WASHINGTON, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- Environmental advocacy group Greenpeace said its members have occupied an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico to protest deep-water exploration.
Activists scaled the rig charted by state-owned Petroleos Mexicanos in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
The Greenpeace climbers unfurled a banner that read "go beyond oil." The group said it was calling on U.S. lawmakers to ban drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
Offshore oil exploration is under scrutiny after the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, one of the worst oil disasters in the history of the industry.
"Without real action from Congress we are in danger of recent fossil fuels tragedies repeating themselves," the advocacy group said.
Washington imposed a temporary ban on offshore drilling to make sure safeguards were in place to prevent a repeat of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in early October said Washington had decided it was "appropriate" to lift the moratorium on deep-water drilling.
Greenpeace, in its letter to Congress, said, "The United States must stop using dangerous energy sources like fossil fuels and nuclear energy and replace them with clean renewable energy and efficiency technology."
