The Associated Press
TITLE: "Accountability"
LENGTH: 30 seconds.
AIRING: Began airing Wednesday on broadcast and cable stations statewide.
PAID BY: Michigan Democratic Party.
SCRIPT: The narrator says: "First BP in the Gulf of Mexico. Now Enbridge Energy in the Kalamazoo River. According to Supreme Court Justice Bob Young, Michigan citizens cannot hold Enbridge or any other oil company accountable when they pollute our lakes or rivers. Young overturned a 30-year-old law that held polluters accountable. Maybe that's why Young was rated the worst judge on the Michigan Supreme Court. Bob Young: Polluters don't pay. Michigan taxpayers do."
KEY IMAGES: The ad opens with a picture of emergency crews trying to extinguish a fire on an oil platform. It also has pictures of a polluted waterway and newspaper stories about Enbridge's broken pipeline, which spilled more than 800,000 gallons of oil in southwestern Michigan last summer. The ad ends with a message on the screen: "Bob Young. Polluters Don't Pay ... Michigan Taxpayers Do."
ANALYSIS: Young, a conservative, was nominated by the state Republican Party for another term on the Michigan Supreme Court.
The ad says citizens can't hold Enbridge accountable for the spill. The company, however, is under orders by state regulators and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to clean up the mess and restore the area. Enbridge also is buying homes from people.
Rebecca Humphries, the head of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment, recently said: "Area residents should be aware that work will be ongoing for many months, if not years, until we are satisfied that all the criteria have been met."
In 2007, Young was part of the court's 4-3 majority that significantly restricted environmental lawsuits by people unless they were directly affected by damage. The decision, however, doesn't prohibit lawsuits. It was a case involving the impact of a bottled-water operation on lakes and wetlands in Mecosta County.
The reference to Young being the court's worst judge is related to a survey reported in 2008 by Michigan Lawyers Weekly. It was a limited poll of lawyers.
Published: Fri, Oct 22, 2010
