The presidential panel, which Obama will establish with an executive order, will be similar to previous commissions that looked into the 1986 space shuttle Challenger explosion and the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in 1979, the official said. Current government employees and elected officials will not be eligible to serve on the commission. The group will investigate a range of issues related to the spill and its aftermath, including rig safety and regulatory regimes on the local, state and federal levels, said the official, who requested anonymity. ‘The commission will take into account the investigations under way concerning the causes of the spill,’ he said. The Gulf spill began after an April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig that killed 11 workers. It threatens to eclipse the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill off Alaska as the worst U.S. ecological disaster. The new commission will help Obama prove he is showing leadership on an issue that has dominated public attention and raised questions about oil companies’ safety practices and loose government oversight. It comes as the president is trying to advance legislation to overhaul U.S. energy policy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A formal announcement […]