Toast the Earth with Exxon Mobile

Remember this classic video? Watch as ExxonMobil funds junk science, wrecks the Arctic Refuge, and spills oil on endangered wildlife.

“The globe is slowly warming, real scientists all know. But Exxon Mobile’s here to say it really isn’t so…”

Aside from a little less global warming denial, has much changed since 2006?

Exxon Valdez Payments Delayed Again After 19 Years of Waiting

An imminent payment from Exxon Mobil Corp. to the commercial fishermen affected by the nation’s worst oil spill has been delayed once again.  The damages have been put off for 19 years so far, and this time it’s due to lawyers for Sea Hawk Seafoods, Inc., a Seattle-based company that ran a fish-processing plant in Valdez, filing court papers objecting to the allocation plan.

From The Huffington Post:

They are seeking a new plan that conforms to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June, which awarded up to $507.5 million in punitive damages to nearly 33,000 commercial fishermen, cannery workers, land owners, Alaska Natives and others who claimed harm from the 1989 crude oil spill. The plaintiffs had been seeking $5 billion.

After the Supreme Court decision, lawyers for the plaintiffs and Exxon worked out a partial settlement under which Exxon agreed to release $383 million.

The money was to be distributed under an allocation plan approved in 1996 by Anchorage federal Judge H. Russel Holland, and Sea Hawk contends that it is flawed.

According to the company, the Supreme Court decided that the size of punitive damage awards must be proportional to the size of compensatory damage awards already paid to plaintiffs. The company argues the current plan assigns some plaintiffs larger or smaller shares than they deserve.

Big shocker. This payment has been delayed so many times for so many reasons – usually through efforts of Exxon to avoid opening their wallet. This time, it’s infighting among the plantiffs. Exxon, of course, is fighting this effort by Sea Hawk Seafoods, claiming that their demands will deprive other plaintiffs of their fair share of the damages (like they’re really worried about that - they just don’t want to pay).

Prior to this development, Exxon had avoided paying the damages because ever since Sarah Palin stepped in as governor of Alaska, she has failed to collect the money. The previous governor had presented Exxon with a demand to pay the extra $92 million in estimated damages due for ‘unanticipated environmental injuries’ from the spill. Since Palin was elected, she hasn’t pressed the issue, while Exxon has continued to reap record profits in Alaska.

Aren’t the damages for this spill a drop in the bucket for a company that has raked in ungodly amounts of money in the last few decades? It’s obscene.  This needs to be laid to rest as soon as possible.

Link [The Huffington Post]
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Lawmakers Finally Agree to Ban Poison in Kids’ Items Despite Exxon Lobbying

Gee, Congress. Pat on the back. After literally decades of kids playing with toys filled with toxic chemicals, you’ve finally gotten around to banning pthalates in kids’ items. Great job. We’re so glad that you’ve been on top of children’s’ safety issues, protecting our kids from harm.

The U.S. does not currently require industries to prove the safety of a chemical before it’s allowed on the market. Parents may purchase these toys for their kids thinking, ‘Surely it’s safe – the government wouldn’t allow them to be sold if they weren’t, right?’ Unfortunately, that’s incorrect. Congress just now passed a measure that would ban pthalates, a dangerous family of toxins, from kids’ items. The ban would take effect in 6 months – that is, if President Bush doesn’t veto it, which he has threatened to do.

From The Washington Post:

Among other things, the legislation would ban lead in children’s products and would give consumers access to a new database of complaints or accident reports for goods. The measure also allows stiffer fines for violations and enhanced enforcement of consumer safety laws.

Under language finalized yesterday, House and Senate lawmakers agreed to permanently ban three types of phthalates from children’s toys and to outlaw three other phthalates from products pending an extensive study of their health effects in children and pregnant women.

Phthalates make plastics softer and more durable and also are added to perfumes, lotions, shampoos and other items. They are so ubiquitous that in one 1999 study, the Food and Drug Administration found traces in all of its 1,000 subjects.

We haven’t even gotten to the worst part yet. Believe it or not, this legislation got bogged down in the House due to a ‘costly battle’ waged by Exxon Mobil (could they BE any more evil?), who manufacture the pthalate most commonly found in children’s toys. In fact, they have said that they’re protesting the ban because without pthalates, manufacturers will be ‘forced’ to use even more dangerous chemicals instead.

Here’s an idea, folks: STOP PUTTING TOXINS IN KIDS’ TOYS! It’s really not that hard! It’s amazing that these companies are allowed to knowingly poison kids – and our country has just sat back and allowed it to happen. Sickening.

Link [The Washington Post]
Photo credit: Flickr user greenmelinda