On this West Virginia Morning, as Congress nears the end of its session, the clock is ticking on a tax that supports the federal Black Lung Disability Trust Fund. The fund provides benefits to tens of thousands of sick coal miners in the Ohio Valley. If Congress does not extend the tax, the fund will likely slide deeper into debt just as the region is seeing a surge in new cases of black lung.
As The Ohio Valley ReSource’s Becca Schimmel reports, the decision is largely in the hands of Kentucky senator Mitch McConnell.
Also on today’s show, one way to reduce the effects of climate change is to stop letting carbon emissions into the atmosphere. Scientists are searching for ways to capture the gas and store it. But that emerging technology has been slow to roll out. StateImpact Pennsylvania’s Amy Sisk looks at what the commonwealth is doing to develop it and the obstacles that stand in its way.
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