Oil spill task force set up in St Pete.

So it turns out all kinds of horrible, horrible things happen around my birthday: Oklahoma City was bombed...Columbine HS was shot up...and now this year an explosion aboard a floating offshore oil rig caused what is quite possibly the largest oil spill in recorded history.

Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama are already deep into cleanup operations, as the oil slick has been drifting northward. But due to concerns that it might find its way into the Gulf's Loop Current, the US Coast Guard recently set up a command center in St Pete, in the Tampa Bay area of Florida where I live.

The message sent by this spill is that offshore oil drilling is not as safe as we would like to believe. The cause of the original explosion is still unknown, despite Rush Limaugh's appalling suggestion that it was deliberately caused by 'radical environmentalists' to strengthen the language of the upcoming Cap-and-Trade Bill.

I propose a different, and in fact somewhat less ridiculous explanation: as Rush Limbaugh has long been known as an outspoken critic of environmental laws in general, and Cap-and-Trade in particular, I suggest that it was he who planned the destruction of the rig.

He certainly has a better chance of obtaining access from the oil companies; can you imagine that BP would ever allow someone they knew to be a 'radical environmentalist' near their multi-million-dollar platform? But Limbaugh...he's on their side.

His comments prove that he doesn't consider this an environmental disaster, either: "The ocean will take care of this on its own if it was left alone and left out there. It's natural. It's as natural as the ocean water is."

So there we have it, folks. He was opposed to Cap-and-Trade...and now Cap-and-Trade has been postponed. He had a much greater chance of being allowed access to the structure, and it goes without saying that there are thousands of 'radical conservatives' willing to follow his marching orders. And finally, he does not consider this a disaster. No doubt he expects everyone will see how quickly and easily the ocean 'take[s] care of this on its own' and the hubbub over environmental protection will fade away.

Mr. Limbaugh, I find it extremely ironic that you would level a ridiculous accusation at a group of people who are idealogically opposed to the action you accuse them of.

Shifting the blame, perhaps?