“King Coal has been dethroned.” — @ClarkWDerry
Last month, Peabody Energy, the world’s biggest private coal company, filed for bankruptcy. And since 2012, about 50 coal companies in the United States have declared bankruptcy. As more and more coal companies go belly up, it’s an excellent time to examine the factors that are sinking the coal industry.
Sightline’s director of energy finance Clark Williams-Derry takes an in-depth look at the bankruptcy of coal in this recent interview on KBOO, a community radio station based in Portland. Clark also examines how coal-mining communities are impacted by bankruptcy, who pays for the mine cleanup costs, and why coal executives’ exorbitant salaries are raising as coal’s performance is plummeting.
For more context, check out Clark’s series on coal finance here.
