Peabody Energy

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Peabody Energy Corporation, previously Peabody Coal Company, is the largest private-sector coal company in the world as well as the largest producer of coal in the U.S. In 2006, Peabody sold over 247 million tons of coal. The company's coal fuels approximately 10% of the electricity generated in the United States and 3% of electricity generated throughout the world. Peabody sells coal to over 350 electricity generating and industrial plants in 15 countries. It holds majority interests in 40 coal operations located throughout the United States and in Australia and Venezuela. In the United States, company-owned mines are located in Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Illinois, and Indiana.

Peabody profited over $774 million in 2010; the company made over $2.4 billion from 2005-2009.

Evidence

Peabody is a member of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, a publicity front group for the coal industry heavily embedded in the climate denial machine. ACCCE spent over $12 million on political lobbying from 2008-2010.

Peabody currently funds several clean coal initiatives and has, according to a leaked memo, attempted to use clean coal to distract the populace from passing climate change legislation.

Newsweek magazine ranked Peabody 500th out of 500 in their 2009 green rankings due to the impact of extracting and burning of coal has on the environment, and because of Peabody’s dismissive attitude toward environmental stewardship.

Peabody has spent $29.2 million on federal lobbying from 2006-2010. Their 2010 lobbying expenditures amounted to 0.851% of their profit in the same year; in comparison, ExxonMobil invested 0.04% of their 2010 profit into lobbying; thus, in proportion to their respective profit margins and lobbying expenditures, Peabody invested over 21 times more of its company money into federal lobbying in 2010 than ExxonMobil.

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