* Yesterday…
He’ll also be speaking this afternoon at the Illinois Black Chamber of Commerce convention in Peoria. Neither of these are listed on his official schedule, so they’re considered campaign events, which makes the oppo file we’re about to look at more relevant.
I told subscribers about the governor’s southern Illinois event yesterday. He’s speaking this afternoon at the Illinois Basin Coal & Mining Expo. Republican attorney general candidate Erika Harold is also speaking, as well as some pro-coal Illinois congressmen and several coal industry executives.
Before we begin, the oppo file repeatedly references a federal campaign committee created by the governor and the state GOP called “Our Home, Our Fight.” The committee has raised $122K this year, with 20 percent of that coming from coal mining interests, which is significant. And these same coal execs will be speaking at today’s event. Some also contributed to the governor’s transition and inaugural committees.
* On to the oppo file. It has a predictable anti-Rauner, anti-coal slant, of course, but there’s stuff in here I did not know or had forgotten, so I think it’s useful in that context. I’ve highlighted a few things to make it easier to skim…
Bruce Rauner is appearing at the Illinois Basin Expo on August 8 in a symposium that includes Knight Hawk Coal President Steve Carter and White Stallion Energy CEO Steven E. Chancellor [Illinois Basin Expo, Accessed 8/7/2018]
Three Illinois coal companies - Knight Hawk Coal, White Stallion Energy, and Murray Energy - and the Illinois Coal Association Committee on Affirmative Leadership gave a combined $25,000 to the joint Rauner/Illinois GOP Federal fundraising committee “Our Home, Our Fight” in April 2018
Knight Hawk Coal
Knight Hawk Coal gave Our Home, Our Fight $5,000 on April 13, 2018 [FEC, Accessed 8/7/2018]
Knight Hawk Coal operates seven mines in southern Illinois [Knight Hawk Coal website, Accessed 8/7/2018]
Knight Hawk Coal hosted candidate Bruce Rauner in September 2014. “Abut (sic) 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.” [Du Quoin Call, 10/1/2014]
White Stallion Energy
White Stallion Energy, LLC gave Our Home, Our Fight $2,500 on April 25, 2018 [FEC, Accessed 8/7/2018]
White Stallion Energy mines coal from five sites in Illinois. White Stallion’s CEO Steve Chancellor met with former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and was appointed to the Department of the Interior’s International Wildlife Conservation Council by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke [Politico, 3/16/18]
Chancellor boasted he raised “north of a million” for the Trump campaign at a fundraiser hosted at his house. [Courier & Press, 8/16/16]
Murray Energy
Murray Energy Corporation gave Our Home, Our Fight $15,000 on April 25, 2018 [FEC, Accessed 8/7/2018]
Murray Energy is the largest underground coal mining company in America. [Murray Energy Website, Accessed, 8/7/2018]
Murray Energy gave up to $10,000 to the Rauner Transition and Illinois Inaugural Committee for Bruce Rauner’s Inauguration [Chicago Sun-Times, 1/10/2015]
In 2015, Murray Energy bought a large stake Foresight Energy, which has three Illinois mines and bills itself as a “leading coal producer in the Illinois Basin Region” [Foresight Website, Accessed 8/7/2018]
Foresight Energy gave up to $100,000 to the Rauner Transition and Illinois Inaugural Committee for Bruce Rauner’s Inauguration [Chicago Sun-Times, 1/10/2015]
Foresight recently filed to permanently close their Deer Hill Mine, which has been the site of an underground fire since 2014 [St. Louis Post Dispatch, 4/30/2018]
A Murray Energy subsidiary, Sugar Camp Energy, is threatening to force Illinois landowners to sell their land for mine infrastructure under a 1976 agreement. [Energy News Network, 3/19/28]
Murray energy subsidiary American Coal told regulators it was laying off 225 employees in Illinois last year. The layoffs were called “a move that industry sources say would likely shut one of the company’s top producing Illinois Basin mines.” [S&P Global, 4/28/2017]
The Illinois Coal Association Committee on Affirmative Leadership
The Illinois Coal Association Committee on Affirmative Leadership also gave “Our Home, Our Fight” $2,500 on April 13, 2018 [FEC, Accessed 8/7/2018]
The top donor to the The Illinois Coal Association Committee on Affirmative Leadership is Knight Hawk Coal [Illinois Sunshine, Accessed 8/7/2018]
Knight Hawk Coal currently has a mining permit pending before IDNR. This was the company Rauner told he’d speed up the permit process in 2014 [IDNR Website, Accessed 8/7/18]
Of the 5 roundtable participants, 4 have given to Rauner campaign-related vehicles either personally or via their companies.
$10,000 from Joe Craft On 10/17/14. [IL State Board of Elections, Accessed 8/7/18]
$5,000 from Steven Chancellor On 10/2/14. [IL State Board of Elections, Accessed 8/7/18]
$500 from Kemal Williamson On 10/2/14. [IL State Board of Elections, Accessed 8/7/18]
$250 from Phil Gonet, President Of The IL Coal Association, On 8/25/14. [IL State Board of Elections, Accessed 8/7/18]
$15,000 on 10/2/14 and $1,000 on 6/2/14 from The Illinois Coal Association Committee On Affirmative Leadership. [IL State Board of Elections, Accessed 8/7/18]
* The Sierra Club apparently heard I had the file, so they sent me a statement from Illinois Chapter Director Jack Darin…
Today Bruce Rauner is huddling with the same coal barons who are colluding with Donald Trump to take America backward and out of the global clean energy economy. These billionaires and corporations are funding Rauner’s re-election campaign while seeking state permits to pollute our land, air, and water supply, despite a history of violating our environmental laws.
We can’t let Bruce Rauner and his coal campaign donors dictate a dirtier future for Illinois by copying Donald Trump’s dirty energy plans. We need to embrace the clean energy investments and jobs already being created across the state, and work with historic coal communities to seize these and other new economic opportunities. Communities that used to rely on coal mining deserve real help in diversifying their economies and winning clean energy jobs, not the false promise that the coal barons will do anything but make a profit while polluting our land, air, and water.
- Precinct Captain - Wednesday, Aug 8, 18 @ 12:33 pm:
Rauner’s culture of corruption
- Phil King - Wednesday, Aug 8, 18 @ 12:35 pm:
Wait….they consider this oppo?
“Rauner is trying to help industries that provide good middle class jobs to downstate Illinoisans!”
Stop the presses.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Aug 8, 18 @ 12:36 pm:
Will JB renounce Brendan Phelps’ current lobbying job for the “coal barons” at Foresight?
- Shelby Thomas Weems - Wednesday, Aug 8, 18 @ 12:37 pm:
Blago also got a ton of donations from Knight Hawk so at least Rauner is in good company (exclamation point)
- Soccermom - Wednesday, Aug 8, 18 @ 12:50 pm:
Don’t forget Murray’s role in the firing of our own Simon Edelman from his job at the Department of Energy, after Simon blew the whistle on Murray’s attempt to take over our nation’s energy policy.
- Honeybear - Wednesday, Aug 8, 18 @ 12:51 pm:
I find this new pro coal stance hilarious
Because the Raunerites
Absolutely destroyed the
Coal bureau at DCEO.
It used to be on the org chart and everything
Gone
Vanished
Schultz and Winters
Took it out in the first wave.
Bruce Rauner was never the friend of coal
But Bruce Rauner can smell profit
From a thousand miles.
Trump must have something in the works.
Bruce ignored and starved the needs of coal.
DCEO is proof
- Texas Red - Wednesday, Aug 8, 18 @ 12:53 pm:
These are voluntary legal contributions, coal is valuable resource and the coal companies ( while smaller than in the past) are an important part of the southern Illinois community. Republican governors pick up donations from big business; just as Democratic candidates pick up trial lawyer and union money.
- A guy - Wednesday, Aug 8, 18 @ 1:01 pm:
Coal Barons?
They’re as bad as the Whale Oil Barons.
The bar for being a Baron is lower in some places. Any Solar Barons out there? Light ‘em up.
- Saluki - Wednesday, Aug 8, 18 @ 1:03 pm:
Rauner supports coal doesn’t seem shocking.
- wordslinger - Wednesday, Aug 8, 18 @ 1:08 pm:
–Wait….they consider this oppo?
“Rauner is trying to help industries that provide good middle class jobs to downstate Illinoisans!”–
PK, if you can’t get help with that short-term memory loss, maybe you can get a gig in a “Memento” remake.
The following was yesterday, dude. You were around.
–Phil Gonet, president of the Illinois Coal Association, said the state produced 62 million tons of coal in 1990 and employed about 10,000 people in the industry. By 2014, though, he said, coal employment plummeted to about 4,500 workers statewide, while overall production budged only slightly, to 58 million tons.
“We produced about the same amount of coal as we did in 1990, with about half the people,” he says.–
Big Coal ain’t about “creating jobs.” They want to boost profits by polluting more and laying off more poison on breathers and water drinkers.
https://capitolfax.com/2018/08/07/if-there-is-a-war-on-coal-then-coal-is-losing-badly/
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Aug 8, 18 @ 1:25 pm:
===They want to boost profits by===
And also by exporting to countries which use the coal to make cheap steel, which hurts many other industries.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Aug 8, 18 @ 1:32 pm:
Honeybear is on to something. Who are Rauner’s constituents?
- DarkHorse - Wednesday, Aug 8, 18 @ 1:32 pm:
Why in the world is Harold speaking at this event?
Now, Raoul - in addition to painting her as anti-LGBTQ and “extreme” on abortion - can cast her as anti-environment.
Raoul is not a good candidate, but Harold is helping him energize the Dem coalition against her.
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Aug 8, 18 @ 2:08 pm:
Ms. Bourne’s recent tweet about coal and this oppo dump puts focus, not substance, in perspective.
For Bourne, it plays well in her district, coal and such, because in the micro of her world (district) it probably polls very well within that specific area and constituency.
Rauner has statewide macro issues and looking more and more like someone beholden to coal and with environmental issues at play, it allows area of the state to weigh in and tick off a list of where Rauner fails as governor of a whole state, if you are “anti-coal” or more forward thinking environmentally.
The monies? That gets more into the weeds that larger areas of voters who think environmentally, but might not hit 3 floors down in the digging.
Still, how this helps with his lacking a constituency, it may solidify some Trumpkins, but Rauner still won’t say POTUS’ name, so what are we really talking about? Rauner is with Trump on coal, just don’t ask him why he won’t say or cite Trump publicly?
Hmm.
- 47th Ward - Wednesday, Aug 8, 18 @ 2:19 pm:
I’m sure Erica Harold’s personal belief is that pollution is between a coal company, its miner and it’s community. Also, the decision to sue a coal company will only be made if the life of a person is threatened by pollution (no exception for health).
Lol. But it’s just her personal belief. She’ll follow the law. Nothing to see here.
- City Zen - Wednesday, Aug 8, 18 @ 2:28 pm:
==I’m sure Erica Harold’s personal belief is that pollution is between a coal company, its miner and it’s community.==
But her challenger is Smokey the Senator.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Aug 8, 18 @ 2:33 pm:
Honeybear, Rauner didn’t get rid of the state’s coal program. It was transferred to DNR via Executive Order 17-03. Only reason it wasn’t going before was because of the budget impasse. Understand that a simple google search would get in the way of your talking points though.
- BlueDogDem - Wednesday, Aug 8, 18 @ 2:42 pm:
In terms of KnightHawk,it’s not just about coal miners. Ya’ll ought see the operation from Percy to the river.
- Honeybear - Wednesday, Aug 8, 18 @ 3:02 pm:
I stand corrected. I totally forgot that. You are absolutely right. My apologies for the error.
However…
Dumping it off on DNR
From DCEO
Still had the effect I was trying ,but failed ,to communicate.
Rauner moved it from the economic development agency
To DNR……
Which robbed all economic development resources and focus
In any no matter where he dumped it
All agencies were subsequently starved
Neither DCEO or DNR
Have been out there hustling for coal.
Rauner is no friend of business in general
Except his own investments
How else do you make more money
In office ,90,000 an hour, than you did before.
Rauners found a new sweet thang
- BlueDogDem - Wednesday, Aug 8, 18 @ 3:45 pm:
Coal companies did have an ulterior motive for consolidating.
- Lester Holt’s Mustache - Wednesday, Aug 8, 18 @ 3:47 pm:
==A Murray Energy subsidiary, Sugar Camp Energy, is threatening to force Illinois landowners to sell their land for mine infrastructure under a 1976 agreement. [Energy News Network, 3/19/28]==
This right here should be enough to make a decent human being walk right out of this room full of polecats, so it’s probably right up Rauner’s alley. I’m not a libertarian, but nothing grinds my gears quite as much as abusing eminent domain laws to help out already wealthy businessmen. You want the land, you pay the asking price instead of paying off republican politicians.
- Going nuclear - Wednesday, Aug 8, 18 @ 5:21 pm:
= Honeybear, Rauner didn’t get rid of the state’s coal program. It was transferred to DNR via Executive Order 17-03. Only reason it wasn’t going before was because of the budget impasse. =
The DCEO Coal Office may have been transferred to DNR, but I went to the DNR web site and could not find any information about its programs or activities. Maybe someone with better research skills can find information about the coal office, but I question whether it exists. I did find the Office of Mines and Minerals, but that office regulates the coal mining industry. The coal office was tasked with promoting and marketing Illinois coal.
- Pundent - Wednesday, Aug 8, 18 @ 5:56 pm:
If only those new coal machines could vote. Then they’d really be on to something.
- Da Big Bad Wolf - Wednesday, Aug 8, 18 @ 8:21 pm:
==but nothing grinds my gears quite a much as abusing eminent domain laws to help out already wealthy.==
It’s not eminent domain. The owners of the land signed it over for money decades ago.