Court Docs in Bankruptcy Disclose Peabody Funding of Climate Denial

Documents disclosed as part of the Peabody Energy bankruptcy proceedings reveal what many suspected but couldn't prove — that the coal company spent major funds in secret to promote denial of settled climate science.

Peabody, the documents show, funded at least two dozen groups that sowed doubt about whether climate change is caused by human emissions and that opposed regulating climate emissions. Most of that funding had been kept secret until now.

Court disclosures in this case once again turned out to be even more powerful than open records law at prying loose secrets.

Peabody is the world's largest publicly traded coal company. Climate-control efforts have focused on coal burning, which emits more carbon dioxide than other fossil fuels. The documents show Peabody giving to lobby groups, political groups, industry front groups, and even individual scientists.

• "Biggest US Coal Company Funded Dozens of Groups Questioning Climate Change," Guardian, June 13, 2016, by Suzanne Goldenberg and Helena Bengtsson.
• "Peabody Energy Discloses Extensive Payments to Climate Denial Groups," Union of Concerned Scientists, June 30, 2016, by Gretchen Goldman.
• "Court Documents Show Coal Giant Peabody Energy Funded Dozens of Climate Denial Groups," DeSmog, June 13, 2016, by Farron Cousins.
• "Bankrupt Coal Miner Peabody Energy Paid Climate Denialist Craig Idso To Write Greenhouse Gas Reports," DeSmog, July 6, 2016, by Graham Readfearn.
• "Peabody Coal Bankruptcy Reveals Climate Denial Network Funding," PR Watch (Center for Media and Democracy), June 13, 2016, by Nick Surgey.
• "Peabody Energy Funding Climate Change Denial and Anti-Renewable Campaigns," Energy and Policy Institute, July 11, 2016, by Matt Kasper.
• "Peabody Energy Agrees to Greater Disclosures of Financial Risks," New York Times, November 8, 2015, by Clifford Krauss.
• "Behind the Curtain: ExxonMobil and Peabody’s Climate Change Deception Game Plan," Union of Concerned Scientists, June 16, 2016, by Angela Anderson.
• "Peabody Is Paying Laurence Tribe To Fight Climate Plan," Wall Street Journal, June 20, 2016, by Patrick Fitzgerald.
• Previous Stories: "Dark Money Dominates Climate Change Denial Discourse," WatchDog of January 8, 2014; "With Environmental Rules at Stake, Dark Money Set To Flood 2016 U.S. Elections," WatchDog of January 28, 2015.