The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester except during vacations and exam weeks. Daily Egyptian online is uploaded at noon. Coal industry rallies support for revitalization Molly Parker Daily Egyptian Southern Illinois lawmakers met in Carbondale Friday to drive support behind legislation that could bring the slipping coal industry back to Illinois in full force. With energy costs skyrocketing, the state will be able to skirt the cost of importing energy by generating it within the state. The coal industry has long been the driving support behind the Southern Illinois economy, but the 1990 Clean Air Act, which set strict environmental stipulations, forced many mines to close.
Illinois coal contains high levels of sulfur.
The sulfur causes negative environmental repercussions, including acid rain and global warming. As the mines continued to shut down, a backlog of unemployed citizens caused unemployment rates to inflate in Southern Illinois. Local mayors, citizens and coal-mine workers have joined the state legislators' bipartisan effort to boost the coal industry in Illinois in hopes of creating new jobs. Joe Angleton, district 12 United Mine Worker Association President, testified before the committee on the concerns of ex-miners and the slipping industry. These are families in small communities where there are not a lot of jobs available.