Just the other day I posted “Please consider not swimming in the Gulf of Mexico” which informed us that, per scientists, “oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill is still causing damage in the Gulf two years later”. Hugh Kaufman (senior policy analyst with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response) sent the link to me, and it is a must-read.

As I said in that post, I’ve written endlessly about the toxic, and lasting, effects that the BP oil disaster has had on Gulf residents, sea life and wildlife, and how little press it’s gotten.

Well, today there was a little more press about the Deepwater Horizon explosion, but this time it was an L.A. Times article about Congress’s failure to do what it needs to do in order to prevent another one. After two years, here’s where we are:

The report [from members of a presidential panel, the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling] cited significant progress by the Obama administration and the oil industry, giving them a B and a C+ grade, respectively, for their efforts to bolster safety, spill response and resources. Congress, however, got a D grade for its inability to “enact any legislation responding to the explosion and spill.”

The panel reports that Congress has yet to pass legislation “requiring the offshore oil and gas industry to bear the costs of federal oversight through fees on leasing and permitting reviews.” Not only that, but the recommended $75-million liability cap for offshore oil disasters still needs to be increased. By a lot.

The Democratic-controlled Senate has passed a bill to funnel penalties from the spill to restoring the Gulf of Mexico’s ecosystem, but House Republicans have yet to approve it.

The report goes on to say that more safeguards are badly needed. Why would that be?

In the last 10 months, “at least three offshore oil and gas rigs around the world have experienced significant leaks, demonstrating again and again how risky this activity is,” the report said. “Risks will only increase as drilling moves into deeper waters with harsher, less familiar environmental conditions.”

No surprise there, but who cares, right? Drilling, baby, drilling takes precedence over trivial things like destroying the earth.

There’s another real threat of catastrophe: the equipment that would handle a “spill” may be too far away and there is “limited assurance of an operator’s ability to respond to a sub-sea blowout.”

Feel safer yet?

Sens. Mary L. Landrieu (D-La.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) blamed, you guessed it, gridlock:

“A bipartisan majority in the Energy Committee and the full Senate would be happy to pass common-sense legislation addressing new production, safety and a fair share of revenue for the affected states,” they said. “Unfortunately, a small number of senators are opposed to engaging in a debate that includes revenue sharing.“

Once again, obstruction is the culprit, and the health and well being of those who are represented by “a small number of senators” are not the priority. Profits are.