Do cry over spilt oil

Sometimes the news makes me so angry I can’t see straight. Apparently, the US Supreme Court is ‘inclined’ to let Exxon Mobil off the hook for some of the $2.5bn damages they were ordered to pay after the catastrophic Valdez disaster 19 years ago in Alaska. I was only 9 at the time, when the ship ran aground on the Bligh Reef in the Prince William Sound, and to be honest I’d forgotten how hideous it was. Just looking at the pictures of the tiny rusty red boat in the blue Alaskan waters, surrounded by a thick gloopy slick of black gunge makes me so terribly terribly sad.

I wanted to write something scientific and witty comparing punitive damages to the damage that was done to the 500,000 sea birds, the billions of fish, the hundreds of seals, the 5000 sea ottters, the 22 killer whales, and the 250 bald eagles when 10.8 million barrels of crude oil were released into the sea, but I can’t.

The damages have been cut twice already in the past two decades, and now they might be cut again. The accident happened because of human error, the captain of the ship was drunk, and Exxon claim that the accidental nature of what happened and the fact that the area is now recovering mean that they shouldn’t be made to pay any more. BUT. They knew the captain was an alcoholic and still left him in charge. And that $2.5bn represents THREE WEEKS worth of Exxon’s profits. And they should pay it. And they should keep paying it until all the birds and seas are clean and all the damage is undone. Which is never.

We humans shouldn’t be allowed to play with things that we can’t control.

Rant over.

More info here from NOAA if you’re curious.