A new report by the Los Angeles Times and the Center for Responsive Politics shows campaign contributions from the mining industry helped to kill legislation aimed at increasing industry safety standards in the wake of last year’s deadly West Virginia coal mine explosion. Democratic Rep. George Miller of California introduced a bill last year to provide increased protection for industry whistleblowers and greater liability for corporate officers who knowingly put workers at risk. The National Mining Association alone spent $3.2 million on lobbying last year. The report reveals that Congress members who received donations were twice as likely to vote against Miller’s bill as those who were not. In total, the mining industry made $6.4 million in political donations in 2010, nearly double the amount spent in 2005. The West Virginia explosion at the Upper Big Branch coal mine killed 29 men, making it the worst such disaster in four decades.