Rep. Darrell Issa, chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is using the one-year anniversary of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster as an opportunity to criticize the Obama administration for exercising more caution when issuing offshore drilling permits. After the spill, “the Administration’s subsequent assault on off-shore drilling has [damaged] economically vulnerable communities,” Issa says.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has added two mines to its Pattern of Violations (POV) list, which triggers closer MSHA scrutiny for mines with historically poor safety records. It is the first time MSHA has listed a mine in the POV program’s 33-year history.

Contrary to the claims of congressional Republicans, regulations are not job-killers. According to a research paper released today by the Economic Policy Institute, regulations do not cause a significant negative impact on the labor market. In fact, for some industries, regulations actually result in job growth.

Today, a House energy panel will hold a hearing on the TRAIN Act. The TRAIN Act has nothing to do with locomotives. It is actually the Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts on the Nation Act of 2011.