Author: potus

(The Center Square) – West Virginia continues to push other states to protect its coal industry.Attorney General J.B. McCuskey is urging Maryland House and Senate leaders to table a bill that targets out-of-state coal producers. McCuskey says the proposed legislation drives up prices and could be unconstitutional.“A state cannot fill its coffers at the expense of hard-working Americans miles away in other states who work to keep our lights on and houses warm,” McCuskey wrote in a letter to Maryland’s Senate President Bill Ferguson, D-Baltimore City, and House Speaker Adrienne Jones, D-Baltimore County. “The bill inappropriately targets and extracts large sums…

(The Center Square) – Attorney General Dave Yost wants Congress to allow every state to join Ohio with year-round access to an ethanol-gasoline fuel blend.Yost, along with 15 other state attorneys general, sent a letter to Congress urging a plan they say will help jump-start United States energy production by expanding access to E15 gasoline.Most states are only allowed access to E15 – a blend with 15% ethanol and 85% gasoline – during nonsummer months. During the other times, those states can use E10 gas. Eight states, including Ohio, can use E15 throughout the year.Yost says a change will help motorists…

To the Editor:Re “Chaos as Ripple Effects From V.A. Cuts Spread” (news article, March 11):Nothing could have been more predictable: Elon Musk and his associates rampage through the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Department of Government Efficiency amateurs fail to distinguish essential services from waste, fraud and abuse. And the result is chaos, harming real people.This is a case study in poor policy judgment. The V.A. is far from perfect, but many of its programs serve Americans with serious needs, demonstrating that government sometimes works. The states cannot provide veterans with all the services they need, so that must be…

The first major set of economic reports last week reflect the state of the United States economy during President Donald Trump’s first full month in office. The data reveal a spike in layoffs and slower hiring growth across both the public and private sectors, with looming cuts suggesting larger economic woes in the months ahead. The US economy added 151,000 jobs, according to the Labor Department report, which came out on Friday – well short of economist expectations showing a stall in economic growth. Approximately 7.1 million Americans are currently receiving unemployment benefits compared with 6.5 million this time last…

(The Center Square) – Average households in the Carolinas could save $155 per year on annual electricity retail costs two decades from now with increased pipeline capacity, a report from the American Petroleum Institute says.The report says there is “need for increased natural gas infrastructure to help maintain affordable electricity utility bills for consumers.”“Rising demand for energy in the coming decades could put our nation’s natural gas infrastructure to the test,” said David McGowan, the Southeast Region director for American Petroleum. “Supporting policies, like permitting reform, that help foster investments in constructing new pipelines and upgrading existing pipeline infrastructure could…

Ukrainian and American officials are meeting in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday in hopes of finding a way to halt the Russia-Ukraine war. But the United States, Ukraine and Russia each have very different ideas about what a potential agreement should look like.Ahead of the talks, Ukraine and Russia launched deadly strikes on each other’s territory, including a large-scale drone attack on Moscow.What’s happening today?Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Michael Waltz, the U.S. national security adviser, sat down in the city of Jeddah with a delegation led by Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha…

Waymo self-driving cars with roof-mounted sensor arrays traveling near palm trees and modern buildings along the Embarcadero, San Francisco, California, February 21, 2025. Smith Collection/gado | Archive Photos | Getty ImagesWaymo on Tuesday announced it is expanding its service to include another 27 square miles of coverage around the San Francisco Bay Area.With the expansion, Waymo will now take passengers around Mountain View, Los Altos, Palo Alto and parts of Sunnyvale, California. The Alphabet-owned company opened its robotaxi service to the general public in San Francisco in June.Waymo will initially limit the availability of its Silicon Valley service to users of…

(The Center Square) – Companion bills in the Texas House and Senate have been filed to expand health-care access and strengthen price transparency statewide.State Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo, filed HB 3794 in the House and state Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston, filed SB 1859 in the Senate.“Texans deserve access to high-quality healthcare close to home, and this legislation will improve care while empowering both patients and providers,” Darby said. “By introducing stronger price transparency measures, we can ensure Texans have access to high-quality, affordable care. This legislation is a common-sense approach to healthcare that will lead to better outcomes for…

US President Donald Trump has announced he will double planned tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminium imports to 50 percent, escalating a trade war with the United States’s northern neighbour. In a social media post on Tuesday morning, Trump said the increased tariffs come in response to a decision by the province of Ontario to put a 25-percent surcharge on electricity exports to some US states. He said the increased tariffs on steel and aluminium would come into effect on Wednesday. “The only thing that makes sense is for Canada to become our cherished Fifty First State. This would make…

Traditionally a celebration for those of Irish heritage, St. Patrick’s Day gained even greater significance in American history when it coincided with a pivotal moment in the Revolutionary War—the British evacuation of Boston. On a day dedicated to Ireland’s patron saint, legendary for banishing the island’s snakes to the sea, American patriots drove British troops from their shores, cheering as they retreated on March 17, 1776.The eviction of the British after the 11-month Siege of Boston marked a crucial step toward American independence and earned George Washington his first major strategic victory since assuming command of the Continental Army in…