You can always rely on Sarah Palin to provide a sophisticated and thoughtful response to the world's latest tragedy and, in the case of the Gulf oil spill, she hasn't disappointed us.

With the clarity of expression for which she is renowned, Palin took to Twitter and declared:

Extreme Greenies:see now why we push"drill,baby,drill"of known reserves&promising finds in safe onshore places like ANWR? Now do you get it?

For those left unenlightened by this tweet, Palin helpfully published a Facebook note elaborating on her thesis that environmentalists were to blame for the spill. Here is an extract:

Your hypocrisy is showing. You're not preventing environmental hazards; you're outsourcing them and making drilling more dangerous. Extreme deep water drilling is not the preferred choice to meet our country's energy needs, but your protests and lawsuits and lies about onshore and shallow water drilling have locked up safer areas. It's catching up with you. The tragic, unprecedented deep water Gulf oil spill proves it.

The answer, as ever, is not to tighten lax regulation but to allow onshore drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, often described as "America's Serengeti", and disregard the inevitable damage to the area's wildlife.

But compared to those of some of her ideological compatriots, Palin's remarks are far from exceptional.

Rush Limbaugh has suggested that the Obama administration blew up the rig in an attempt to bolster support for the president's cap-and-trade bill. He said:

Now, lest we forget, ladies and gentlemen, the carbon tax bill, cap and trade, that was scheduled to be announced on Earth Day. I remember that. And then it was postponed for a couple of days later after Earth Day, and then of course immigration has now moved in front of it. But this bill, the cap-and-trade bill, was strongly criticised by hardcore environmentalist wackos because it supposedly allowed more offshore drilling and nuclear plants, nuclear plant investment. So, since they're sending SWAT teams down there, folks, since they're sending SWAT teams to inspect the other rigs, what better way to head off more oil drilling, nuclear plants, than by blowing up a rig? I'm just noting the timing here.

That's right Rush, just noting the timing.

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