Safety slighted before blow out was the conclusion of a new independent report by the National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council citing multiple flawed decisions from a deficient overall systems approach to safety among the corporations that ran the drilled of the Macondo well. The report says the petroleum industry and federal regulators focused more on exploration and production than safety in the years leading up to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, setting the stage for the worst offshore environmental disaster in US history.

Not only is this a shaming report but it raises urgent questions about what has changed that will force and enforce safety first.