US coal production is at its lowest level in three decades, and several coal companies have filed for bankruptcy protection in the past year. These include Alpha Natural Resources, Arch Coal, and Peabody Energy.
Peabody Energy is a Fortune 500 company and the world’s largest private-sector coal company. Last year, Peabody entered bankruptcy proceedings and saw its stock price plummet. This occurred as Peabody Energy, along with Arch, lost more than $1.2 billion dollars last year collectively. Peabody Energy is in the process of reorganizing to satisfy creditors holding the company’s debt.
With the election of Donald Trump, times seem to be changing for the US coal industry which may have at least one more chance to come back from the dead. Much of the coal produced in the United States is transported by train to three Pacific Northwest ports which are facing opposition from Native American Indian tribes concerned over negative impacts on tribal lands.
Trump has already set aside the concerns of Native American Indians over the Keystone XL Pipeline by reauthorizing it shortly after assuming the presidency. And Trump has clearly articulated his undying support for bringing back the US coal industry and the jobs it can supply.
There is unlikely to be any opposition from the Trump administration as there likely would have been from the Obama administration.
The following video from The Washington Post explains “How Coal Titan Peabody, the World’s Largest, Fell into Bankruptcy.”
