www.thecentersquare.com – By Thérèse Boudreaux | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-03-17 11:37:00
(The Center Square) – America’s natural gas industry celebrated Monday after President Donald Trump signed into law a resolution repealing Biden-era fees on methane emissions.
The Waste Emissions Charge, which Republicans say is the equivalent of a natural gas tax, was authorized by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act and implemented by the Environmental Protection Agency in November 2024.
The resolution rescinds that regulation under the Congressional Review Act. The CRA legislation gives Congress the authority to repeal regulations issued during the final months of a previous administration.
House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., called the repeal “a victory for the American businesses and families who would have been forced to bear the cost of the Biden-Harris Administration’s natural gas tax.”
“It’s time to restore American energy dominance by harnessing innovation and producing the natural gas needed to support our electric grid,” Guthrie added.
Energy experts who testified before Congress in February said the high energy prices during Joe Biden’s presidency directly resulted from increased environmental regulations on energy production. The regulations slowed down domestic energy production and consequently led to increased costs, they said.
The American Exploration and Production Council (AXPC) shares the same view, praising Republicans in Congress and Trump for repealing the Waste Emissions Charge.
“AXPC thanks President Trump for signing the Congressional Review Act legislation – to undo EPA’s flawed rule to implement the natural gas tax,” AXPC CEO Anne Bradbury stated. “While American energy producers remain laser focused on reducing methane emissions, this punitive rule risked undermining those efforts.”
An analysis by the Congressional Budget Office shows that “Charging for methane emissions leads to an increase in the price of natural gas and a decrease in the quantity of natural gas produced and consumed.”
But environmental groups have argued that the legislation will increase energy costs and disrupt efforts to reduce emissions of a potent greenhouse gas. Nearly 80 environmentalist groups recently sent a letter urging lawmakers to keep the regulation, about to take effect, in place.
The Center Square reached out to multiple environmental groups but received no response in time for publication.
SUMMARY: In Somerset, Kentucky, 69-year-old John Woody barricaded himself in his home after shooting into neighboring residences. Authorities were alerted Sunday evening, and after unsuccessful negotiations, the Kentucky State Police Special Response Team was called in. Woody then fired at troopers, prompting the use of less-lethal force to apprehend him. He faces charges including first-degree wanton endangerment for discharging a firearm and attempted murder of a peace officer. Additional charges were filed by the Somerset Police Department. The investigation, involving multiple law enforcement agencies, is ongoing.
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) cost Kentucky nearly \$300 million annually in healthcare expenses and lost workforce productivity, according to a new report from Kentucky Youth Advocates and Bloom Kentucky. Based on 2015–2020 data, 62% of Kentucky adults reported at least one ACE, with divorce and substance abuse being the most common. These experiences are linked to chronic health issues, unemployment, and risky behaviors. The report urges investment in child well-being, including access to quality childcare, a child tax credit, and efforts to reduce poverty. Non-white and multiracial Kentuckians report higher ACE rates than white residents.
Adverse experiences in childhood and their lasting consequences cost Kentucky nearly $300 million a year, a new report says.
Kentucky Youth Advocates and Bloom Kentucky, a KYA initiative focused on reducing childhood adversity, on Monday released an analysis, called “The Economic Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences in Kentucky” that shows health care costs and loss of workforce participation as a result of childhood trauma comes with a $295 million annual price tag.
Dr. Shannon Moody, Kentucky Youth Advocates’ Chief Officer of Strategic Initiatives.
The analysis is based on Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey data from 2015–20. At that time, 62% of Kentucky adults said they’d had at least one adverse childhood experience or ACE and 19% reported four or more.
ACEs are traumas or stressors in a person’s life before their 18th birthday. They include, but are not limited to, parental divorce, abuse, parental incarceration, substance use issues in the home and more. The more ACEs a person has, the more likely they are to have poor health, lower education and economic hardships.
When these stressors become chronic, it “has an impact on our physiology,” explained Shannon Moody, Kentucky Youth Advocates’ chief officer of strategic initiatives.
The more ACEs a person has, the more likely they are to turn to unhealthy practices like smoking, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ACEs survivors also tend to report poorer mental health, may be unemployed and are more likely to have chronic health issues like diabetes and cancer, according to the CDC.
“The ways that our body absorbs stress or deals with stress has an impact on our physiology as well as on our mental health,” Moody said. “When that stress goes unaddressed in our bodies, it starts to take a toll on how our bodies’ function.”
The result is sicker people who may not be able to work and contribute to the economy.
“If we don’t invest in making sure that kids can overcome the adversity that they are (facing) — or maybe prevent it if it is preventable — we’re going to end up absorbing the costs through our state budget,” Moody said.
People with at least one ACE are more likely to be unable to work or be out of work. (Screenshot)
What’s in the report?
According to Monday’s analysis:
The most common type of ACEs in Kentucky is divorce with 32% of adults reporting they lived through their parents splitting when they were children. A close second, 31% of adults reported there were substance abuse issues in their childhood home.
ACEs cost Kentucky — both in medical spending and in lost income when people cannot work — nearly $300 million each year. Among these, smoking costs more than $107 million each year in lost wages.
Depression costs the state the most in treatment expenses at $728,000 annually.
Kentucky has higher expenses per person in treating ACEs than most of its neighboring states.
People with at least one ACE are more likely to be unable to work or be out of work.
Non-white Kentuckians are more likely to have experienced ACEs than their white counterparts. Multiracial Kentuckians have the highest rates of ACEs.
ACEs cost Kentucky — both in medical spending and in lost income when people cannot work — nearly $300 million each year. Among these, smoking costs more than $107 million each year in lost wages. (Screenshot)
“Given how common ACEs are in Kentucky, organizations, agencies and decisionmakers must take trauma into account when working to strengthen communities,” the report says. “Understanding the widespread impact of trauma begins with learning both its effects and the potential pathways to healing.”
That includes creating better access to quality child care, Moody said, and creating a state child tax credit. Combating poverty, which affects 20% of Kentucky’s children and for many means they don’t have reliable sources of nutritious food, is key as well.
She also stressed the importance of positive childhood experiences (PCEs), which can balance children’s adverse experiences. PCEs can include feeling supported by friends, having adults who care, the ability to talk with family members about feelings and more.
“Even if a child is experiencing adversity, even if they have an ACE score of 7, or they have had just a really tough environment in which they were raised, we can counterbalance those adversities with positive childhood experiences,” Moody said.
Kentucky has higher expenses per person in treating ACEs than most of its neighboring states. (Screenshot)
The report is a call to action, she said, to invest in child wellbeing and prevent ACEs.
“We need to get an understanding among all of our decision makers as far as what the implications of childhood adversity mean for our bottom line,” Moody said, “and for the investments that they’re making right now on behalf of kids.”
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.
SUBSCRIBE
Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Left
This content focuses on the social and economic impacts of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), highlighting public health, economic costs, and advocating for government investment in child wellbeing and social safety nets. The emphasis on expanding access to childcare, creating a state child tax credit, and protecting safety net programs such as Medicaid and SNAP from federal cuts are policy positions commonly associated with center-left perspectives that prioritize social welfare and preventative care. However, the article maintains a data-driven, policy-oriented tone without heavy ideological language, suggesting a moderate rather than overtly partisan approach.
www.youtube.com – FOX 56 News – 2025-06-15 23:12:28
SUMMARY: Scattered showers and humid conditions continued across central Kentucky on June 16, with localized flooding in Mercer and Boyle counties prompting a flash flood warning set to expire by 12:30 a.m. Showers will taper overnight, with patchy fog developing by morning. Monday starts mostly dry but humid, with afternoon highs in the mid-80s and renewed scattered downpours expected. The pattern repeats through Tuesday and Wednesday. Humidity remains oppressive most of the week, with a slight dip Friday. By the weekend, a high-pressure system will bring hotter conditions, with highs near 90°F and heat indices possibly reaching 100°F across the eastern U.S.
