Getting your player ready...
WASHINGTON — A congressional stampede to pass oil-spill legislation gathered momentum Thursday as a Senate committee voted to impose tougher penalties on water polluters and lawmakers unveiled a comprehensive bill to strengthen environmental and safety rules on offshore drilling.
The measures, expected to move forward in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon blowout, also include a rewrite of decades-old maritime liability law and a tightening of ethics rules for officials who oversee offshore drilling.
It is unclear whether Congress will pass a series of individual measures or wrap legislation into a sweeping energy bill that would also seek to boost renewable. Los Angeles Times
