I’m not one to casually jump on bandwagons, but the 15 years of court appeals Exxon has pursued against paying the $5 billion settlement for cleanup of the Valdez oil spill has disgusted me enough to avoid buying from ExxonMobil and to sign on to the ExxposeExxon public pressure campaign, cosponsored by a coalition of environmental groups, including the well-respected Natural Resources Defense Council, Union of Concerned Scientists, and Sierra Club.
From the campaign:
- The Exxon Valdez tanker killed hundreds of thousands of seals, otters, birds, fish and whales when it spilled 30 million gallons of crude oil into the waters of Alaska’s Prince William Sound in 1989. Despite making a record profit of $36.1 billion last year, ExxonMobil is still trying to get out of paying the full amount it owes fishermen and natives hurt by the spill 17 years ago.
- ExxonMobil is the only major oil company remaining in Arctic Power, the single issue lobbying group working to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.
- ExxonMobil has given $15 million since 1998 to organizations that deny the existence of global warming.
- ExxonMobil is making record profits but won’t invest significantly in cleaner, sustainable energy. (The company’s pledge to research advanced energy technology is the equivalent of two days’ worth of its 2004 profits.)