Peabody Energy And World Coal Association Present Letter To Mayor Bloomberg Outlining Coal's Unmatched Growth, Benefits

ST. LOUIS, March 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Peabody Energy and the World Coal Association invited New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to learn more about the benefits of clean coal and coal's role as the world's fastest growing fuel in a new open letter to the mayor.

Mayor Bloomberg's recent comments regarding coal represent a teachable moment for many who may not be fully aware of coal's enormous "beneath the surface" progress in recent years.  These progress points include coal's unmatched growth, technology advancements, emissions reductions, and role in powering the best economies, keeping electricity rates low and lifting hundreds of millions of people out of energy poverty around the world.

"On the contrary, Mayor Bloomberg, coal is the world's fastest growing fuel," reads the headline.  The open letter points out that:

• Coal has been the world's fastest growing major fuel for more than a decade. And coal is expected to replace oil as the world's largest energy source as early as this year.
• Coal fuels more than 40 percent of U.S. electricity today – a market share that has increased since last spring. That's a heavy load that all the windmills and solar panels in the United States don't begin to support given their limited scale and high cost.
• No other fuel enjoys coal's track record of reliability and affordability. Those states that turn their backs on coal find the alternatives to be very costly. New York state residents pay 77 percent more for electricity than people in states that rely on coal for most of their power, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
• Coal use in America has tripled over the last four decades while key emissions have been reduced more than 80 percent, thanks to advanced clean coal technologies.
• Coal is vital to help the world's 3.6 billion people who lack access to proper energy. Global energy poverty causes 1.5 million deaths per year.

Peabody Energy and the World Coal Association believe it is important to speak on behalf of billions of people in the world who benefit from coal-fueled electricity.  Learn more at CoalCanDoThat.com and WorldCoal.org and click here to view the letter.

Peabody Energy is the world's largest private-sector coal company and a global leader in sustainable mining and clean coal solutions.  The company serves metallurgical and thermal coal customers in more than 25 countries on six continents.

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Vic Svec
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SOURCE Peabody Energy