Events

Oil Drilling Off Cuba's North Coast

The Center for International Policy is pleased to invite you to a discussion of

Oil Drilling Off Cuba's North Coast:
Must the U.S. Do More to Forestall the Impact of a Major Spill?

Featuring:

William K. Reilly - Co-chairman of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Spill and Offshore Drilling, and former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency

Lee Hunt - Former president of the International Association of Drilling Contractors.

Dan Whittle - Director of the Environmental Defense Fund’s Cuba Program.

Robert L. Muse - Attorney, Expert on laws and regulations governing the U.S. embargo against Cuba.

Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado - University of Nebraska. Specialist in Cuban energy development.

Introduction by Wayne Smith - Director, Center for International Policy’s Cuba Project

Moderator Elizabeth Newhouse - Center for International Policy's Cuba Project.

Thursday, May 10, 2012
9:00 am - 12:30 pm
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Choate Room
1779 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Since February the Spanish oil company Repsol, under license from Havana, has been exploring for oil 16 miles from the Cuban coast and just 70 miles south of Key West. Over the next 18 months another six countries could be drilling test wells at extreme depths, using a powerful deepwater rig. If a major oil spill were to occur in Cuban waters, vital economic and environmental interests in both Cuba and the United States would be threatened, including Florida’s $60 billion tourism and fisheries industries. Following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, serious concerns exist over Cuba’s ability to prevent or respond to a major oil spill—and the U.S. government’s readiness to step up.

This conference will discuss the status of U.S.-Cuba engagement and cooperation on oil development in the Gulf of Mexico and what measures have been adopted in both countries to prevent and respond to major spills. Panelists will also examine what more needs to be done.

Please join us at 9 am for coffee and pastries; the speakers will begin at 9:30. Discussion will follow.

To RSVP for this event, please click here. Or email cuba@ciponline.org

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Thanks to all who helped make this discussion a success!