BREAKING: Offshore Oil Rig Explodes 20 Miles From New Orleans

News organizations in Lousiana are reporting that three people were injured -- two badly burned -- in an oil rig explosion Wednesday.

The news of the explosion arrives just hours after Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced that an offshore drilling ban would remain in place until 2020 in certain sections of the Gulf.

From WGAL.com:
The U.S. Coast Guard received a report at about 10:15 a.m. Central time, that three people were injured on the rig, which is roughly 20 miles south-southeast of New Orleans, Petty Officer Thomas Blue of the Coast Guard told the New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper.
There was no immediate status report on the condition of the rig, said Kenneth L. Padgett, director of Jefferson Parish emergency management, WDSU reported.

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CONTINUED: BREAKING: Offshore Oil Rig Explodes 20 Miles From New Orleans

not AGAIN!!!!!!!!!! :scared:

Quick! To the voting booth! Elect De-regulationists!

And people wonder why I oppose MORE drilling

Hoplite said:

And people wonder why I oppose MORE drilling

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Well its Dec 3 and no reports in the National News of massive oil leak, or any leak for that matter. Seems the story is not much for news.
Since you oppose more drilling, does that mean you support drilling at the current rate, since that is not more?:mrgreen:

mike2810 said:

Well its Dec 3 and no reports in the National News of massive oil leak, or any leak for that matter. Seems the story is not much for news.
Since you oppose more drilling, does that mean you support drilling at the current rate, since that is not more?:mrgreen:

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I honestly think we need to re-examine our current drilling efforts and scale back as necessary. I dont think we should stop altogether, but I think we need to be a little less ambitious and have more oversight of current operations. This last year is ample proof in that direction.

What is needed is leadership that avoids the political Bovine Scatology and ignores Environmentally ill groups and shuts down the EPA's nonsense, and works to solve the energy problems using brains and logic that most in the groups I mentioned and Government lack but by 100%.

We have technology that allows coal to be used to generate clean power.

We have technology to build totally electric cars with sufficient range to handle about 95% or more of all our travel needs, but the costs are made too high for no most people to afford. Why?

You had better wake your dumb ass up to the reality that man caused Global Warming is a HOAX being used to tax the living hell out of us for nothing.

You are falling for lies that are going to lead to poverty in a scale never seen in this Nation, and that will lead to tragedy and death.

Councilman said:

We have technology that allows coal to be used to generate clean power.

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No, we dont.

We have technology to build totally electric cars with sufficient range to handle about 95% or more of all our travel needs, but the costs are made too high for no most people to afford. Why?

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Because we still buy SUV's

Councilman said:

What is needed is leadership that avoids the political Bovine Scatology and ignores Environmentally ill groups and shuts down the EPA's nonsense, and works to solve the energy problems using brains and logic that most in the groups I mentioned and Government lack but by 100%.

We have technology that allows coal to be used to generate clean power.

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There's some of that Bovine Scatology right now!

We have technology to build totally electric cars with sufficient range to handle about 95% or more of all our travel needs, but the costs are made too high for no most people to afford. Why?

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The big scary government is making those cars cheaper for you, not more expensive. The reason electric cars cost that much is their batteries are extraordinarily expensive. I think you forgot which side your talking points are supposed to come from, us environmentalist types are the ones pushing those socialized (subsidized) electric hippie cars, remember?

Electric cars are not economically competitive because they aren't economically competitive. Yet. We're working on it. It's YOUR side that's doing their best to stamp out efforts that would change this.

You had better wake your dumb ass up to the reality that man caused Global Warming is a HOAX being used to tax the living hell out of us for nothing.

You are falling for lies that are going to lead to poverty in a scale never seen in this Nation, and that will lead to tragedy and death.

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Says the guy who just claimed there's a such thing as clean coal. What's that about hoaxes?

Hoplite said:

Because we still buy SUV's

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And we still use airplanes, and still need electricity, and still make plastic bottles and tons of other plastic items which are made out of petroleum. You'd have us drinking out of wooden bowls, riding bicycles everywhere and livingin tee-pees then?

Ockham said:

And we still use airplanes, and still need electricity, and still make plastic bottles and tons of other plastic items which are made out of petroleum. You'd have us drinking out of wooden bowls, riding bicycles everywhere and livingin tee-pees then?

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Only for you.

The Giant Noodle said:

Only for you.

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Drilling is not an inherently bad thing, but we need to regulate it better (or just follow the regulations that exist). Until they can revamp the regulations so it's safe, they shouldn't be opening up any more drilling sites in American waters.

Hoplite said:

And people wonder why I oppose MORE drilling

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You understand that this is a workover rig and not a drilling rig? They were working an already completed well.

Let's don't let the facts get in our way of going off half-cocked.

molten_dragon said:

Drilling is not an inherently bad thing, but we need to regulate it better (or just follow the regulations that exist). Until they can revamp the regulations so it's safe, they shouldn't be opening up any more drilling sites in American waters.

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You can't shut down an entire industry--one that actually creates jobs, quite unlike the green industry--and expect the economy to recover.

So this is really just a welding accident that happened over the water.

These types of accidents are extremely common and happen all the time when anyone is welding on machinery or equipment that has any function related to flammable liquids or gases.

It's really nothing new - and a non-story as far as "new, shocking environmental pollutants go"

apdst said:

You can't shut down an entire industry--one that actually creates jobs, quite unlike the green industry--and expect the economy to recover.

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you are saying the green industry DOESNT produce jobs? :wassat1:

That green industry is your future so Im confused as to how it doesnt create jobs now AND in the future

The first word which came to my head: Deja Vu.

Why the hell do they want a drilling ban ?! They must realise that the Gulf isn't a " Hot Spot " for oil disasters. When the drilling ban is lifted, there is as much chance of a failure on the 1st day.

Green industry does create jobs. Like those solar panels which we all praise... Until we get the maintenance bill...
In the future this will probably get better, but in the long term range, solar panels cost too much to power anything.
Nuclear power, however, is the best way I believe. Except for the waste ( Which isnt too much ) and some other problems, it does do good.
Its very nice to say " Go Green, save the world. " but if you attempt to run an entire planet using green energy...

The Giant Noodle said:

you are saying the green industry DOESNT produce jobs? :wassat1:

That green industry is your future so Im confused as to how it doesnt create jobs now AND in the future

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The Green Industry creates the same amount of jobs that the oil and gas industry creates, with the same pay scales? If that was so, we wouldn't have seen the unemployment rate go up this week.

apdst said:

The Green Industry creates the same amount of jobs that the oil and gas industry creates, with the same pay scales? If that was so, we wouldn't have seen the unemployment rate go up this week.

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You said it didn't create any jobs. Are you retracting that and merely stating it doesn't create as many jobs?

Deuce said:

You said it didn't create any jobs. Are you retracting that and merely stating it doesn't create as many jobs?

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Of course not as many. Which is irrelvant, when you consider it doesn't create enough. I mean, hell, throwing aluminum cans on the side of the road creates jobs, but is that really what we want to hang our economy's hopes on?

I have a novel idea! Let's let the market do what it's going to do and create jobs on it's own; less the government intrusion. Whatcha think? You prolly ain't gonna go for that, because you know as well as I do, that the green energy bull**** is going to lose.

Hoplite said:

And people wonder why I oppose MORE drilling

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I'm opposed to a regime that refuses to enforce the laws already on the books. In case you were wondering.........that would be mr obama's regime I'm talking about.

Hoplite said:

I honestly think we need to re-examine our current drilling efforts and scale back as necessary. I dont think we should stop altogether, but I think we need to be a little less ambitious and have more oversight of current operations. This last year is ample proof in that direction.

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Right.

You need to keep importing your oil from Canada.

We love it!!!

Grant said:

Right.

You need to keep importing your oil from Canada.

We love it!!!

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I'm looking for importing food, after the over-reaching government starts putting farmers out of business.

If we like imported oil, we're going to love imported food.

The Giant Noodle said:

CONTINUED: BREAKING: Offshore Oil Rig Explodes 20 Miles From New Orleans

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My immediate reaction was to think...wow...we might seriously need to rethink the whole deepwater drilling thing.

Then a few things started to come to light.
1-This happened 5 days and we havent heard a squirt about it.
2-It wasnt a deepwater rig. in fact it wasnt an oil rig that exploded, it was a welding accident...a tragic but fairly commonplace industrial accident. in this case it injured 3 people.
2a-Without reading the facts people will respond in a kneejerk fashion based on whatever supports their own ideology.
3-Until we dont need fossil fuels, we need fossil fuels. If we shut down deepwater drilling and focused on Anwar, people would bitch and complain (even if they couldnt find Anwar on the map). If we focus on oil shale people will bitch. We extract fossil fuels from isolated sites in Colorado, Montana, or Utah (where people never visit) people will bitch.
3a-Those same people that bitch will still drive cars and consume electricity...and some of them...specifically the leaders of their movements, have a propensity to fly in private planes, travel in SUVs, consume far more resources than average people, etc.
4-Im ALL FOR clean fuel alternatives. I agree we should be working toward them. But in the meantime...we NEED fossil fuels. Deal with it.
5-I love the ocean...Id live on the ocean if I could right now, and some day I plan to. I HATE the sight of oil wells off the coast of California. I really truly hate it. But if you refuse to allow on shore sites and refuse to properly use hydroelectric and other available fuel and energy sources, then you have to use what you use.