Jonathan Ashbrook is a design engineer by day and community organizer by night. Most recently he has been one of the voices behind the group “Stand Up to Coal,” which is rallying against a proposed underground coal mine operation in eastern Champaign County and western Vermilion County. He is also the co-founder of the Prairie Fire Soccer Club and a Cub Scout leader. Ashbrook and his wife of 16 years, Kimberly, are the parents of four boys: 11, 8, 6, and 3. They live in a sixth-generation family farmhouse outside of Homer.
See why we think Jonathan is a Chambana dad to know.
Q: Why is important to you to “Stand up To Coal?”
For me, this fight is personal on two levels. First, and why I initially became involved, is that the proposed mine will be dumping its excess water and surface runoff into the creek that runs behind our home, which has been in my family for several generations. The regulations for this are loose in Illinois and poorly enforced due to Illinois’ current financial status. Secondly, this has become an issue about the future of our community. My wife, Kimberly, and I, along with lots of other dedicated individuals, are working every day to make Homer a great location for families to move. A coal mine would be a blight on the community and would likely prevent a lot of families from moving here. One of our favorite questions to ask people is: “What community has actually benefited from coal in the long term?”
Q: Why should others outside of Homer care about this mine will there be a ripple effect to the rest of the County?
Coal mines, and burning coal in general, have a very negative effect on people’s health. Parents should always be concerned when local children’s health is at risk. Most of the local effects of the proposed mine would occur downwind and downstream of the mine, in Vermilion County, where there is no zoning and not much government interest in stopping the mine. The runoff will go down our creek and into the scenic Salt Fork River, where the village of Oakwood gets its drinking water. It will then continue past the Boy Scouts’ Camp Drake where our boys like to play and boat in the river. Nearly every Cub Scout and Boy Scout in Champaign has spent time at that camp.
Q: How can other parents get involved and support your efforts?
Become informed. Take a look at our website, standuptocoal.org, where we have a lot of links and news stories. Don’t be intimidated. Contact your state and county legislators and let them know you don’t want any more mines in Central Illinois. Thus far, state legislators have been very cool to our comments. They need to hear from more people that we don’t want more coal mines. The coal industry would like to turn Illinois into the next West Virginia.
Q: How has this issue divided the community?
We have worked hard to avoid making this personal, with the intent of reducing the damage to the community. In a small community, there is a lot of overlap of who is involved with what. It’s impossible not to interact people from the “other side.” While this issue has not been as divisive as it could be, last Monday’s village board meeting was pretty ugly and really did disrupt some friendships.
Q: Children are at the heart of this fight. What do your kids know about what is happening in this situation, and how are they handling it?
This is tricky. We have tried to keep children out of it. We are indeed fighting for them and their children, but they are too young to understand the politics. It has been particularly hard to keep this out of Cub Scouts, where we teach about respecting the environment and caring for what we have been given. That being said, we have shared some of the fight with our 11year old. This is an important lesson in civics and democracy and shows that people can make a difference, we hope.
Q: You have four sons. How do you handle all that energy?
Breathe deeply. “Boys, go outside and run around.” Living out in the country is a real advantage. We can send the kids outside and not worry too much about them getting into trouble. At the end of the day, our house is just flatout crazy most of the time.
Q: What is the favorite part of your day, and why?
Coming home, both times. I usually come home twice a day once after work, and once after our evening activities. Because we have four boys, statistically speaking, the chances are good that one of them will be excited to see me after work “Dad’s home!! Hey Dad, guess what….”. When we come home the second time, it’s bedtime, and then blessed Mommy/Daddy quiet time.
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