www.thecentersquare.com – By J.D. Davidson | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-03-11 11:56:00
(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 of money from energy suppliers to bankroll Maryland’s budget.”
McCuskey wrote a similar letter to lawmakers in New York.
McCuskey said Maryland does not produce much of its own coal, but the Port of Baltimore is the second-largest coal exporting port in the country. Coal passing through the port would be subject to a fee, hurting coal-producing states.
West Virginia is second in the nation in coal production, trailing only Wyoming.
More than 14,000 people in the state work in the coal industry, and coal-fired electric power plants account for 86% of West Virginia’s total electricity generation.
McCluskey said only 2% of the funds from Maryland’s Coal Dust Cleanup and Asthmas Remediation Act would flow into the state’s Fossil Fuel Mitigation Fund, which is set aside to address asthma treatment for communities impacted by coal. The rest, he says, would go into the state’s general fund.
“This bill inappropriately targets and extracts large sums of money from energy suppliers to bankroll Maryland’s budget,” the letter reads in part. “It does so by nearly doubling the cost of sending coal to or through Maryland. Though West Virginia supports Maryland’s efforts to solve its internal problems, 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.”
A new study published in JAMA Network Open finds that historically redlined communities experience slower emergency medical service (EMS) response times. Redlining was a discriminatory practice that denied mortgages to Black and Hispanic neighborhoods, marking them as “hazardous.” Researchers mapped EMS centers across 236 cities and found that residents in these redlined “D” neighborhoods had nearly three times higher odds of lacking rapid EMS access compared to “A”-graded, more affluent, predominantly white areas. Over 2.2 million people nationwide lack EMS response within five minutes, critical for life-threatening emergencies. The disparities contribute to broader health inequities linked to structural racism.
Residents of historically redlined communities experience slower response times from emergency medical services, according to a study published Tuesday in JAMA Network Open.
Redlining refers to the discriminatory practice under which the federal government and banks systematically denied mortgages to Black and Hispanic residents. The practice deemed neighborhoods with higher proportions of nonwhite residents to be undesirable and financially risky for mortgage lending.
Researchers mapped locations of EMS centers across 236 cities and analyzed maps produced in the 1930s by the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation. The government agency, created as part of the New Deal, consistently ranked majority-Black areas as “hazardous” for lending. Redlining has been illegal since enactment of the federal Fair Housing Act in 1968.
The research team calculated average EMS response times using the location of ambulance, fire and rescue services and historical traffic data. “Rapid” response was defined as five minutes or less, the benchmark set by the National Fire Protection Association for high-priority patients with life-threatening conditions.
The team found that more than 2.2 million people lack rapid EMS access. Areas historically graded “D” — financially “hazardous” for mortgage lending — had a significantly higher proportion of residents (roughly 7%) without rapid EMS access, compared with about 4% of residents in historically “most desirable” A-graded neighborhoods. D-graded neighborhoods had higher proportions of Black residents, whereas A-graded neighborhoods had more white residents.
Disparities were particularly acute in the Great Lakes region, the authors note. The odds of lacking rapid access to EMS were nearly three times higher for residents in historically D-graded neighborhoods, compared with A-graded neighborhoods in that region.
The findings add to the evidence linking policies rooted in structural racism to health disparities.
Research has shown redlined neighborhoods still disproportionately grapple with a multitude of health disparities, lower life expectancy and more exposure to air pollution.
The study found a racial disparity in where EMS stations are located, with fewer EMS stations in urban communities of color. Better tracking and accountability of EMS response times in communities could help address the issue, the researchers wrote.
Delays in emergency care are associated with higher mortality rates. For traumatic injuries, timely care is critical during what EMS professionals call the “golden hour,” or the first 60 minutes after an injury.
Other research has pointed to disparities in emergency response times. EMS response times for patients with cardiac arrest, for example, were 10% longer for low-income ZIP codes than high-income ZIP codes, according to a national study published in JAMA Network Open in 2018.
The study received funding support from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities.
Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org.
West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@westvirginiawatch.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 presents a fact-based exploration of how historical redlining—an explicitly racial and economic discriminatory practice—continues to impact disparities in emergency medical service response times. It highlights systemic inequalities and racial disparities consistent with social justice concerns more frequently emphasized in center-left discourse. The piece supports the view that structural racism has long-term effects and implicitly advocates for policy attention and accountability in emergency services, aligning with a center-left perspective on addressing inequality and promoting equity in public services. However, it maintains a measured tone and relies heavily on research and data, avoiding overt partisan rhetoric.
SUMMARY: A coal train with 220 cars, weighing 54 million pounds, derailed late Saturday night in Saint Albans. Due to the derailment, the police department warns that the crossing at the Boone Street tunnel is unsafe for pedestrians. CSX, the railroad company, states that track repair equipment will be moved periodically through the area, further increasing the hazard. Residents are strongly advised not to walk across the Boone Street crossing until repairs are completed and it is deemed safe. Authorities continue monitoring the situation to ensure public safety during the ongoing repair work.
SUMMARY: Storm Watch meteorologist Christian Butler reports a mild start with temperatures in Bluefield reaching the mid-70s before cooling overnight. Currently, some fog affects Greenbryer, Nicholas, and Monroe counties, urging cautious driving. A stationary front over Florida will bring moisture northward, causing showers and storms starting tomorrow. High pressure today limits rain, but it retreats by Wednesday, the week’s rainiest day. Showers continue scattered through the weekend, with Saturday slightly clearer. Temperatures will remain above average for the next 6 to 10 days across the central and eastern U.S., paired with increased precipitation. Expect a mix of showers and storms through the extended forecast.
