to all the critics

it takes a lot of gall to go after an oil company and then moments later try to restart a sales pitch for national energy reform. more importantly the significance of this administrations intent to set up an escrow fund to pay for the damages of the oil spill cannot be more understated. a brief look at, sadly the now second largest environmental disaster in U.S. history, yields the importance of setting aside BP's funds to pay for all legitimate claims.

"Exxon fought paying damages and appealed court decisions multiple times, and they have still not paid in full. Years of fighting and court appeals on Exxon’s part finally concluded with a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2008 that found that Exxon only had to pay $507.5 million of the original 1994 court decree for $5 billion in punitive damages.And as of 2009, Exxon had paid only $383 million of this $507.5 million to those who sued, stalling on the rest and fighting the $500 million in interest owed to fishermen and other small businesses from more than 12 years of litigation."

a blanking supreme court decision. for all you math wizards thats 10 cents on the dollar. i'd go so far as to use the phrase "common sense would suggest that" the presidents actions in this case should be enough to win over the support of the entire affected region.

full article here>http://climateprogress.org/2010/06/15/the-exxon-valdez-spill-bp-escrow/>.