Last month I introduced an NRDC report on the Florida Keys response to the Gulf oil disaster, which compiles a series of interviews with a number of l...

It is staggering how quickly the oil industry has abandoned its earnest self-reflection and returned to expanding offshore drilling, even before new safety reforms are fully implemented.

After the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry issued a technical publication. How many of these "lessons learned" have actually been incorporated into the current response to the Gulf oil spill?

I couldn’t help but chuckle a bit when I read Ali’s recent post about “Waldo,” the autonomous submarine launched by NRDC, Oce...

In November 2002, the oil tanker Prestige broke apart and sank, spilling about 20 million gallons of bunker oil off the coast of northern Spain. Worke...

In Washington and in state capitals around the Gulf, politicians continue to stick to their guns that most of the oil has been cleaned up or harmlessly dispersed. Many fishermen here don't believe it.

In recent weeks, the Gulf oil spill story line has dramatically turned in BP’s favor. “The oil is gone” “There’s no long...

Down a winding road that hugs the water of Bayou La Batre in southern Alabama, out-of-work shrimp boats float quietly al...

Despite concerns of many fishermen across the region, fishing grounds are being opened up and beaches have been cleared for swimming. Local fishermen are incensed that officials have opened these grounds regardless of warnings, declaring them safe.

Given the large area that was impacted by oil and the variety of state and federal jurisdictions governing the re-opening of oil-affected areas, the FDA should be playing a strong role in ensuring the protection of public health across the Gulf Coast.

Today the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published a Commentary on the health effects of the Gulf oil spill that I wrote along wit...

In the coming weeks, expect that many more areas will reopen to fishing. The unprecedented enormity of this oil spill makes it difficult to predict the extent and duration of fish contamination.

Tonight as I was speaking with the shrimpers I’ve gotten to know this week, I could tell they were leery about going out to fight the oil spill ...

Oil spill clean-up brings workers and volunteers into close contact with chemicals that are known to be hazardous to human health.  As we deal with t...

As I sat in a boat in the Gulf, surrounded on all sides by oil-tainted seas, the shear scale of the underwater oil leak hit me. At first I was heartbroken, but then I got mad. How could we have allowed this to happen?

I continue today with Part 2 of my Q&A about oil spill health concerns with a look at different groups of people who are at a particular risk to h...

There's a lot of speculation and unanswered questions going around about what the gulf oil leak means for the health of people living and working in the region. In this post, I give some answers.

Expanded offshore drilling was a key sweetener to attract Lindsey Graham and other swing votes to the Senate climate bill. Now that such a provision seems politically toxic, is the bill in jeopardy?

This disaster is a tragic reminder that offshore drilling is dirty and dangerous. It leaves no doubt that we need tighter regulation of where and how oil companies drill. But it would be an historic mistake if our response ends there.

Oil spills destroy ecosystems and kill wildlife, but people's health is directly affected too. As the situation in the Gulf Coast unfolds, the local communities and workers must be protected.

As someone who works in the field of occupational medicine, I'm familiar with the "OSHA says it's safe" argument. I also know that it's dead wrong.

I have repeatedly called upon BP to publicly release the air quality data that they claim shows the air is "safe" out there where hundreds of people are working. Well, BP finally responded... kind of.

So the question everyone is asking is: If you can smell the oil, is it toxic? The answer (unfortunately) is: "it depends".

As the Gulf Coast oil disaster shows, America has a failed national energy policy. We need a new clean energy policy to break our addiction to oil, en...