It is a national disgrace that the strongest supporters of tougher mine safety concede that it will likely take another disaster before lawmakers will be willing to buck Big Coal and pass desperately needed safety legislation. “This is out of mind until another explosion takes place,” Representative George Miller, a California Democrat and sponsor of reform legislation, grimly predicted.

Republicans in both houses have led the way in stymieing worthy bills that address the many dangers and regulatory failings laid bare in the Upper Big Branch explosion that killed 29 miners in April 2010. Chief among them is the need for stronger fines for operators that violate safety rules or block safety monitoring — and a clear path for federal regulators to close the mines of serial offenders. Investigators need subpoena power. And whistle-blowers need protections against company intimidation.

These factors were cited in the West Virginia disaster in which federal investigators concluded that the mine owner at the time, Massey Energy, was “systematic, intentional and aggressive” in putting miners’ lives at risk in a “workplace culture that valued productivity over safety.”

Two other inquiries offered a similar conclusion. Democrats, beginning with President Obama, need to do more to drive this issue before the public. Right now, the Miller bill and a similar measure from Senator John Rockefeller IV, a Democrat of West Virginia, are moribund in the face of industry and Republican gamesmanship.