EXONSUX

Annette Nelson-Wright, 37, a sociologist the Career Academy in Anchorage, has had a vanity plate for 6 years ... "EXONSUX"

Now the Alaska State Department of Motor Vehicles, after receiving a complaint, wants her to surrender the plate, ruling that it is offensive

"Tell me why plate offensive," Nelson-Wright said, "and I'll tell you how Exxon has harmed Alaska."

Nelson-Wright, was born and raised in Alaska and objected when Exxon parked a tanker on a reef out in Prince William Sound and spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil 17 years ago.

Some time in 1999, maybe 2000, she decided to express her sorrow and disgust through vanity plates. She was living in Juneau at the time and mailed her request, figuring she'd be SOL because of the SUX element.

Surprise - the mailman cometh with the plates, so for 2/3 years, she drove around with them. In 2002, she moved to California to attend graduate school and returned in 2004, this time settling in the Valley with her husband. Bruce Wright took the old EXONSUX plates to the Palmer DMV office to see if he could renew them and put them on the couple's gold Lexus RX300. A DMV employee saw no problem at the time.