News of the North

Remember the Exxon Valdez, the supertanker which dumped 11 million gallons of crude oil on the coast of Alaska in 1989? In June, the Supreme Court reduced the damages charged against Exxon from $2.5 billion down to $507 million, saying that punitive damage charges should match actual damage costs. From this we can learn that the 500,000 seabirds, 1,000 sea otters, 12 river otters, 300 harbour seals, 250 bald eagles, 22 orcas, and billions of salmon and herring eggs that died in the oil spill have no actual monetary value and are not worth taking into consideration.

And if we don’t watch it, this sort of thing could happen again. Bound and determined to drill somewhere, Bush has lifted a ban on offshore oil drilling. This does not yet mean that drilling can start, as the federal law will have to be changed first - and the Republicans are even willing to skip their recess to do it.

Take a quick look at what areas are affected, including marine sanctuaries - and look how small those sanctuaries actually are.

Read more about offshore drilling and, if you’re in the US, please sign this petition against lifting the moratorium.