There seemed to be an otherworldly presence in the hearing room Tuesday when a Congressional committee began formal consideration of new coal mine safety legislation.

I was physically far away, watching on C-SPAN, so I couldn’t tell whether the unseen spirits were the ghosts of the 29 miners killed three months ago in a preventable explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia — or the malignant aura of corporate power that seems to haunt the halls of Congress.

On February 13, 2010, the management at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch Mine ordered an electrician to disable a methane alarm that kept going off, according to NPR. This is the equivalent of being annoyed that your fire alarm is going off, so you turn it off; then your house burns down and kills you and almost everyone inside.

It appears as though Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship, in whose coal mine 29 people died earlier this year in an entirely preventable disaster, has been booted from the Board of Directors of the US Chamber of Commerce.

As recently as June 29, Massey was listed as a member of the Chamber’s Board. But now, his name doesn’t appear on the list of current board members, and his specific profile page has been deleted from the website.

After yesterday’s hearing on new mine and workplace safety legislation in the House – legislation necessary because of the negligence of Don Blankenship’s Massey Energy in the deaths of 29 miners earlier this year – Massey Energy’s press office made a funny.

In order to combat the clear evidence that Massey puts profits over worker safety, the coal company thought it would be a good idea to show just how supportive miners are of the company’s record. Massey claims 97% of its coal miners believe safety is important to the company.

This takes some stones. Massey Energy, whose mine explosion in West Virginia in April killed 29 people, has decided to sue the Mine Safety and Health Administration, along with three of its regulators, over MSHA’s denial of Massey’s preferred mine ventilation plans.

Massey’s lawsuit says that federal law didn’t allow the company to challenge MSHA’s requirements, saying such a restriction “violated its constitutional rights,” according to the Wall Street Journal.

Massey Energy CEO doesn’t like unions. Not breaking news, I know, but it was made ever more clear by Blankenship himself as he launched into a conspiratorial anti-union tirade on local televsion in West Virginia this weekend. He also claimed Jay Rockefeller is “evil.”

President Obama spoke this morning on the initial report from Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and Mine Safety administrator Joe Main on what happened at the Upper Big Branch Mine. Obama notably called out “safety violators like Massey Energy” and specifically singled out the pattern of Massey and other mine operators to appeal violations to avoid [...]

S&P curiously upgraded Massey Energy stock from a “hold” to “buy” this morning, and without unquestioningly reported that Massey would be shielded from lawsuits and had plans to make up for the lost coal. Turns out that Massey filed a shareholder statement with the SEC on Thursday .

In the statement, Massey assures its shareholders that its insurance will cover any lawsuits from the mine explosion, and accuses the media of exaggerating its poor safety record.

This morning’s news from the S&P stock exchange should be music to Don Blankenship’s ears. Massey’s stock has been upgraded to a “buy” because the accident should be “immaterial” to Massey’s finances. This is the bet that Blankenship made with the lives of 29 miners: that he could risk their lives without risking his profits. Richard Trumka called this disaster “the inevitable result of a profit-driven system and reckless corporate conduct.” He couldn’t be more correct. And Don Blankenship couldn’t care less.

I’m a blogger fellow with Brave New Films on their 16 Deaths Per Day campaign for worker safety. Join us on Facebook. The disaster at the Upper Big Branch mine in Coalmont, West Virginia has justifiably brought a lot of attention to the issue of worker safety and the need for strong regulation to protect [...]