
The Supreme Court on Wednesday slashed the $2.5 billion punitive damages award in the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster, the worst oil spill in U.S. history, to $500 million.
Nearly 33,000 plaintiffs are in line to share in the award, an average of about $15,000 a person. They would have collected an average of $75,000 each under the $2.5 billion judgment
First-quarter profits at Exxon Mobil Corp. were $10.9 billion. The company's 2007 profit was $40.6 billion.
So much for the "doppledingi-thingi"
Looks like the AP, the Times, Reuters and brietbart beat me to what I think is a sad story.
The original award for 5 billion was cut to 2.5 billion and now to 500 million. Maybe the Alaskans should pay Exxon a few million to reimburse them for the money they spent cleaning up the spill. After all, Exxon didn't mean to spill the oil, and it was the Alaskans that insisted their shores be cleaned up.
However, I suppose the people in Alaska, who's lives and business's where destroyed, can get by with $15,000. That should cover their energy cost for a year or two.
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