After Peabody Energy Corp. warned that it could go bankrupt on Wednesday, the very radical entities that have forced it to the brink, Wild Earth Guardians and Greenpeace issued a demand letter. While the radical environmental organizations recognized that “Peabody cares deeply about the communities that its operations have supported,” they insisted that the company now protect the employees’ jobs that the radical groups have put in peril.
The bizarre missive, addressed to Glenn Kellow, President and Chief Executive Officer of Peabody Energy, reads more like a manifesto than a letter. “Peabody Must Acknowledge the Need to Move Beyond Coal” is the subject line.
According to USAToday, “Peabody said in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it expects it won’t be in compliance with its financial covenants on March 31 and may have to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company said it has held discussions with lenders regarding potential debt-for-equity swaps or new financing.”
Despite the fact that climate change is still a topic for debate, and there is no conclusive evidence that man has any influence on climate, the radical entities write Kellow: “As we rise to the challenge of confronting climate change, it is clear that we cannot reasonably rely on coal as an energy source. This will necessarily mean that Peabody’s business will come to an end in the long-term. In light of this reality, it is incumbent upon the company to do everything possible in the interim to shed extraneous liabilities, fully close out existing operations, and
ensure the concerns of shareholders, workers, tribes and other interested parties are effectively resolved.”
Contrary to the letter writers’ claims, Zachary Bader, a distressed debt analyst with Reorg Research, told USAToday that recent coal bankruptcies have treated the debtors favorably with regard to legacy costs. Bader stated, “There is some incentive to file for bankruptcy just to start over new with a cleaned-up balance sheet,” according to USAToday.
The radical environmentalist group insist that Peabody: 1) withdrawal of all pending federal coal lease applications; 2) relinquish all federal coal leases where production is not occurring; 3) commit to expeditious final reclamation deadlines at existing mining operations; and 4) commit to worker/retiree benefits, community support for transition.
The letter was sent to Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, Assistant Secretary of the Interior Janice Schneider, Neil Kornze, Director, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and Joe Pizarchik, Director, U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. The letter was signed by Jeremy Nichols, Climate and Energy Program Director of the WildEarth Guardians, Diana Best, Senior Coal Campaigner for Greenpeace USA, Amanda Starbuck, Climate and Energy Program Director of the Rainforest Action Network, Caitlin Lee from Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment, and May Boeve, Executive Director of 350.org.