Peabody Energy

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Peabody Energy, previously known as the Peabody Coal Company, is the largest private-sector coal company in the world. In 2010 the company sold 246 million tons of coal and had total revenue of $6.9 billion.

The company, which describes itself as "the world's largest private-sector coal company and the only global pure-play coal investment", claims that it fuels approximately 10% of the electricity generated in the United States and 2% of electricity generated throughout the world. It states that it has 9 billion tonnes of proven and probable coal reserves. Peabody sells coal to over 345 electricity generating and industrial plants in 23 countries. It was ranked as number 338 and 346 on the Fortune 500 list of companies in 2011 and 2010, respectively.

Peabody Energy manages or owns interests in 28 mining operations in the United States and Australia and has a 25% stake in the Paso Diablo mine in Venezuela. In the United States, the company owns 20 mines which are located in Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Illinois, and Indiana. Peabody's largest operation is the North Antelope-Rochelle Mine located in Campbell County, Wyoming, which produced more than 106 million tonnes of coal in 2010.

Peabody also previously owned coal mines in West Virginia and Kentucky. The company spun-off these assets into the independently-traded Patriot Coal Corporation in October 2007. Patriot Coal filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2012. The spin-off had inherited over $1 billion in retiree pension and health care obligations from Peabody and Arch Coal. According to People's World, "Patriot Coal now wants to be released from its pension and retirement obligations covering more than 20,000 UMWA retirees and beneficiaries in West Virginia, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Ohio" (see below for more).

Peabody also has nine operating mines in Australia in Queensland and New South Wales producing both thermal and metallurgical coal. In 2010 the Australian operations produced 26.7 million tons. In August 2011 Peabody Energy and ArcelorMittal announced that their offer to purchase Macarthur Coal, an Australian mining company had been accepted. But in October 2011 ArcelorMittal pulled out from the US$ 5 billion joint bid at the last minute, a decision made as a result of being in debt and no longer has the capacity to allocate capital for a "minority business interest", according to a statement released by the company. Macarthur Coal currently owns and operates three mines in Queensland's Bowen Basin which between produce approximately 4 million tonnes a year and has anounced its commitment to proceed with another proceed 3.2 million tonne per annum project.

Peabody aims to become a major producer of coal close to the booming Asian markets by involvement in major joint venture projects in Indonesia, Mongolia, China and India. In its 2010 annual report the company noted that "all of our coal in the U.S. is contracted in 2011 at planned production levels" under long-term supply agreement but that 13 to 15 million tons of coal from its Australian operations was unallocated.

Access Peabody Energy's corporate rap sheet compiled and written by Good Jobs First here.

Support for the American Legislative Exchange Council

Peabody Energy is an Private Enterprise Board member, was 2011 winner of ALEC's Private Sector Member of the Year Award, and served as a "Chairman" level sponsor of 2011 American Legislative Exchange Council Annual Conference, which in 2010, equated to $50,000.

A list of ALEC corporations can be found here.

About ALEC

ALEC is a corporate bill mill. It is not just a lobby or a front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. They pay for a seat on ALEC task forces where corporate lobbyists and special interest reps vote with elected officials to approve “model” bills. Learn more at the Center for Media and Democracy's ALECexposed.org, and check out breaking news on our ExposedbyCMD.org site.

Miners Arrested Protesting Peabody's Alleged "Spin-Off" of Pension and Benefits Obligations

Nine miners, including the president of their union, the United Mine Workers' of America (UMWA), were arrested in St. Louis, Missouri in January 2013 for participating in a civil disobedience action protesting what they called Peabody's "scheme to rob and steal" retired miners' and their widows' pensions and benefits. The protest involved over 1,000 miners, according to People's World, and the nine miners were arrested when they "sat in" at Peabody's corporate headquarters in St. Louis. The accusations center around the 2007 creation of Patriot Coal Corporation by Peabody and Arch Coal. Patriot bought Magnum, a spin-off of Arch, in 2008. In July 2012, Patriot filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. According to UMWA, the two companies created Patriot in "a scheme to rob thousands of union members and beneficiaries of their pensions and health care benefits." A website set up by the union, fairnessatpatriot.org, claims that "[o]ver 90 percent of the retirees Patriot provides benefits for today never worked a single day for Patriot. . . . We believe this company was established to fail, and that the spin-offs of Patriot and Magnum were fraudulent transactions." According to People's World, "Patriot Coal now wants to be released from its pension and retirement obligations covering more than 20,000 UMWA retirees and beneficiaries in West Virginia, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Ohio. . . . And it was from out of the mines and towns in those states that miners and their supporters came here today, some in wheelchairs and others wearing the oxygen masks that give black lung disease victims the ability to breathe, a few minutes at a time."

Global production outlook

Addressing potential investors in Manhattan on June 17, 2010 Peabody's chairman and chief executive, Gregory Boyce, stated that "a long-term supercycle for coal," driven by rapidly growing demand in Asia, would be extremely profitable. A company press release explained:

"Boyce observed that coal has been the world’s fastest-growing fuel this past decade, with demand growing at nearly twice the rate of natural gas and hydro power and more than four times faster than global oil consumption. “It’s stunning that any mature commodity could expand nearly 50 percent in a decade and speaks to the strong appetite for the products we fuel, as well as coal’s abundance and stable cost,” he said. Coal demand is also expected to grow faster than other fuels in coming decades."

"Asia-Pacific nations are leading a historic global build-out in coal-fueled electricity generation. More than 94 gigawatts of new generation are expected to come on line in 2010, representing 375 million tonnes of coal consumption per year. If growth continues at the current pace, generators would add another 1 billion tonnes of new coal demand every three years."

Richard K. Morse of Stanford responded to Peabody's statement saying, "While Peabody’s PR has taken some creative turns in the past (framing access to coal as a human right), this document reflects a reality that we are watching closely at Stanford: Coal is the world’s fastest growing fossil fuel (for the 8th year now) and likely will be for the next 10-20 at least. According to BP’s 2010 Statistical Review of World Energy released this month, coal now occupies a greater share of the world’s energy mix than at any point since 1970."

In June 2010, Peabody Energy executives announced that Wyoming's Powder River Basin model for mining coal should be applied to nations around the world in order to "lift growing populations out of poverty." Fred Palmer, senior vice president of government relations for Peabody, spoke at the International Advanced Coal Technologies Conference in Laramie, WY. Palmer called coal "a matter of human rights" in that "cheap coal offers a higher standard of living for all." Peabody Energy - and other companies - are eyeing a coal field in Mongolia to apply the Powder River Basin model of cheap and abundant coal leasing. Peabody, which operates three coal mines in the Powder River Basin, has argued against climate change legislation at the national and international level, pushing instead for coal gasification and carbon sequestration technologies, under the name clean coal. Others believe the scenario of building Powder River Basin-sized coal fields would have a devastating impact in terms of climate change.

At a November 2007 presentation to investment analysts, the President of BHP Billiton Coal, Dave Murray, noted that Peabody had a one percent share of the global coal export trade, making it the twelfth largest coal exporter in the world.

The company's third-quarter 2010 profits more than doubled, with revenue rising to $1.86 billion from $1.67 billion. The increase was driven by a 36 percent rise in Australian sales, increases in Trading and Brokerage business activity, and rising imports to China, India and other parts of Asia for both steel-making metallurgical coal and thermal coal which is used in power generation. For the fourth-quarter of 2010, Peabody stated that their profits doubled due to global demand for coal. For the first quarter of 2011 Peabody reported their quarterly profits were up 32% due to higher coal prices.

History

Peabody Energy originated with the founding of Peabody, Daniels & Company by Francis Peabody and a partner. The company bought coal from established mines and sold it to homes and businesses in the Chicago area. Francis soon bought out his partner, and, in 1890, he incorporated the company as Peabody Coal Company. In 1895, the company began operating its first mine, in Williamson County, Illinois. In 1913, the company won its first long-term contract to supply a large electric utility. Such contracts to electric utilities is how Peabody makes most of its money today. The corporation went public in 1929 with a listing on the Midwest Stock Exchange, and, in 1949, was listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

While Peabody was profitable during its early years, it hit hard times in the early 1950s. To address the situation, it entered into merger talks with Sinclair Coal company. The merger occurred in 1955, resulting in the move of Peabody's headquarters to St. Louis. The merged company, however, retained the Peabody name. Under the leadership of coal-veteran Russell Kelce, the company expanded production and sales, and purchased a mine in Queensland, Australia, its first outside of North America.

In 1968, the company was purchased by the Kennecott Copper Corporation. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission, however, challenged the purchase as an antitrust violation. In 1976, the FTC ordered Kennecott to divest itself of Peabody. The newly-created Peabody Holding Company purchased the Peabody Coal business of Kennecott for $1.1 billion. A consortium of companies controlled Peabody-Holding. In 1990, Hanson PLC, one of the owners of Peabody Holding, bought out the rest of the owners. Peabody was eventually bought by a unit of Lehman Brothers, which brought the company public as Peabody Energy Corporation in 2001. The IPO for Peabody Energy raised proceeds of $456 million.

Reference in song

The environmental impact of Peabody Energy's strip mining operations in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky is the subject of John Prine's 1971 song "Paradise". The company was forever immortalized in the song, popular on the bluegrass circuit, whose chorus goes:

And daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County

Down by the Green River where paradise lay?

Well, I'm sorry my son, but you're too late in asking...

Mister Peabody's coal train has hauled it away.

Existing coal mines

On its website Peabody lists its current operating coal mines, with production data from the 2010 annual report listed as:

Arizona:

• Kayenta Mine, which produced 7.8 million tonnes of thermal coal from an open-cut mine;

Colorado:

• Twentymile Mine, which produced 7.1 million tonnes of thermal coal from an open-cut mine;

Illinois:

• Cottage Grove Mine, which produced 2.1 million tonnes of thermal coal from an open-cut mine;
• Gateway Mine, which produced 3 million tonnes of thermal coal from an underground mine;
• Wildcat Hills Complex which includes the Wildcat Hills Underground Mine, which produced 0.7 million tonnes of thermal coal from an underground mine;
• Willow Lake Mine, which produced 2.9 million tonnes of thermal coal from an underground mine;

Indiana:

• Air Quality Mine, which produced 1.1 million tonnes of thermal coal from an underground mine;
• Bear Run Mine, which produced 2.8 million tonnes of thermal coal from an open-cut mine;
• Francisco Complex, which produced 2.7 million tonnes of thermal coal from an underground mine;
• Somerville Central Mine, which produced 3.3 million tonnes of thermal coal from an open-cut mine;
• Somerville Mining Complex, which produced 3.7 million tonnes of thermal coal from an open-cut mine;
• Viking Mine, which produced 3.2 million tonnes of thermal coal from an open-cut mine;

New Mexico:

• El Segundo mine, which produced 6.61 million tonnes of thermal coal from an open-cut mine;
• Lee Ranch mine, which produced 1.7 million tonnes of thermal coal from an open-cut mine;

Wyoming:

• Caballo Mine, which produced 23.5 million tonnes of thermal coal from an open-cut mine;
• North Antelope Rochelle Mine, which produced 105.8 million tonnes of thermal coal from an open-cut mine;
• Rawhide Mine, which produced 11.3 million tonnes of thermal coal from an open-cut mine;

Australia, via its wholly owned subsidiary Peabody Energy Australia:

Queensland:

• Burton Mine, which produced 2.6 million tonnes of metallurgical and thermal coal from an open-cut mine;
• Millennium Mine, which produced 2.6 million tonnes of metallurgical and thermal coal from an open-cut mine;
• North Goonyella/Eaglefield Complex, which produced 3.6 million tonnes of metallurgical coal comprising 2.5 from the North Goonyella underground mine and 1.1 million tonnes from the operncut Eagelfield mines;
• Wilkie Creek Mine, which produced 1.7 million tonnes of thermal coal from an open-cut mine;

New South Wales:

• Metropolitan Mine, which produced 1.7 million tonnes of metallurgical coal from an underground mine
• North Wambo Mine, which produced 3.6 million tonnes of metallurgical and thermal coal from an underground mine
• Wambo Mine, which produced 3 million tonnes of thermal coal from an open-cut mine; and
• Wilpinjong Mine, , which produced 9.2 million tonnes of thermal coal from an open-cut mine.

Venezuela:

• Paso Diablo mine in Venezuela. Peabody also has a 48.37% stake in the mine, which exports thermal coal to the U.S. and Europe.

Former Peabody mines

• Farmersburg Mine
• Foidel Creek Mine
• Highland 9 Mine in Kentucky;
• Miller Creek Mine
• Riola Mine Complex, Illinois
• Chain Valley Mine in Australia.

Proposed U.S. coal mines

Colorado

• Peabody Energy and Twen­tymile Coal Company hope to begin construction on the new underground Sage Creek Mine in West Routt County, CO as early as 2010. The new mine is expected to replace the existing Twentymile Mine sometime in 2013, when the underground longwall mining operation is projected to run out of coal. Twentymile produced 8 million tons of coal in 2008.

Illinois

• Gallatin County Mine - In December 2011, the U.S. Forest Service said it is seeking public comment on a possible swap of property with American Land Holdings of Illinois, a subsidiary of Peabody Energy. American Land Holdings approached the Shawnee National Forest wanting to exchange three properties it holds in Pope and Jackson county for a federal property in Gallatin County, Illinois, for developing a coal strip mining operation. The Gallatin federal parcel is 384 acres that adjoins the Saline River, two miles west of the Ohio River.
• The Jordan Grove mine is proposed for a site about three miles south of Marissa, Illinois, and would dig up about 100,000 tons of coal a year. The mine is being pursued by Peabody Energy. The mine would also serve as a secondary site to store combustion coal waste from the Prairie State Energy Campus. Peabody already has a permit for a site in southeast St. Clair County to dispose of coal waste from the power plant. The mine would tap the same coal reserves as the former River King No. 6 mine, which was active in the 1970s and early 1980s.
• Lively Grove Mine is part of the $4 billion Prairie State Energy Campus near Marissa in Washington County, Illinois. The underground mine would supply about 6 million tons of high-sulfur coal annually to the 1,600-megawatt plant. The first 800-megawatt unit is slated for commercial operation in late 2011, and the second in the summer of 2012. Digging at the mine is expected to commence in 2011. A permit has been issued to Peabody Energy.
• Marys River Mine is a surface coal mine proposed for Randolph County, Illinois by Peabody Energy's Peabody Midwest Mining. The mine is expected to produce about 1 million tons a year beginning around 2011. It would be 708.7 acres.

Indiana

• Peabody Energy plans to open Bear Run Mine south of Dugger in Sullivan County, Indiana. Company officials say they have agreements to supply more than 90 million tons of coal, and they will start surface mining at Bear Run in 2009. Production is expected to be 8 million tons of coal per year. The mine will employ 350 workers. The plant will produce high-BTU, high-sulfur coal for scrubber-equipped generating plants.

Coal power station projects sponsored by Peabody Energy

• GreenGen (China) - equity partner
• Prairie State Energy Campus (Illinois); Peabody is a 5.06% owner of the 1,600 megawatt coal-fired power station which will consumer over six million tons of coal a year from adjacent underground mining operations. In its 2010 annual report Peabody states that it "sold 94.94% of the land and coal reserves to our partners in Prairie State and we are responsible for our 5.06% share of costs to construct the facility. The facility is scheduled to begin generating electricity in 2011. We currently expect to market and sell our share of electricity generated by the facility."
• Thoroughbred Generating Station (Kentucky) - cancelled
• FutureGen (Illinois) - participant - cancelled
• Mustang Energy Project (New Mexico) - cancelled

Peabody's global expansion plans

In January 2009, Peabody announced plans to reduce its yearly production of Powder River Basin coal production by 10 million tons because of the economic downturn and weakening demand worldwide. While the Global Financial Crisis undercut demand for coal from US power stations, demand for coal for both power stations and the steel industry continued to grow from both China and India. In the US, coal producers increased exports to counter the domestic downturn and sought to expand overseas production capacity which could supply the booming Asian region.

Peabody's strategy has been to seek an involvement in coal projects in Mongolia with the aim of exporting to the Chinese market, expand its Australian operations, enter the Indonesian market and look to expand exports from its Powder River Basin mines in the U.S. to supply the Pacific market.

In November of 2009 the bank HSBC released a report entitled, "The Green Side of Black" that made estimates about coal's involvement in the future of the U.S. energy economy. In it, the bank reported that coal, even under cap-and-trade, will be a lucrative industry in the future. The report's author predicted that Wyoming's Powder River Basin will be growing faster than other coal regions in the United States. The HSBC report stated that in Arch Coal and Peabody Energy will be especially prosperous because of their extensive involvement in the Powder River Basin.

In September 2010 Peabody Energy announced that "Coal's best days are ahead."

In June 2012 Peabody Energy picked up 721 million tons of coal for about $1.10 a ton under a lease program operated by the BLM.

Peabody's exports from the US

Northwest ports

For more information on the proposed port developments in the western United States please visit the Coal exports from northwest United States ports article.

In 2008, Peabody began sending coal from Wyoming to Europe, first by rail to the Mississippi River, then by vessel through the Gulf of Mexico. It was announced in October 2010 that Peabody Energy was planning to increase the exporting of coal from its Powder River Basin mines to European markets. Peabody exports Powder River Basin coal through existing ports to Europe, Chile and Asia. It is also looking at building a large coal export facility in Oregon. Peabody has contracted 90% of its 2011 production from the Powder River Basin mines, but the company stated that it has coal volumes available for 2012 and 2013.

A 2011 report by the Western Organization of Resource Councils the noted that Peabody was shipping coal to Japan from the California coast. In a media release Peabody stated that it "already exports Powder River Basin coal from Western Canada to Asia and South America."

In its 2010 annual report Peabody states that it owns a 37.5% interest in Dominion Terminal Associates, "a partnership that operates a coal export terminal in Newport News, Virginia. The facility has a rated throughput capacity of approximately 20 million tons of coal per year and had 14.1 million tons of throughput in 2010. The facility also has ground storage capacity of approximately 1.7 million tons. The facility exports both metallurgical and thermal coal primarily to European and Brazilian markets." (Peabody also has a major shareholding an an export terminal in Australia -- see the section below on Peabody in Australia for details.)

Peabody was considered one of the potential beneficiaries of the proposal in 2010 by Australia-based Ambre Energy for the establishment of the Millennium Bulk Logistics Longview Terminal in Washington. However, there were a number of drawbacks to the project. The initial proposal, which had a projected capacity of only 5 million tonnes of coal a year, encountered strong opposition from environmentalists who have argued that coal contributes to pollution and global warming. Another factor was that in January 2011 Arch Coal acquired a 38 percent interest in the proposed terminal which gave it the right to guarantee "38 percent of the terminal's throughput and storage capacity". With limited initial capacity available for other potential exporters, not surprisingly Peabody's focussed on other options.

Another proposal, for the Gateway Pacific Terminal at Cherry Point near Ferndale, Washington, was more to Peabody's liking. An application for the project, which would have a maximum capacity of about 54 million tons, was submitted on February 28, 2011 by SSA Marine. The application for state and federal permits for the $500 million terminal has triggered formal environmental review. If approved, the terminal would begin construction in early 2013 and operations in 2015.

On February 28, 2011, Seattle-based SSA Marine announced it had entered into an agreement with Peabody Energy to export up to 24 million metric tons of coal per year through the proposed terminal. According to Peabody, the terminal in Whatcom County would serve as the West Coast hub for exporting Peabody's coal from the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana to Asian markets. The project would ramp up potential U.S. coal exports to Asia from Washington state.

In July 2012 a new trade group alliance was formed and included the three largest coal mining companies in the West. The group, called Alliance for Northwest Jobs & Exports, rolled out a campaign with television, radio and print ads to support exporting coal from Northwest ports.

The group is made of up 22 members including coal terminal developers, railroads, business and union groups as well as the three largest mining companies in the Powder River Basin: Peabody Energy, Arch Coal and Cloud Peak Energy.

Southern ports

On July 17, 2012, Peabody Energy announced that, under new agreements with Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, it would gain additional coal export capacity from Kinder Morgan's Deepwater Terminal and Houston Bulk Terminal in Texas, as well as increased access to the International Marine Terminal at Myrtle Grove, Louisiana, south of New Orleans.

The planned expansion would more than double Peabody's export capacity along the Gulf Coast to between 5 million and 7 million tons annually between 2014 and 2020. In 2011, Peabody shipped 6.6 million tons of coal through export terminals on the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts, and it has projected total exports of 10 million tons for 2012. Much of the coal being shipped from Texas and Louisiana will serve Peabody's European markets.

The company expects to begin shipping Colorado and Powder River Basin coal through the Houston terminal in 2014. Shipments of Colorado and Powder River Basin coal from Louisiana will begin around the same time, and Peabody will extend contracts at the Cora River terminal in Illinois to facilitate shipments of Illinois Basin coal for domestic and international markets.

It was announced in August 2012 that Peabody Energy signed a deal with Kinder Morgan to increase the company's access to Gulf Coast export facilities. It was reported that the agreement deal, which will give Peabody access to multiple terminals, will expand the company's Gulf Coast coal export capacity to a range of 5 million to 7 million tons per year between 2014 and 2020.

Coal mining expansions

Peabody expands federal coal reserves in Wyoming

On July 14, 2011, a Peabody Energy Corp. subsidiary submitted the winning bid for more than 221 million tons of federal coal in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming. The unit, BTU Western Resources Inc., bid $211 million for the Belle Ayr North coal tract, or $0.95 cents per mineable ton. The coal initially was sought by Alpha Coal West, which is part of Abingdon, Va.-based Alpha Natural Resources (ANR). Alpha submitted a bid of $173 million. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management says the coal is located about 10 miles south-southeast of Gillette near the Belle Ayr Mine and Caballo Mine. Belle Ayr is owned by ANR, and Caballo by Peabody. With the bid, Peabody controls 2.9 billion tons of Powder River Basin coal reserves.

Coal gasification in the United States

On August 30, 2007, Ernie Fletcher, the governor of the U.S. state of Kentucky, signed into state law a bill that will provide approximately $300 million in incentives to Peabody to build a coal gasification plant in that state. The incentives comes in the form of breaks on sales taxes, incentive taxes and coal severance taxes.

On January 25, 2008, Peabody and GreatPoint Energy of Cambridge, MA announced an agreement between the companies where Peabody Energy became a minority investor in GreatPoint Energy, and that Peabody would be the coal supplier for GreatPoint's coal gasification process. The two companies will collaborate on building coal gasification plants near Peabody's mines in the Powder River Basin. Peabody's investment will be used to bring GreatPoint Energy's technology to a commercial scale. The agreement also included creating an observer role for Peabody Energy on GreatPoint Energy's Board of Directors.

On February 18, 2010, GreatPoint and Peabody announced that the companies would work together to develop coal-to-gas and coal-to-hydrogen plants in and beyond the U.S. The hydrogen could be both used for electricity and sold to industries. Synthesized natural gas could be transported through existing pipelines. The companies plan to use carbon capture and storage in the process. Peabody plans to use captured carbon "to extract even more oil out of once-depleted oil reserves". The companies have not announced any details such as locations, costs, or timeline for the prospective plants.

In March 2010 Peabody invested $15 million into Calera Corporation. The company says it has developed technology to capture carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and other industrial facilities. With the addition of waste water or brine, the company used carbon dioxide to produce cement and other building materials. Critics do not believe Calera's technology will actually decrease carbon dioxide. Ken Caldiera PhD, a professor at the Carnegie Institution Department of Global Ecology, studies carbon sequestration and stated that from the publicly available info about Calera’s technology, it seems to go "in the wrong direction and will tend to increase and not decrease atmospheric CO2 content."

Peabody announces development of new mine in Indiana

On March 17, 2009, Peabody Energy announced it had entered into long-term coal supply agreements totaling over 90 million tons of coal, allowing the company to develop the Bear Run Mine in Sullivan County, Indiana. Bear Run will be the largest surface coal mine in the eastern United States, with an expected output of about 8 million tons of coal each year. Initially the mine will supply coal to two major Midwestern electricity generators under contracts with terms of up to 17 years. Together these contracts are expected to generate nearly $6 billion in revenues. Peabody will invest an estimated $350 to $400 million over several years to bring the mine to its fullest capacity.

Illinois Expansion

In late November 2009, Peabody Energy's Arclar Coal Company received two permits, one for water quality certification and one for discharge, allowing mining to expand on 668 acres at the Wildcat Hills Complex in southern Illinois. Two hearings - one for each permit - were held on Sept. 29 and Oct. 14, 2009, and environmental groups such as the Sierra Club, Prairie Rivers Network, and the Environmental Law and Policy Center raised objections to the expansion. However, the Illinois Environmental Protection agency approved the permits.

Expanding reserves in federal Powder River Basin

On July 14, 2011, a Peabody Energy Corp. subsidiary submitted the winning bid for more than 221 million tons of federal coal in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming. The unit, BTU Western Resources Inc., bid $211 million for the Belle Ayr North coal tract, or $0.95 cents per mineable ton. The coal initially was sought by Alpha Coal West, which is part of Abingdon, Va.-based Alpha Natural Resources (ANR). Alpha submitted a bid of $173 million. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management says the coal is located about 10 miles south-southeast of Gillette near the Belle Ayr Mine and Caballo Mine. Belle Ayr is owned by ANR, and Caballo by Peabody. With the bid, Peabody controls 2.9 billion tons of Powder River Basin coal reserves.

Missouri expansion

In August 2011 Peabody announced that they had signed a six-year deal with Ameren to supply 91 million tons of low sulfur coal for use in "multiple electricity generating plants in Missouri" through to 2017.

Peabody in Australia

In October 2006, Peabody completed an acquisition of Excel Coal Limited, an independent coal company in Australia. Peabody paid $1.52 billion for Excel and also assumed $227 million of Excel's debt. At the time, Excel owned three operating mines and three-development stage mines in Australia. Additionally, Excel had an estimated 500 million tons of proven and probable coal reserves. Peabody owns five other mines in Australia, which are all located in Queensland. Most of the Australian production is low-sulfur, metallurgical coal.

Head of Peabody Mines, Greg Boyce on March 31 announced that the company is expecting to increase exports from its Australian mines by 20 to 30 percent in 2010.

In mid-July 2011 Peabody Energy and ArcelorMittal announced that they had made an indicative offer to takeover Macarthur Coal subject to the completion of due diligence and a final offer acceptable to the board. Peabody announced that, if successful, the takeover would be completed by a newly formed company with Peabody holding a 60 percent stake and ArcelorMittal the remainder. Peabody stated that it had engaged UBS and Bank of America Merrill Lynch as its financial advisers.

Peabody also owns a 17.7% interest in the Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group (NCIG), a coal loading facility in Newcastle, Australia. The company's share of the current capacity of 33 million tons per year is 5.8 millions tons. The loader is projected to reach full capacity in late 2011. A further expansion, which has been approved and is under construction, will provide Peabody with an approximately a further 2 million tons in mid-2012.

In late-August 2011 it was announced that an offer put in by Peabody Energy and ArcelorMittal to purchase Macarthur Coal had been accepted. The purchase price was approximately $5.2 billion. Macarthur is a producer of pulverized coal that is sought after by steel makers. The company was one of the few remaining independent midsize miners in Australia. The deal is subject to approval by U.S. regulators.

Peabody in China

In October 2008, three years after the opening of its Beijing office, Peabody announced an estimated $2.5 billion project to pursue a large-scale coal mine and coal-to-liquids plant in Inner Mongolia. The plant, which would convert coal into methanol, would be developed by a group that includes Peabody, Inner Mongolia Jitong Railway Group Ltd., and the Chinese government. The mine would produce 10 to 20 million tons of coal per year. The project is a first for an American coal company in China. The company is also considering projects in Mozambique.

In January 2011, Peabody Energy announced two partnerships with Chinese energy companies to build coal mines near newly planned power plants in China. China Huaneng Group, the largest power generator in China, and California-based Calera Corp., agreed to develop a 1,200-megawatt power plant and adjacent coal mine in China's Inner Mongolia. Peabody would operate the surface mine. Huaneng and Calera plans to convert a percentage of the plant's carbon dioxide emissions into cement and other building materials. In the second project, Peabody said it will partner with Yankuang Group Co. to develop a 20-million-ton-per-year surface coal mine to fuel a 2,000-megawatt power plant in the Zhundong region of Xinjiang in northwestern China. The massive project also includes a facility to convert coal to natural gas. Peabody expects the Xinjiang region to nearly triple its coal production by 2015 to increase its output to 1 billion metric tons by 2020.

During January 2011 it was also announced that U.S. based Peabody Coal, China Huaneng Group and Calera Corporation agreed to pursue the development of a clean coal project in the Xilinguole Region of Mongolia. The energy project would include a 1200 MW coal-fired power plant. The proposed plant would seek to capture a portion of carbon dioxide (CO2) and convert it into green building materials, advancing carbon capture technology. The plant would be fueled by a 12 million tonne per year surface mine operated by Peabody Coal.

It was stated that China Huaneng would serve as the power plant operator. Calera would use its technology to convert CO2 into solids that can be used as cement building materials. As of 2011, engineering plans were underway, with more announcements to come later in the year.

It was reported in July 2011 that Peabody would pursue a large coal mine project in China's western Xinjiang region in partnership with the local provincial government. Plans called for a surface mine that would produce 50 million metric tons of coal annually to feed China's energy needs, Peabody wrote in a joint statement with its partner, the government of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

The mine plan was reported as being very ambitious, with an output forecast at around half the 105.8 million short tons that Peabody last year sold from its flagship North Antelope Rochelle Mine in Wyoming's portion of the Powder River Basin. The deal came as Peabody pursues coal projects in Mongolia and Australia that are likewise designed to serve unbridled demand in China, the world's largest energy user whose top energy source is likely to remain coal, even as the country expands its new energy industries.

On Dec. 7, 2011, Peabody said it bought a 5.1 percent stake in Winsway, a company that specializes in importing Mongolian coking coal into China for use in the steel industry. Financial terms for the stake were not disclosed. Peabody operates a coal and uranium joint venture with Winsway in Mongolia. The two companies also recently reached a tentative deal to establish a joint venture to market coal in China and the Asia-Pacific region: Peabody-Winsway Resources B.V.

In November 2011 it was announced that Peabody purchased a 5.1% stake in Winsway Coking Coal Holdings Ltd., a Chinese coal importer.

Peabody in Venezuela

In its 2010 annual report Peabody reported that in 2009 "the Company recognized an impairment loss of $34.7 million related to its interest in Carbones del Guasare based on the joint venture’s deteriorating operating results (resulting in 2009 equity losses of $19.9 million), ongoing cash flow issues resulting in no dividend payments since January 2008, the Company’s expectations concerning ongoing operating and cash flow issues for the joint venture and uncertainty impacting recoverability of this investment."

Peabody in Indonesia

In December 2010, Peabody Energy signed a deal to receive coal from PT Supra Bara Energi (SBE) in Indonesia. The coal from SBE's mine in East Kalimantan will be exported to customers located in the Asian Pacific Rim through Peabody's COALTRADE international Singapore trading hub. Over the next five years, Peabody plans to supply several million tons of coal from SBE's Indonesian mine.

In February 2011, Peabody Energy said it had reached an agreement to source two million tons of coal for export from Indonesia's PT Cahaya Energi Mandiri. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The coal will be secured over two years from a mine in East Kalimantan. Peabody has done three term deals in recent months that account for 5.5 million tons of Indonesian coal.

Peabody's Mongolian ambitions

Joint venture with Winsway

In January 2009 Peabody announced that it had "obtained an option to purchase up to a 50 percent interest in a joint venture holding Polo Resources Limited's coal and mineral interests in Mongolia." Polo's Polo's Mongolian coal interests, Peabody stated, "have potential resources of over 1 billion tonnes, with a majority of its coal licenses located in the South Gobi coal region." Peabody's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gregory H. Boyce stated in a media release that "a joint venture with Polo's existing platform will accelerate the development of Peabody's presence in one of the world's premier undeveloped coal regions." Two months later Peabody announced that in return for $25.8 million Polo had entered into a renegotiated agreement for a 50:50 joint venture. Peabody also softened its claims about Polo's potential coal resources by claiming only that their tenements "could include up to 1 billion tonnes of potential resources, subject to exploratory drilling." In early May that year, on completion of the joint venture agreement, Peabody softened its claims about potential coal resources even further claiming only that "the joint venture holds coal licenses throughout Mongolia, with a significant number of licenses in the South Gobi region" and that "Mongolia has substantial metallurgical and thermal coal resources that are strategically located to serve high-demand China and Asia markets."

In 2010 Polo's share in the joint venture was bought by Winsway Coking Coal Holdings Ltd. (Winsway) and the joint venture re-named the Peabody-Winsway Resources B.V.. In its 2010 annual report Peabody stated that the joint venture "is in the development stage and plans to ship metallurgical and thermal coal to Asian markets once developed." Winsway, it stated, "is one of the leading suppliers in China of imported high-quality coking coal. It distributes and transports coal from Mongolia and other countries into China through its integrated service platform which includes logistics parks, coal washing plants, and road and railway transportation capabilities along the coast, rivers and inland borders of China, including Inner Mongolia."

While the agreement with Polo was being negotiated in 2009, Peabody also announced that it has appointed mining veteran Delbert Lee Lobb as Senior Vice President of Mongolian Operations.

On Dec. 7, 2011, Peabody said it bought a 5.1 percent stake in Winsway. Financial terms for the stake were not disclosed.

Bid for Tavan Tolgoi deposit

In July, 2011, Mongolia chose Peabody Energy, along with China's Shenhua Group and a Russian-Mongolian consortium to jointly develop the Tavan Tolgoi coking coal deposit in the Gobi Desert. The development will include a 600 megawatt power station, a coal-to-liquid fuel plant, and coking fuel plants. In a brief media release, Peabody stated that it continued "to work with the government and other parties to reach agreement on definitive terms and conditions. Agreements would then be submitted for consideration and approval by government agencies and Parliament."

In mid-September 2011 Mongolia rejected plans for Peabody Energy, China's Shenhua Group and a Russian-Mongolian consortium to jointly develop the Tavan Tolgoi coal deposit. Mongolian officials said they would hold new negotiations with various companies involved.

Interest in Bangladesh

The Bangaldeshi state-owned company Petrobangla’s coal mining subsidiary, Barapukuria Coal Mining Co. Ltd (BCMCL), operates an underground coal mine at Barapuluria in the Dinajpur District in Bangladesh. The 2,500-acre underground mine includes 650 acres of agricultural land on the surface. Barapukuria's existing mining contract with a Chinese company will expire in 2011, and Peabody has expressed interest in mining the area. In March 2011, Barapukuria had a proven reserve of around 389 million tons of coal, and the company expects to extract 10 to 20 per cent of the total reserves through underground mining within the next 30 years. The government has so far extracted less than four million tons of coal from the mine. It was reported that, according to a Bangladesh government official, that Jack Rogoyski from Peabody had visited the mine. "Officials of Peabody came here on Tuesday last and showed their interests to invest at Barapukura coal mining in Dinajpur," Mohammad Quamruzzaman, managing director of Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Limited (BCMCL) told the English language Daily Sun.

The International Accountability Project reports that mining operations at Barapukuria have destroyed roughly 300 acres of land, impacting about 2,500 people in seven villages, as land subsidence of over one meter in depth has destroyed crops and lands and damaged homes. People in 15 villages have also reportedly lost their access to water, as huge quantities of water pumped out for the Barapukuria mine caused a rapid drop in water levels.

In neither its 2010 Annual Report to investors or its annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission have Peabody mentioned any interest in projects in Bangladesh.

Coal India in Discussions with Peabody

In early April 2010 it was reported by Reuters that Partha Bhattacharyya, the Chairman and Managing Director of Coal India, stated that Peabody "are very keen to get into a partnership with us". Subsequently, Peabody issued a media release in which it confirmed that "preliminary discussions to explore long-term coal supplies and other possible cooperative ventures" were underway. The dsiscussions, the company stated, "are at very early stages and there have been no final agreements or decisions made regarding timing or structure."

It was announced in November 2010 that Coal India was in talks with Peabody Energy and Massey Energy about acquiring two of the companies' mines. Coal India has budgeted $1.2 billion to buy assets in the U.S., Indonesia and Australia during the year ending March 2011 as it battles a widening gap between domestic coal supply and demand. The Economic Times reported that Coal India hopes to reach agreement on Peabody Energy Australia spinning the Wilkie Creek Mine off into an unlisted stand alone company in which it would be a 15% stake. Coal India also states that other discussions, including with Peabody Energy, are underway about acquiring other coal assets.

Hyping Mozambique involvement

While the company flagged in 2007 that it sees coal from Mozambique coalfields holding "high potential to serve India's rapidly growing demand" it has yet to announce any projects. In its 2010 annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Peabody flags that it is "actively pursuing long-term operating, trading and joint-venture opportunities" in a number of countries including Mozambique.

However, the company has established two subsidiaries for projects in Mozambique -- Peabody Mozambique, Limitada which is incorporated in Mozambique and Peabody Mozambique, LLC which is incorporated in Delaware, USA.

'Clean Coal' Booster

In December 2008, Peabody Energy announced that it would contribute $2 million in funding for the Clean Coal Technology Center in the University of Wyoming's School of Energy Resources. In a media release Peabody stated that the grant "will focus on economic and energy analysis and will support the Technology Center's work in advanced coal utilization research and interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate programs for energy-related careers. It will also serve as a catalyst for technology transfer to key stakeholders. A multidisciplinary economic and energy analysis of the Powder River Basin's contribution to America's economy will be part of the initial and ongoing research."

At the same time, Peabody also announced that it would contribut $5 million over five years to the Consortium for Clean Coal Utilization at Washington University. This was described in a media release as a project designed to "bring university researchers, industries, foundations and government organizations together to research clean coal technology, making St. Louis the nation's center for clean coal research." The project will be run by the university's International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability(I-CARES).

Peabody is also a member of the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute, a pro-CCS research and lobby group established by the Australian government In its 20201 annual report Peabody also stated that it is involved in the GreenGen project in China, a proposed project in Inner Mongolia with Huaneng Group and Calera Corporation which would "capture a portion of carbon emissions to create cement", a member of the Coal21 Fund in Australia and the FutureGen project in the United States. The company also states that it is also "engaged" in CCS technology development through the U.S.-China Energy Cooperation Program, the Consortium for Clean Coal Utilization and the National Carbon Capture Center."

Citizen action

Black Cross Movement targets Kayenta Mine

In November 2010 the Black Cross Movement planted symbolic black crosses in front of the Navajo Nation's Kayenta Mine in New Mexcio, which was named in the spring of 2010 as one of the most dangerous mines in the country. The mine was included on a list of 48 mines identified by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration ib August 2009 for increased scrutiny. According to Representative George Miller (Democrat, California), those on the list were "not targeted due to unresolved appeals filed by mine operators."

"Puff Puff" inhalers

In May 2011, as part of Asthma Awareness Month, a hoax website allegedly made by Peabody Energy offered free "Puff Puff" inhalers to anybody living within 200 miles of a coal plant.

In addition to the re-branded inhalers, which promised to make asthmatic kids "show others who's cool at school," the website also stated that the company would pledge $10 towards medication as a part of its Coal Cares campaign. The website contained printable activities for youth. While visiting, one could also read up on why Peabody believed investing in coal was a better bet than alternatives such as solar and wind. The website was a hoax and was denounced by Peabody officials.

A group called Coal Is Killing Kids worked with the Yes Lab, an extension of the Yes Men activist team, for a month and a half to develop the fake site. After the prank, Peabody sent a letter to the groups, accusing them of misleadingly infringing upon Peabody's trademark and trade name. In the letter Peabody's lawyer, Andrew Baum from Foley & Lardner, wrote that "your actions have already created substantial confusion actual confusion among the public. Our client has been besieged with emails and telephone inquiries from persons who believe that Peabody is actually involved with the "Coal Cares" website. This may give you the satisfaction of knowing you have helped perpetrate a successful hoax, but it also establishes without question your liability for trademark infringement as well as malicious interference with our client's business." An initial response to Peabody's letter by the Electronic Frontiers Foundation argued that, as the "Coal is Killing Kids" website was clearly satirical and as it was non-commercial, rejected the claim that Peabody's trademark was protected by the First Amendments. However, the flagged that some changes to the website would be made. In response, Coal is Killing Kids and the Yes Men said they would "cease falsely suggesting that Peabody cares about kids made sick by coal." They also wrote that "we have changed every instance of the word "Peabody" on www.coalcares.org to a rotating selection of the names of other large U.S. coal producers who, like Peabody, also need to be stopped from killing kids."

Environmental groups sue BLM over coal leases in Wyoming

It was announced on August 23, 2011 that three environmental groups are suing the Bureau of Land Management over the agency's decision to allow Alpha Natural Resources to mine a tract at the Caballo Mine containing 130.1 million tons of coal for $143.4 million along with one other lease the BLM approved, including the Belle Ayr Mine tract which contains 130.1 million tons of coal and is operated by Peabody Energy. WildEarth Guardians, Sierra Club and Defenders of Wildlife. The groups contended the BLM did not properly conduct its assessment of the environmental impacts of the proposed operation.

The groups contend that the coal from the tracts is enough to fuel 152 coal-fired power plants and would release 643 million tons of carbon dioixide, or the same amount as that released by 111.7 million passenger vehicles a year, using EPA calculations.

Fifteen arrested taking action against Peabody in St. Louis, Missouri

On August 15, 2011 fifteen people were arrested in St. Louis, Missouri while protesting the practices of Bank of America (BoA) and Peabody Energy. Over a hundred people marched in protest of BoA's coal investments and Peabody's coal mining activities. The arrests occurred in a downtown St. Louis intersection that connects Bank of America’s regional offices and Peabody’s world headquarters. The actions were carried out by Midwest Rising! Convergence, a group associated with Rising Tide North America.

Activist Scott Parking wrote, "Midwest Rising was a convergence for climate and economic justice that brought together a diverse coalition of groups fighting home foreclosures in cities like Chicago, St. Louis and Pittsburgh, communications workers on strike against Verizon Wireless, local labor organizers, Appalachian activists fighting mountaintop removal and climate justice activists from around the world."

Lobbying, campaigns and political contributions

Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council

Peabody is a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) as of 2011. Kelly Mader, Vice President of State Government Relations, represents Peabody on ALEC's corporate ("Private Enterprise") board in 2011. Mr. Mader has also been the co-chair of the Natural Resources Task Force (now the Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force), whose operating principle was "free market environmentalism," with the assertion that "there is a mutually beneficial dynamic between a robust economy and a healthy environment. Natural resources are generally resilient and respond positively to wise management." In August 2011, Mader was given ALEC's 2011 Private Sector Member of the Year Award.

About ALEC

ALEC is a corporate bill mill. It is not just a lobby or a front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. They pay for a seat on ALEC task forces where corporate lobbyists and special interest reps vote with elected officials to approve “model” bills. Learn more at the Center for Media and Democracy's ALECexposed.org, and check out breaking news on our ExposedbyCMD.org site.

Leaked memo on coal marketing strategies

In January 2009, a 2004 leaked memo to then Peabody CEO Irl F. Engelhardt from Steve Miller, who was President of the Center for Energy and Economic Development (now called American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity), detailed the public relations and lobbying strategies being used to counteract issues including climate change, mercury, plant development, and EPA rulings. Miller details methods used to "sow discord" among regions seeking to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

Other strategies revealed in the memo include:

• On climate change: "In the climate change arena, CEED focuses on three areas: opposing government-mandated controls of greenhouse gases (GHG), opposing 'regulation by litigation', and supporting sequestration and technology as the proper vehicles for addressing any reasonable concerns about greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere."
• More on climate change: "Our belief is that, on climate change like other issues, you must be for something rather than against everything. The combination of carbon sequestration and technology is what we preach and we are looking for more members in the choir."
• On regional cap and trade programs: "More than a year ago, New York Governor Pataki proposed an eleven-state regional CO₂ cap and trade program. CEED has been engaged in this effort from its beginning. Persuading Pennsylvania and Maryland (as major coal-consuming states) to stay on the sidelines, rather than signing onto this initiative, has been one element of our strategy. The other element is to pose voluntary sequestration and technology as the correct policy, rather than mandatory controls."
• On mercury: "Our strategy in dealing with mercury has been two-fold: prevent states from taking precipitous or unwarranted action to regulate mercury and engage in the federal rulemaking to protect the interests of coal-based electricity."
• More on mercury: "In 2003, the Quicksilver Caucus with Environmental Council of States (ECOS) tried to pass a resolution calling for the "virtual elimination" of mercury. CEED worked in a coalition with other organizations and companies to convince many states that the Quicksilver strategy was not the right approach and the "virtual elimination" verbiage failed."
• On proposed CO₂ regulation by the EPA: "About a dozen states sued the EPA last year alleging that the agency must regulate CO2 under the Clean Air Act. CEED was the lead organization for outreach to the vast majority of state attorneys general who intervened on the Bush Administration's side in new litigation designed to force CO2 regulation under the Clean Air Act."

Peabody Energy and Climategate

Among the submissions to the UK Parliamentary Science and Technology Committee's enquiry into the "Climategate" hacked emails saga, is a submission from Peabody Energy Company. The submission contains a number of straight errors including the made up quote "Hide the Warming" which does not appear in any of the 1073 hacked emails. Apart from the obvious connection that Peabody is a company which stands to lose if climate science influences public policy it is not quite clear why Peabody Energy Company, an American company, chose to influence the British Government in this way.

Peabody Energy Lobbying in the United States

Lobbying in 2011

Peabody spent $$1,360,000 on lobbying in the first 5 months of 2011 and $4,680,000 in 2010.

Lobbying firms include: Bryan Cave LLP; Dickstein Shapiro LLP; Gephardt Group; Holland & Hart; International Government Relations Group; John Hancock & Assoc; K&L Gates; Mercury; MML&K Government Solutions; Peabody Investments; Richard F Hohlt; Shook, Hardy & Bacon; Spectrum Consulting Group; and Stinson, Morrison & Hecker. A full list of bills lobbied for in 2011 can be viewed on the OpenSecrets database HERE.

Energy Lobbying in 2010

Peabody Energy donated $580,334 to federal candidates in 2010, 71% to Republicans and 26% to Democrats. The coal mining lobby donated $18.3 million to members of Congress in 2010, most of it to Republicans. Peabody was also the top lobbying client in the industry in 2010, spending almost $6.6 million on lobbying in 2010. A list of bills lobbied for in 2010 can be seen HERE. (See Peabody Energy earlier lobbying disclosure details).

Lobbyists in Australia

Peabody Energy's Australian Subsidiary is listed on the Australian governmnent's register for lobbyists as a client by three PR and lobbying firms. The firms are Rowland, , CMAX Communications and Barton Deakin.

The Queensland government register lists CMAX Communications as being the registered lobbyists in that state. Government Relations Australia Advisory are listed as having advised Peabody in previous year.

In New South Wales the lobbyists register lists Barton Deakin, CMAX Communications and Government Relations Australia Advisory as being registered lobbyists for Peabody.

Former Peabody lobbyist appointed to key role for Indiana Department of Environmental Management

In April 2009, the Indiana Post-Tribune reported that David Joest was appointed assistant commissioner for the Office of Legal Counsel of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), which puts him in charge of civil enforcement and criminal investigations of the state's largest polluters. For the previous 25 years, Joest had been a registered lobbyist for Peabody. He fought enviromental agencies and prevented tougher environmental rules in both Indiana and Michigan, the paper reported. In Indiana, he represented Peabody against the Indiana Department of Natural Resources in legal challenges over permits and defended the company against enforcement from the Indiana DEM. Environmentalists have expressed concern over a conflict of interest, saying that the appointment coincides with Peabody's efforts to open new mines in Indiana.

Campaign contributions by Peabody Energy

United States

The Dirty Energy Money website, using data from Open Secrets, lists Peabody as having contributed $1,463,780 in the 1999-2010 period, of which 74% has gone to Republicans and 25% to Democrats. This comprised $218,184 in 2009/2010, $308,640 in 2007-2008, $388,850 in 2005-2006, $199,809 in 2003-2004, $157,198 in 2001-2002 and $7,500 in 1999-2000.

Open Secrets identifies Peabody as having contributed, as of late July 2011, $57,000 in the 2011-2012 election cycle.

In 2010, Peabody's contributions went to:

• Joe Manchin (D-WV), $21,700
• Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), $14,100
• Nick Rahall (D-WV), $11,600
• John Thune (R-SD), $10,684
• Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), $10,000
• Jo Ann Emerson(R-MO), $9,450
• Fred Upton (R-MI), $9,000
• Claire McCaskill (D-MO), $8,200
• Eric Cantor (R-VA), $7,500
• Joe Donnelly (D-IN), $6,600
• John Shimkus (R-IL), $6,500
• Cliff Stearns (R-FL), $5,500
• Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), $5,000
• Ike Skelton (D-MO), $5,000
• Ed Whitfield (R-KY), $5,000
• Brad Ellsworth(D-IN), $4,400
• Walter Minnick (D-ID), $4,400
• Byron Dorgan (D-ND), $4,000
• Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD), $4,000
• Mark Kirk(R-IL), $3,500
• Earl Pomeroy (D-ND), $3,500
• Rick Boucher(D-VA), $3,500
• Mike Ross (D-AR), $3,500
• Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), $3,250
• Richard Burr (R-NC), $3,000
• Ryan Bayh (D-IN), $2,650
• Jerry Costello(D-IL), $2,500
• Steny Hoyer (D-MD), $2,500
• Doc Hastings(R-WA), $2,500
• Baron Hill (D-IN), $2,400
• Bart Gordon (D-TN), $2,400
• Jim Demint (R-SC), $2,400
• Harry Reid (D-NV), $2,000
• Johnny Isakson (R-GA), $2,000
• Richard Durbin (D-IL), $2,000
• Charles Wilson (D-OH), $2,000
• Joe Barton (R-TX), $2,000
• Charles Melancon (D-LA), $2,000
• Dave Camp (R-MI), $2,000
• Doug Lamborn (R-CO), $2,000
• Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) $2,000
• Hal Rogers(R-KY), $2,000
• Brett Guthrie (R-KY), $2,000
• William Clay (D-MO), $1,500
• Sherrod Brown (D-OH), $1,000
• Max Baucus (D-MT), $1,000
• Denny Rehberg,(R-MT), $1,000
• Geoff Davis (R-KY), $1,000
• Gary Peters (D-MI), $1,000
• John Salazar (D-CO), $1,000
• Kathleen Dahlkemper (D-PA), $1,000
• Jim Matheson (D-UT)$1,000
• Kendrick Meek (D-FL), $1,000
• Mike Pence (R-IN), $500

(See Peabody political contributions early data for more information on the company's contributions prior to 2009/2010.)

Australia

The Australian Electoral Commission, which requires disclosure of donations by individuals or companies contributing over $11,200 in a single donation in a year, has no record of any contributions from Peabody between 2000 to 2011.

Safety violations

Safety violations in US mines

In its 2010 annual report Peabody reports that in the year to December 31, 2010 the company had received 3,233 notices of violations -- over 9 a day -- from the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) under section 104 of the Mine Act. Section 104 provides for citations to be issued for "health or safety standards that could significantly and substantially contribute to a serious injury if left unabated." The worst mines were Willow Lake (904 citations), Air Quality (497), Gateway (481), Francisco Underground (427), Wildcat Hills Underground (307), Twentymile (262), Kayenta (66), Somerville Central (50), North Antelope Rochelle (49) and Viking (47). Peabody notes that the total amount of fines proposed by the MSHA was $5.89 million in 2010. Despite the significant number of violations the MSHA only notified Peabody that one of its mines had been identified for "a potential pattern of violations" -- the Willow Lake Mine.

Cases pending before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission

In its 2010 annual report Peabody lists 147 legal actions pending before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission which can hear and review legal disputes originating under the Mine Act. These actions can include challenges by companies against citations, orders and penalties made by the Mine Safety and Health Administration or complaints of discrimination by miners.

Legal actions

Lawsuit filed in Boone County, WV

In February 2009, about 250 people filed suit against coal companies they allege poisoned wells in two communities in southern West Virginia. The lawsuit contends that coal companies pumped waste coal slurry into empty mines, and that underground cracks allowed the waste to pollute the aquifer. However, the state Department of Environmental Protection says it has been unable to link the wells to the injection site. The lawsuit targets eight coal companies, including Massey Energy, Peabody Energy and subsidiary Pine Ridge Coal, and West Virginia's Federal Coal Co.

In April 2009, a settlement agreement was reached and was awaiting judge approval. The settlement calls for the coal companies to contribute $45,000 to a fund to provide drinking water to residents in the Seth-Prenter area. The companies stated as part of the agreement that the payment does not constitute any admission of guilt and is inadmissible in court.

Lawsuit against Peabody Coal operations on tribal lands

On September 30, 2010, a coalition of Native American and conservation groups filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Surface Mining (OSM) for withholding records relating to Peabody Energy’s coal-mining operations on tribal lands in northeast Arizona. OSM has so far refused to publicly release pertinent records, including the current operating permit for Peabody's coal mining. According to Nikke Alex, executive director of the Black Mesa Water Coalition, "For decades, OSM has quietly issued permits to Peabody in a way that has thwarted meaningful public involvement and community understanding of Peabody’s mine operations. OSM’s permitting actions have a direct and irreparable impact on our community. These records must be released to the public."

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include Black Mesa Water Coalition, Center for Biological Diversity, Dine Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment (Dine CARE), Sierra Club and TO’ Nizhoni Ani. Plaintiffs are being represented by attorneys Brad Bartlett and Travis Stills of the Energy Minerals Law Center in Durango, Colorado.

New York Office of the Attorney General Subpoena's Peabody documents

In its 2010 annual report Peabody notes that the New York Office of the Attorney General Subpoena wrote to Peabody on June 14, 2007 and referred to the company's "plans to build new coal-fired electric generating units," and stated that the "increase in CO2 emissions from the operation of these units, in combination with Peabody Energy's other coal-fired power plants, will subject Peabody Energy to increased financial, regulatory, and litigation risks." Peabody states that "the Company currently has no electricity generating capacity in place. The letter included a subpoena issued under New York state law, which seeks information and documents relating to the Company's analysis of the risks associated with climate change and possible climate change legislation or regulations, and its disclosure of such risks to investors. The Company believes that it has made full and proper disclosure of these potential risks."

Native Village of Kivalina and City of Kivalina v. ExxonMobil Corporation, et al.

In its 2010 annual report Peabody notes that "in February 2008, the Native Village of Kivalina and the City of Kivalina filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against the Company, several owners of electricity generating facilities and several oil companies. The plaintiffs are the governing bodies of a village in Alaska that they contend is being destroyed by erosion allegedly caused by global warming that the plaintiffs attribute to emissions of greenhouse gases by the defendants. The plaintiffs assert claims for nuisance, and allege that the defendants have acted in concert and are jointly and severally liable for the plaintiffs' damages. The suit seeks damages for lost property values and for the cost of relocating the village. The defendants filed motions to dismiss on the grounds of lack of personal and subject matter jurisdiction. In June 2009, the court granted defendants' motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction finding that plaintiffs' federal claim for nuisance is barred by the political question doctrine and for lack of standing. The plaintiffs are appealing the court's dismissal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The parties have filed their respective briefs with the court."

Industry affiliations

Peabody and its subdidiaries are members of the:

• American Coal Council and is represented by James Campbell, Jr., who is a Senior Vice-President with Peabody Energy and Stephen Miller, who is President of the company's COALTRADE division.
• American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity
• Australian Coal Association
• Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute
• Minerals Council of Australia
• National Mining Association
• NSW Minerals Council
• Queensland Resources Council
• U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Fredrick D. Palmer, Peabody's Senior Vice President - Government Relations is a member of the Board of Directors.

Personnel

Management Team

Key members of the Peabody Energy Management Team, as of July 2011, include:

• Gregory H. Boyce, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. In 2010 Boyce received compensation totalling $9.6 million.
• Eric Ford, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.
• Fredrick D. Palmer, Senior Vice President of Government Relations.
• Vic Svec, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications.

Other personnel

• James Campbell, Jr., is a Senior Vice-President and one of the company's representative in the American Coal Council.
• Bryan Galli is President of Peabody's COALSALES division and a director of the American Coal Council.
• Arshad Sayed was appointed as President - Peabody Mongolia and India in November 2011.

Contact information

Corporate Communications
Peabody Energy
701 Market St.
St. Louis, MO 63101
Phone: 314-342-3400
Email for media: pr@peabodyenergy.com
Website: www.peabodyenergy.com

Articles and resources

Related SourceWatch articles

• Alliance for Energy and Economic Growth
• Mining industry
• National Mining Association
• Peabody Plan
• Thoroughbred Generating Station
• Corporate market share of global coal export trade
• China and coal
• Wyoming and coal
• Montana and coal
• Powder River Basin
• Coal exports from northwest United States ports

External resources

• "Peabody Energy, Gateway Pacific, and the Asian Coal Bubble," Sightline, October 2013
• w:Black Mesa Peabody Coal debate on Wikipedia
• FollowtheCoalMoney.org
• Oil Change USA
• Appalachian Voices
• "Peabody Energy," profile on the LittleSis "Profiling the Powers that Be" database showing corporate relationships, contributions, and interlocks with other companies
• Memorandum to UK Parliamentary Enquiry on Climategate by Peabody Energy Company http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmsctech/387b/387we53.htm

External articles

• Christopher Helman, "Peabody Earnings Up, Coal Supercycle Just Beginning" Forbes, July 19, 2011.

References

Wikipedia also has an article on Peabody Energy. This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the GFDL.