Earlier this year Peabody Energy announced it was laying off workers at its Cottage Grove coal mine in Southern Illinois. There have been concerns for months about the high levels of carbon monoxide at the Deer Run Mine in central Illinois. 

In many other parts of the country and around the globe, there is a move away from coal as a source of energy. 

We take a look at the coal industry in Illinois and the global coal market with Mary Anne Hitt, director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign and journalist Kari Lyderson. She covers coal and other energy issues for Midwest Energy News. She’s the author, most recently, of Mayor 1%.