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Should We Have Seen the Gulf Disaster Coming?
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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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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. Click here to access more research and forecasts from our friends at The Socionomics Institute.
Note to Media: For copies of studies or to arrange an interview with a researcher from the Socionomics Institute, contact Alexandra Lienhard, 770-536-0309.
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