Pitfalls and Pipelines - Philippine Indigenous Peoples Links

Chapter 1.3: Indigenous Peoples, Mining and Climate Change
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Box 2: Peabody Energy
Parts of the mining industry have, perhaps due to their short term
corporate vested interests, been central to the resistance of analysis of
the reality of global warming and resistant to actions to address it. These
have already been so damaging to development of measures to slow
climate change, particularly within the USA. The attitude of the fossil
fuels energy industry to the current crisis and their far reaching political
influence should be a profound concern for us all.
One example of great concern to indigenous peoples, because of where
so many of their mines are situated, is Peabody Energy of the USA.
Peabody are one of the members of the American Coalition for Clean
Coal Electricity (ACCCE) (see Clean coal or dirty politics? in this chapter).
Peabody is highlighted here as an example of those mining corporations
that are proceeding with development plans that fly directly in the face of
global concerns on climate change. To quote from their website: 79 “Coal
is the fastest-growing fuel in the world and Peabody is the world’s largest
private sector coal company.”
In 2008 Peabody demonstrated the strength of its global platform
identifying new records in all key financial metrics, such as sales volumes
and revenues. They boast of being the:
• Only US based coal company serving major long-term demand
epicenters in Asia;
• Having an operating portfolio predominantly of large-scale, low-cost
surface operations, making performance less susceptible to geology
and safety compliance issues;
• Opportunistically evaluating potential acquisitions amid currently
distressed market conditions.
Peabody’s list of directors, which includes former Assistant Secretary of
State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs
John Turner, reveals both the political influence they wield and the close
association to capital investment that is spurring the most rapid possible
exploitation of the world’s non-renewable resources to feed short term
profit without regard for rational conservation and shifting to alternatives
as the world needs. 80
Peabody also assert “Long-term coal demand fundamentals remain
strong. The International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook
estimates world primary energy will grow 45 percent between 2006 and
2030 with demand for coal rising more than any other fuel, accounting for
over a third of the increase in energy use. China and India account for
more than half of the incremental energy demand.”