History of Illinois Coal Mining
Watch Illinois’ history with coal. The video features slavery, prosperity, and uprisings & disasters that led to labor & environmental laws.
Join A Delegation
Join a Delegation – Be Transformed! One of the ingredients of change is to link information with moral principles. We can all read about coal mining and its impacts on the air, land and water resources of an adjacent community. But without seeing the destruction and meeting those impacted, we’re likely just to process what […]
Request to Expand Mine as Fire Burns Underground
An informal conference is supposed to be an opportunity for questions and answers regarding a new coal mine permit application, revision, or renewal. But questions related to the fire were not deemed to be applicable by the Department.
Illinois Subsidizes Coal
Illinois subsidizes coal nearly $20 million each year despite the fact that it has a budget deficit of over $9 billion. Isn’t it time that coal companies paid their faire share?
Support Coal-Producing Communities
Why should communities benefit from a coal severance tax? When companies pull out, or changes in production cause substantial job loss, communities experience spikes in unemployment, and loss of business and trade.
MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL MINING
WHAT IS MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL MINING? Mountaintop removal mining (MTR) is a radical form of coal mining in which entire mountains are blown apart to access coal. MTR has devastated over one million acres of Appalachia, polluting headwater streams, contaminating drinking water and destroying a distinctly American culture that has endured generations. Over 2,000 miles of […]
COAL – THE “COMEBACK KID”?
ILLINOIS – BRIGHT SPOT IN A DECLINING ECONOMY Why Illinois? Illinois has vast reserves of high-energy, high-sulfur coal that lay under much of our state. But when the Clean Air Act was amended in the 1990’s, Illinois’ coal was determined to be too polluting to burn, putting an end to much of that state’s coal […]
Honor Poet / Activist Barney Bush
Honor Barney Bush and the Shawnee Vinyard Indian Settlement on September 12. Learn about their struggle against mining and fracking.
Let’s Talk About Illinois Coal Mining
While much of the country is talking about fracking, corporations such as Peabody Coal and Foresight Reserves LP are quietly extracting coal from America’s Heartland. Strip mining, room and pillar and longwall mining for coal are destroying some of the best agricultural farmland in the world, displacing once cohesive farming communities, and polluting clean water across the Illinois coal basin, which includes the state of Illinois and portions of Indiana and Kentucky.
At the other end of the coal cycle, burning coal is contributing to toxic coal ash dumps, which threatening the health and safety of nearby residents, and destroying our climate.
Part II: From the Holler to the Hood – Stories of Oppreseion
Part II: From the Holler to the Hood – Stories of Oppression Larry Gibson, Keeper of the Mountains, is coming […]