Miners from all over the region rallied in Harrisburg Thursday night, hoping to raise awareness of the effects recent energy proposals have had on their industry.
Dennis Wolfe worked for White County Coal in Carmi but was laid off three weeks ago. He lives in Hamilton County, where more than 100 miners have been laid off in the last few weeks, and says times are hard right now.
"When you go from making $60-$90 thousand a year, and there's not another job out there to make a comparable income, it's a shock to you."
A Facebook page called the "Coal Miner's Movement 2016" was started earlier this month, and has more than 25,000 likes already.
Harrisburg Mayor Dale Fowler says his community struggles as the demand for coal decreases - but he says there are ways to stem the tide of losses.
"We all understand clean air technology. That's OK, I understand it. But until they're ready to turn that switch off of coal and replace these jobs with clean air technology, we need coal."
Organizers of that site and of last night's rally hope information on how things like the Clean Power Plan are affecting miners and their families will change the way lawmakers think about legislation they're considering.
