This day in sketchtory, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker crashed in Prince William Sound, Alaska, and spilled between 260,000 and 750,000 barrels of oil into the ocean. There were several identified possible causes, the one I lean towards is "The third mate failed to properly maneuver the vessel, possibly due to fatigue or excessive workload." But I believe that unidentified third mate was actually the captain's kid, on board due to it being "bring your kid to work day."
On the heels of BP essentially getting off scot free after the largest oil spill in human history, I was curious if the treatment of Exxon was any different. The original ruling ordered Exxon to pay $5 billion in punitive damages, which they of course fought and appealed over and over and over and over and over and over until that number was reduced to just over $500 million, or the equivalent to their net profits they would make in roughly 38 days. They fought every political movement to prevent future oil spills. Today their company is worth roughly $400 billion. They pay no federal income tax. What the....
Also, this sketch sucks.
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