The NYT tells us this morning that its possible to make more money in Louisiana suing the oil companies for damages to the oyster harvest than actually harvesting oysters. It tells us that some of the claims made by oystermen are not even true. Let's get the facts straight. No one disputes that the oil industry does harm the oyster harvest with its occasional spills. So the problem is that some of the money may go to people who don't actually deserve it, making the oystermen rich and the oil companies poor. How much money is at stake? The NYT reports that it runs from $10.1 million to $14.8 million a year. Or put slightly differently, about 6 hours worth of Exxon's profits or maybe two months of their CEO's pay. Since most of this money presumably goes to the people who were actually harmed by the industry, was it really worth an article in the NYT to tell us that some oystermen are gtting money that they don't deserve? Why don't we send these reporters over to Wall Street?
--Dean Baker
