Charter for the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling (.pdf).

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