Environment New Mexico: Latest Gulf Rig Explosion Should Prompt Permanent Ban on New Offshore Drilling

At around 10:00 AM Eastern this morning, another oil rig exploded into in the Gulf of Mexico. According to Coast Guard reports, the accident took place 80 miles off the coast of Louisiana on the Vermilion rig 380, which is owned by Houston-based Mariner Energy. Thirteen workers were on the rig at the time and all are reported to be safe.

In response to the latest oil rig catastrophe, Sanders Moore, advocate for Environment New Mexico, released the following statement urging an end to new offshore drilling and our dependence on oil:

“We are stunned to hear of yet another rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico -- President Obama should need no further wake-up call to permanently ban new drilling. He should drastically strengthen oversight of the existing offshore oil industry to prevent more accidents like the one today, but also permanently protect the coasts where we don’t drill now.

“This summer we have seen too-frequent oil spills and accidents in the U.S. The evidence is clear that oil drilling is too dangerous and causes too much damage to our environment and people’s safety. In April, BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded and caused a 200 million gallon oil spill that continues to devastate the Gulf coast, its people and wildlife. Then in July a tugboat hit an abandoned oil well off Louisiana that sprayed oil and gas 100 feet into the air. That same month there was a huge oil pipeline break in Michigan that polluted the Kalamazoo River in Michigan for dozens of miles. A train carrying petrochemicals derailed here in New Mexico several days later and sent chemicals flowing into a nearby wildlife refuge.

“Our dependence on oil is taking too great a toll on our environment and our economy. It’s time to end our dependence on oil by harnessing American ingenuity to make cleaner cars and trucks and invest in public transit and walkable communities.”