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On his radio show today, Rush Limbaugh unveiled his brand new conspiracy theory that environmentalists were secretly behind the oil rig explosion that has spilled hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. He reasoned, “What better way to head off more oil drilling, nuclear plants than by blowing up a rig?”

Here is the audio courtesy of Media Matters:

Limbaugh laid out his conspiracy theory, “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, then it was postponed for a couple of days later, after Earth Day…This bill the cap and trade bill was criticized by hard core 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.”

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Of course, the part of Rush’s conspiracy theory that makes no sense is why any environmentalists would want to destroy the very environment that they are trying to save by blowing up an oil rig and spewing 5,000 barrels of oil per day into the Gulf? Wouldn’t this be a violation of everything that the environmental movement stands for? I don’t think that anything can be read into the timing of the explosion, because as Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) pointed out today, there have been 509 oil fires in the Gulf since 2006.

Instead of being a left wing conspiracy, maybe this incident shows that we need to look at the environmental dangers of offshore drilling a little more before we agree to expand it. President Obama announced today that swat teams were being sent to the Gulf to help investigate the cause of the explosion. Anything could have caused this explosion, but I think that it is absurd that Limbaugh would blame the very people who love the environment for destroying it. Rush’s conspiracy theory is not logical, but he will say anything to blame the left and protect the interests of right wing corporate America.