Gubernatorial candidate Rauner at Knight Hawk Coal
Knight Hawk Coal Co. president Steve Carter called it a "calculated risk" in hosting Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner during a coal rally Tuesday afternoon at the Prairie Eagle coal mine near Cutler
But, with Illinois' own President Obama turning on coal and Gov. Pat Quinn providing, at-best, lukewarm support for the livelihood of Southern Illinois miners, Carter has to turn somewhere for help.
He is finding some of it in Rauner and some of it in Rep. Mike Bost (R-Murphysboro), who is challenging incumbent Bill Enyart in the 12th congressional district.
What's frustrating to Carter is the fact it is historically democrat leaders and legions of coal miners from democrat families who have supported Illinois coal.
Election Day is five weeks away and the large Rauner for Governor motor coach navigated the mine road up to the office where Carter was waiting alongside state legislative candidate Terri Bryant, Republican Sen. David Luechtefeld, Perry County board chairman Bobby Kelly and republican county treasurer candidate Mary Jane Craft.
This was the last of five stops in Southern Illinois as part of his shake-up express bus tour.
Throughout the day Rauner talked about ending Gov. Quinn's tax increase, but has not said much about how to replace the revenue.
"We are going to take it down where it started at three percent. We are going to roll it down over four years and getting back to where it started in 2010 at 3 percent."
During his stops in Mt. Vernon, West Frankfort and Carbondale, the candidate said he would reduce wasteful spending, claiming the money saved can be used to help fund Illinois schools.
Abut 200 coal miners ending the first shift or beginning the second shift at Prairie Eagle stopped to hear Carter and Rauner. Carter told them, "I can't tell you how to vote, but I can tell you who--in my judgement--will help our industry."
He got a promise from Rauner to speed up the coal mine permit process. Carter said Quinn's dust rules would have required that "everything here" be covered.
Carter respects the need for a clean environment more than most, but it is ridiculous that Illinois coal families should be penalized while other countries of the world like China completely ignore the notion of a cleaner environment.
Carter invited candidate Terri Bryant because she believes that power is given to the government by the people and not given from the government to the people. She also believes hat economic growth comes from entrepreneurialism, not the government.
The mid-1990s found the once-thriving Illinois coal industry reduced to a shadow of itself. The large coal companies had all but pulled up stakes and the demand for coal was in decline. Four partners - Steve Carter, F.D. Robertson, James Bunn and James Bunn Jr., however, understood there were still pockets of need for southern Illinois' high-quality, low chlorine coal. In 1998, Knight Hawk Coal, LLC, a family-owned coal mining company, was created to meet those needs.
Carter and family have single-handedly done more for coal and coal families in Southern Illinois than our lawmakers.
He is looking for a white-hot spark in a legislative bed of clinkers and ash.
In the early days Knight Hawk produced coal exclusively by surface mining. It opened its first underground mine in 2006. It currently has a mix of five surface, two underground and two carbon recovery operations. It employs nearly 400 miners and supports another 300 who provide services.