For more than a century, coal has kept the lights on in the industrialized world. But coal-fired power plants are closing across the United States and Europe. Market forces have shifted to cheaper natural gas and renewables, not to mention the concerns about climate-changing carbon dioxide that the plants produce. But in the state of Wyoming, where coal is an important part of the economy, the government is trying to put the brakes on the transition. VOA’s Steve Baragona reports.
 

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In 2018, the United States reached an agreement with Mexico and Canada — two of its biggest trading partners — to replace the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. The new USMCA Trade Agreement is billed as “more balanced and reciprocal,” but as VOA’s Kane Farabaugh reports, the lack of a vote in the U.S. Congress to ratify the agreement is a source of frustration for U.S. farmers.

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