Thursday, February 18, 7:00pm. City Nights Theater at Capital City Bar & Grill, 3149 S. Dirksen Pkwy, Springfield. It's a free event is hosted by the Sierra Club Sangamon Valley Group. Copies of the book will be available for purchase.
I'm excited to have this reading in Springfield because Biggers is an Illinois native who focuses on the past and present of Illinois coal.
The Chicago Reader did an article about Biggers' new book and his take on clean coal.
Politicians tend to support initiatives that would create jobs back home, but opponents argue that Illinois would get more economic stimulus from so-called green jobs—at new plants to build wind turbines and solar panels in Illinois—than from reopening Illinois mines. Biggers thinks Obama and other coal backers are caught up in "nostalgia" for the proud days of union mining in Illinois, and points out that in reality modern mechanized mining techniques require minimal manpower. Most remaining Illinois mines are nonunion, and Biggers expects the owners of new or reopened mines to fight union organizers tooth and nail. He advocates a kind of "GI bill for coal miners," with government subsidies to help them find jobs in clean energy sectors.