Home » Posts tagged 'peabody energy'

Tag Archives: peabody energy

Olduvai
Click on image to purchase

Olduvai III: Catacylsm
Click on image to purchase

Post categories

Post Archives by Category

End Of An Era: Peabody Declares Bankruptcy

April 13, 2016

End Of An Era: Peabody Declares Bankruptcy

The St. Louis-based Peabody Energy Corp. warned a month ago that it was considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and on Wednesday they made it official. Peabody’s mines will continue to operate uninterrupted through the bankruptcy process. According to Peabody’s court filing, it has obtained $800 million in debtor-in-possession financing facilities.

“Through today’s action, we will seek an in-court solution to Peabody’s substantial debt burden amid a historically challenged industry backdrop. This process enables us to strengthen liquidity and reduce debt, build upon the significant operational achievements we’ve made in recent years and lay the foundation for long-term stability and success in the future,” the company said in a press release.

Peabody has suffered a dramatic fall from grace, after paying $5.1 billion to acquire major coal-producing assets in Australia in 2011. Since then, coal prices have collapsed, coal demand has ground to a halt, and Peabody’s debt has piled up. In the U.S., cheap natural gas and environmental regulation has led to coal’s downfall in the electric power sector. Abroad, a slowdown in China has hurt both thermal and metallurgical coal demand. China’s demand for steel has slowed and it is undertaking a shift away from coal because of air pollution, leaving the world’s top coal producers with a vastly smaller market than they had expected just a few years ago.

U.S. coal exports have declined in recent years, leaving Peabody – who oversees large mining operations in Wyoming – with too much coal and not enough demand. U.S. coal exports fell by 23 percent in 2015 compared to a year earlier.

Peabody’s bankruptcy is the latest in a string of bankruptcies from major coal producers, including Arch Coal, Alpha Natural Resources, Patriot Coal, and Walter Energy.

Major Climate Science Denial Groups Offer to Hide Fossil Fuel Funding, Greenpeace Investigation Finds

December 9, 2015

Major Climate Science Denial Groups Offer to Hide Fossil Fuel Funding, Greenpeace Investigation Finds

Greenpeace operatives posing as representatives of coal and oil companies were told that while the reports could be produced, there were ways that the sources of funding could be hidden.

Academics affiliated with leading US academic institutions Princeton and Penn State universities are implicated in the Greenpeace research.

According to a report on the investigation at Greenpeace’s EnergyDesk website, Princeton’s Professor William Happer had revealed he had accepted cash from coal company Peabody Energy in return for providing testimony to US congress but had routed the cash through a climate denial group. Happer also offered his services but said that a new climate science denial group, CO2 Coalition, should be used to channel the funds.

Groups including the Global Warming Policy Foundation and Donors Trust are also alleged to have been complicit in providing “peer review” services for fossil fuel clients and, in the case of Donors Trust, in providing an untraceable route for the fossil fuel payments.

The story comes as Happer is preparing to give evidence to a congressional hearing of the Senate Subcomittee on Space, Science and Competitiveness, chaired by Republican and presidential hopeful Ted Cruz. That hearing is scheduled for Tuesday December 8 and also calls fellow “sceptics” Dr John Christy, of the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Dr Judith Curryof Georgia Institute of Technology and conservative commentator Mark Steyn.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Groups Hand 360,000 Signatures to Justice Department Calling for “Exxon Knew” Probe

November 21, 2015

Groups Hand 360,000 Signatures to Justice Department Calling for “Exxon Knew” Probe

Exxon social license revoked

With the hottest October in world history recorded recently, a slew of advocacy groups have delivered 360,000 petition signatures to the U.S. Department of Justice, calling for a probe of petrochemical industry giant ExxonMobil’s history of funding climate change denial despite what the company knew about climate science.

The groups ranging from 350.org, Food and Watch Watch, Climate Parents, Moms Clean Air Force, The Nation, Sierra Club and others have asked DOJ to investigate what ExxonMobil knew about climate change and when the company knew it, juxtaposing that insider knowledge, exposed by both InsideClimate News and The Los Angeles Times, with the climate change denial campaign it funded both in the past and through to the present.

“That’s right: decades before climate change became a hotly debated political issue, the biggest oil company in the world was doing cutting-edge research into just what was causing it and how dangerous it might be,” reads the petition, pointing back to the research the company did on climate change dating back to the 1970’s and 1980’s.

“But Exxon chose to protect their profits over the planet, and proceeded to cover up their findings for nearly forty years.,” it continues. “They hid the work of their own scientists, while financing an elaborate network of climate-denial think tanks, organizations, and politicians.”

“Might Get Away With It”

The petition also says that while it’s unsurprising ExxonMobil committed such a deed, what’s scary is that in the legal sphere “they just might get away with it.”

That concern by the groups does not arise out of a vacuum.

Case in point: coal giant Peabody Energy recently got off the hook in the aftermath of a New York State Attorney General Office investigation by merely amending some line-items in its corporate securities filings with the U.S.Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Peabody Energy ‘Experts’ Sow Doubt About Reality of Climate Change

August 26, 2015

Peabody Energy ‘Experts’ Sow Doubt About Reality of Climate Change

According to publicly available court records, US coal company Peabody Energyrecently submitted expert testimony to the Minnesota Public Utilities commission arguing that, ”CO2 is not harmful and is actually good for the planet” and that “there is no empirical scientific evidence for significant climate effects of rising CO2 levels, and there is no convincing evidence that anthropogenic global warming (AGW) will produce catastrophic climate changes.”

These statements and many more were included in “expert” presentations made to the Minnesota Public Utilities commission in June of this year by Roy Spencer and Roger Bezdek, who were both testifying on behalf of Peabody Energy.

The hearings were conducted by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission which is investigating the environmental and socioeconomic costs of carbon and greenhouse gases.

Roger Bezdek, an economist and president of a consulting firm called Management Information Services, Inc, offered testimony on behalf of Peabody Energy on June 1, 2015.

According to court documents, Bezdek’s purpose for appearing in front of the commission on behalf of Peabody was to “assess whether the Commission should adopt a new environmental cost value for CO2 based on the benefits of CO2 emissions and the problems with the federal social cost of carbon (SCC).”

Bezdek did not respond to a request for clarification on his relationship with Peabody Energy or what his financial compensation was for his expert opinion.

Looking at the provided footnotes that accompanied Bezdek’s testimony, it relies heavily on the work of well known climate deniers with historical ties to the fossil fuel industry, like Fred Singer, Craig Idso and Willie Soon.

In his testimony, Bezdek made the following claims regarding climate change and carbon pollution:

“CO2 is not harmful and is actually good for the planet…”

“The federal SCC [social costs of carbon] estimates do not adequately consider the benefits 27 of fossil fuels andCO2 emission.”

 

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

 

 

Peabody Energy to White House: Greenhouse Gas a ‘Non-Existent Harm’

July 15, 2015

Peabody Energy to White House: Greenhouse Gas a ‘Non-Existent Harm’

In an official submission to the White House earlier this year, U.S. coal giant Peabody Energy claims that greenhouse gas is a “non-existent harm” and a “benign gas that is essential to all life.”

The March 2015 submission from Peabody further claims that “while the benefits of carbon dioxide are proven, the alleged risks of climate change are contrary to observed data, are based on admitted speculation, and lack adequate scientific basis.”

It has become increasingly rare, especially in the last few years as countries and corporations have begun to take the issue of climate change more seriously, to see a publicly traded company like Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU) making claims that are so contrary to the well-documented scientific consensus that greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fossil fuels are negatively impacting our climate, health and way of living.

While there are thousands of peer-reviewed scientific documents available on the impacts of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, the Peabody climate change document relies heavily on claims made in newspaper opinion articles and by organizations with known connections to the fossil fuel industry.

An analysis of the 304 footnote citations in the Peabody document finds that opinion articles published in media outlets, primarily the Wall Street Journal, were cited as supporting evidence 41 times ,and groups with historical ties to the fossil fuel industry (e.g. Cato Institute, American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity and the Global Warming Policy Foundation) were cited 64 times.

Articles cited from peer-reviewed scientific journals made up only 8% of the evidence cited in Peabody’s arguments:


Here are some of the key quotes from the Peabody climate change document:

“There are no demonstrated foreseeable effects of any GHG emissions.” (pg.3)

 

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

A Bad Week For Coal Mining Industry, Even Worse for Peabody Energy

July 3, 2015

A Bad Week For Coal Mining Industry, Even Worse for Peabody Energy

It’s been a really bad week for major U.S. coal companies as we head into the July 4th holiday weekend.

St. Louis-based Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU) closed today at $1.87 a share, down from a high of $84 per share in mid-2008. The company’s chief financial officer Michael C. Crews resigned abruptly on June 28 amidst the freefall.

Another major U.S. coal company, Alpha Natural Resources (NYSE: ANR) hit a new all-time low yesterday at just 27 cents per share, and sank as low as 24 cents that morning.

Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI) also hit its all-time low of 33 cents per share as well, down from its all-time high of $73.42 in 2008.

All three companies’ stock values are down roughly 80% from the beginning of 2015.


2015 year-to-date stock performance on the NYSE for Peabody (BTU), Arch (ACI) and Alpha (ANR). Source: Google Finance.

Arch has received a delisting notice from the New York Stock Exchange for falling below $1 per share, and has only a few months to regain its footing or lose its spot on the NYSE.  Alpha received its own delisting notice a month prior.

Given the global nature of the coal industry and the generally complicated world of commodity trading, there are a myriad of influences at play here. But one cannot ignore the fact that these historic lows are coming at a time of historic commitments to renewable energy and carbon reductions by major coal-consuming and producing countries like the United States and China. 

According to energy analysts at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), the Stowe Global Coal Index has lost 71% of its value since 2010:

stowe global coal index

IEEFA‘s director of finance, Tom Sanzillo, recently told reporters that, “the coal industry is arguably the poorest-performing sector in today’s global economy and is in a state of structural decline. It is a shrinking industry with little upside potential.”

That’s bad news for coal investors, but frankly it’s a welcome development for anyone concerned about the carbon

 

 

Peabody Energy’s Insincere ‘Energy Poverty’ Campaign Takes Major Hit

May 31, 2015

Peabody Energy’s Insincere ‘Energy Poverty’ Campaign Takes Major Hit

Two stories out late last week in the Guardian will seriously test the resolve of Peabody Energy’s “Advanced Energy for Life” campaign.

The first Guardian article’s title says it all: “Exclusive – Energy giant exploited Ebola crisis for corporate gain, say health experts.”

Ouch.

Journalist Suzanne Goldenberg reports that as part of a “PR offensive to rebrand coal as the ’21st century fuel’ that can help solve global poverty” Peabody Energy’s CEO Greg Boyce claimed in a powerpoint presentation that more energy would “have spurred the distribution of a hypothetical Ebola vaccine.”

Reacting to Peabody’s Ebola claim, public health experts described it as “ludicrous, insulting and opportunistic.”

The second Guardian article, also by Suzanne Goldenberg, exposes a questionable video interview posted on Peabody Energy’s Advanced Energy for Life campaign site.

The video, titled: “From Candles to Computers” is the of story Linda Jing, a woman growing up in rural China who only has candles available to do her schoolwork. As the story goes, Ms. Jing is saved from a life of impoverished living by the wonders of coal.

As the Guardian reports, it turns out that Ms. Jing, who is now an executive at Monsanto, actually grew up in relative prosperity in China. Ms. Jing’s late father was appointed to a senior position at the Dantong coal mining sector in rural China. Her two elder brothers and sisters-in-law still work at the Dantong mine, which also just happens to be the same region that Peabody Energy recently completed a major new deal.

Jing says she was recruited to do the video after she was approached by Peabody at a women’s networking event.

 

Power for All Shows Peabody a Real Plan to End Energy Poverty

May 23, 2015

Power for All Shows Peabody a Real Plan to End Energy Poverty

Peabody Energy would like you to believe that coal is the only way to light up the homes of the roughly 1.1 billion who still live in energy poverty.

A new campaign launched Thursday at the United Nations’ Sustainable Energy For All Forum in New York City offers a much different solution. Clean, distributed energy sources, argue the groups behind Power for All, can eliminate energy poverty more quickly and for a fraction of the cost of centralized electric grids anchored by fossil fuels. And, of course, without poisoning the air of communities and lining the atmosphere with even more greenhouse gases.

If the world were to invest just $70 billion, energy poverty could be virtually eliminated from the globe within a decade, with renewable energy filling the void.

The battle for the “energy poverty” high ground

“Energy poverty. It’s the world’s number one human and environmental crisis.”

If spoken from the podium at the United Nations’ Sustainable Energy For All events this week, this line would’ve garnered applause. Rather, it’s copy from an ad for the world’s largest privately held coal company, Peabody Energy, which has poured millions into promoting the fossil fuel as the solution to energy poverty through their Advanced Energy for Life PRcampaign.

Peabody: Advanced Energy for Life

Which is why this coalition of clean energy companies, non-profits, and policy groups behind Power for All is seeking to reclaim the term from the jaws of fossil fuel industry propaganda, and to promote the healthier, more effective, and cheaper alternative of distributed, off-grid clean energy.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

 

 

Peabody Energy Goes On Offense With New PR Campaign Designed To Sell Same Old Dirty Coal | DeSmogBlog

November 16, 2014

Peabody Energy Goes On Offense With New PR Campaign Designed To Sell Same Old Dirty Coal | DeSmogBlog.

Despite what you may have heard about the death of the coal industry, Peabody Energy is ramping up mining activities and going on the offensive, pushing “clean coal” on the world’s poor with a disingenuous but aggressive PR campaign. And for good reason: Peabody has got to sell the coal from the world’s largest coal mine to someone.

Speculation is rife that the new GOP-led Senate will join with its similarly fossil fuel-beholden House colleagues to usher in a new era of coal. Peabody, the world’s largest privately held coal company, isn’t waiting around to find out.

The company has teamed with public relations firm Burson-Marsteller—the notorious PR giant that helped Big Tobacco attack and distort scientific evidence of the dangers of smoking tobacco—to launch Advanced Energy for Life, a desperate attempt to shift the discussion around coal away from its deleterious effects on health and massive contributions to climate change and instead posit the fossil fuel as a solution to global poverty.

The aim of this PR offensive, according to a piece by freelance journalist Dan Zegart and former DeSmog managing editor Kevin Grandia (one of Rolling Stone’s “Green Heroes,” and deservedly so), the reason for Peabody’s charm offensive is simple: there’s money to be made selling coal in Asian markets, and Peabody aims to make it—as long as initiatives to combat global warming emissions don’t intervene. Which makes Burson-Marsteller the perfect ally:

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Olduvai IV: Courage
Click on image to read excerpts

Olduvai II: Exodus
Click on image to purchase

Click on image to purchase @ FriesenPress