Hickel Wins Support for Exxon Deal: Three...

Hickel Wins Support for Exxon Deal: Three weeks after killing a $1-billion settlement of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Alaska’s Legislature indicated that it won’t insist on veto power over any new deal Gov. Walter J. Hickel negotiates. The Senate unanimously passed a resolution urging Hickel to return to the bargaining table. The House unanimously approved the resolution earlier. The resolution makes no mention of legislative approval of another settlement, and Hickel and state Atty. Gen. Charles Cole said that implies lawmakers’ approval is unnecessary. The $1-billion settlement that Hickel negotiated earlier collapsed earlier this month after the House rejected it. With the Legislature now removed from the process, Hickel and Cole hope Exxon and the federal government will be lured back to the table.