Another "Blame it all on the staff, not Christie" ?
Chris Christie’s Exxon Settlement Is Bad for New Jersey
Shortchanging New Jersey by Billions
NY Times - BRADLEY M. CAMPBELL - MARCH 4, 2015
Quote:
The decision by the administration of Gov. Chris Christie to settle an environmental lawsuit
against Exxon Mobil Corporation for roughly three cents on the dollar after more than a decade of litigation
is an embarrassment to law enforcement and good government.
Even more troubling are the circumstances surrounding the decision, which recently came to light.
As a judge deliberated whether to assess the $8.9 billion in damages New Jersey sought,
the administration stepped in and agreed to take about $250 million and settle the case.<snip>
The lawsuit was part of a broader initiative, started a year earlier, to ensure that New Jersey taxpayers
would be compensated, and natural resources restored, where major polluters had caused damage.
Numerous Fortune 100 companies came to the table, including Chevron, DuPont and Honeywell,
and resolved their liability promptly, often through innovative watershed protection projects. … Not Exxon.
The company’s challenge to its liability was rejected in 2007.
But despite the loss, Exxon kept on fighting for nearly eight more years.
But sometime during the judge’s deliberations, the Christie administration asked him to defer his ruling. <snip>
While he was chairman of the Republican Governors Association in 2014,
the group received $500,000 from Exxon and more from company employees.
While this was not Exxon’s first contribution to the group,
this donation was made at a time when the New Jersey trial was pending.
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Seems there's a pattern developing here,
and as Dr Phil often says something like: "The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior"