Center for Responsive Politics / L.A. Times Collaboration Reveals How Mining Industry Helped Kill Safety Bill http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2011/05/center-for-responsive-politics-los.html

Industry lobbying against the bill was intense. The National Mining Association alone reported spending $3.2 million on lobbying last year, a portion of it to oppose Miller's bill. That effort was joined by hundreds of other companies and trade associations including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Overall, the mining industry made $6.4 million in political donations in the 2010 cycle, according to data provided by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, which developed a detailed history of mining industry lobbying and

campaign expenditures in collaboration with the Los Angeles Times. The industry coalition targeted vulnerable moderate Democrats in swing districts, warning them that the legislation could cost jobs.The accompanying chart indicates how the mining industry rapidly accelerated its political contributions to members of Congress in the months immediately after an April 5, 2010, West Virginia mine explosion that killed 29 men -- the worst such disaster in four decades: