Hurricane Ike destroys oil platforms in Gulf of Mexico.

Hurricane Ike “appears to have destroyed a number of oil production platforms and damaged some of the pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico, federal officials said Sunday.” Lars Herbst, regional director for the Minerals Management Service, said at least 10 production platforms have been destroyed by the storm, and possibly many more. Herbst said, “It’s too early to say if [the impact of Ike is] close to Katrina- and Rita-type damage.” In his advocacy for more offshore oil drilling, John McCain has falsely claimed Hurricanes Katrina and Rita did not “cause significant spillage” and that the platforms “very successfully” survived the impact of the storms. In fact, as the Wonk Room’s Brad Johnson has demonstrated, those hurricanes caused hundreds of oil spills resulting in significant environmental damage.

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