Supreme Court botched Exxon ruling

David Fredericks, Las Vegas

Saturday, June 28, 2008 | 2:05 a.m.

To get an inkling of how our government — in this case, the Supreme Court — unashamedly stands alongside the rich and powerful against common interests and the health of our hurting planet, we need only to read Wednesday’s court decision.

The high court slashed a $2.5 billion punitive damage award in the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster to a mere $500 million — a slap on the wrist for negligence beyond reckoning. This was the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

When the supertanker Exxon Valdez gutted herself on Bligh Reef and spewed 11 million gallons of crude oil into Alaska’s exquisite Prince William Sound — a pristine Pacific waterway, rich in wildlife, fisheries and tourist attractions — it seemed like the end of the world for locals. Seabirds died by the thousands in the muck. Vast stocks of salmon and herring and halibut perished next. Uncountable animals of many species perished.

But here again, because people, including Supreme Court justices, have so little understanding of, or appreciation for, the science that makes modern life possible, we’ll continue to sell out our children’s future to maintain the comfort of the status quo. And the petroleum industry will be free to wreak economic and environmental havoc while raking in billions of dollars.