Should We Have Seen the Gulf Disaster Coming?
GAINESVILLE, Ga. / June 2, 2010 – The death toll mounts: a mile long line
of dead fish in the Louisiana marshes, hundreds of birds and sea turtles,
at least six dolphins and, of course, 11 oil rig workers. They are but the
first entries on the Gulf oil spill casualty list – one that’s eventually
going to include flora, fauna and finances. As the oil shows no sign of
abating, President Obama is taking an increasingly strident tone with BP,
the oil industry and even federal regulators. The Justice Department just
launched an investigation to determine if the spill violates criminal or
civil laws and the president is promising a raft of new laws designed to
prevent such an ecological disaster from ever happening again. Don’t hold
your breath on that last point though, say researchers at the Georgia-based
Socionomics Institute. Why? In a study on environmentalism, researcher Alan
Hall says commodity markets, which are governed by social mood, peaked in
December 2009 and have been in a large-degree bear market since. “Pro-environmental
legislation is largely absent during commodity price declines,” Hall notes.
The study also found links between falling commodity prices and major environmental
accidents.
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About The Socionomics Institute
The Socionomics Institute, based in Gainesville, Ga., studies social mood
and its role in driving cultural trends. The Institute’s analysis is published
in the monthly research review, The Socionomist. Learn more at
www.socionomics.net.
Note to Media: For copies of studies or to arrange an interview
with a researcher from the Socionomics Institute, contact Alexandra Lienhard at (770) 536-0309, alexandral@socionomics.net.
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