This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

It would be nice to think that Utah is so much smarter than the rest of the world that, while all the smart money is getting out of coal — even the Rockefellers are bailing — we're preparing to put money into it.

Maybe.

Maybe we should listen to a little town in Colorado and go into marijuana instead.

"As financier Jeffrey Holt urged Utah's Community Impact Fund to loan $53 million in public money to build an export shipping terminal in Oakland, Calif., he never said the word 'coal' or mentioned Bowie Resource Partners.

"Holt sought the loan at an April 2 meeting as an adviser to Sevier, Carbon, Emery and Sanpete counties — home to Bowie's Sufco, Dugout and Skyline mines. That same month, Bowie's chief commercial officer said the company did not have plans to use the proposed terminal. ...

" ... But behind the scenes, Bowie and its Utah coal were at the center of the plan Holt was pitching to the counties. ..."

"Hotchkiss, Colo. — This mountain town of coal miners and organic farmers wasted no time in saying no to marijuana. After Colorado's 2012 vote legalizing marijuana, local leaders concerned about crime and the character of their tranquil downtown twice voted to ban the recreational and medical pot shops springing up in other towns.

"But then coal crumbled. One mine here in the North Fork Valley has shut down amid a wave of coal bankruptcies and slowdowns, and another has announced that it will go dark. The closings added to a landscape of layoffs and economic woes concussing mining-dependent towns from West Virginia to Wyoming. And as Hotchkiss searches for a new economic lifeline, some people are asking: What about marijuana? ..."

Started by John D Rockefeller – who made his fortune from oil – the fund singled out ExxonMobil, calling the world's largest oil company 'morally reprehensible'

Wall Street's Retreat From King Coal — New York Times Editorial

"The grave environmental damage from coal-fired power plants has done nothing to deter the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, from decrying a 'war on coal' and orchestrating his own war against the Obama administration's climate change agenda. But he and other coal-state Republicans would be foolish to ignore the growing consensus on Wall Street that King Coal, for all its legendary political power, has turned into a decidedly bad investment.

"JPMorgan Chase announced this month that it would no longer finance new coal-fired power plants in the United States or other advanced nations, joining Bank of America, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley in retreating from a fuel that provides about one-third of the nation's electricity and accounts for about one-quarter of the carbon emissions that feed global warming. ..."

Oakland coal port scheme is a pig in a poke — Tom Sanzillo | For The Salt Lake Tribune

" ... However, the actual project for which the legislation is intended — that coal-export terminal in California — is a highly risky undertaking that is likely to end in losses for Utah. The state stands to lose not only the $53 million that proponents want earmarked for the Oakland port project. It also would be buying into deeper potential liabilities. ..."

"Utah legislators just doubled down on a risky venture to use Utah taxpayer dollars to fund a coal export facility in Oakland, California. This deal has been troubled from the beginning, when our state's Community Impact Board (CIB) rushed through approvals of a $53 million investment in the out-of-state port, intended to ship coal mined in Utah.

"The CIB has a mandate to distribute royalties from fossil fuels mined on federal lands in order to support projects that enhance the safety, security and quality of life in local communities affected by mineral extraction. How can this public agency justify spending $53 million in public funds that are meant to be spent on Utah schools, hospitals and other public facilities on a port in California, as part of a deal that will primarily benefit private coal companies? The answer is they can't. ..."

"The campaign to convince investors to divest from fossil fuels has picked up steam in the past two weeks, thanks to the imminent bankruptcy of one major old-line energy company.

"Peabody Energy, the world's largest privately-held coal company, signaled on March 15 that it may seek bankruptcy protection in order to restructure its skyrocketing debt.

"Peabody is not just your ordinary coal company — it is one that has steadfastly refused to incorporate the findings of mainstream climate scientists into its business planning, and may now be suffering as a result. ...

Enjoy your cheap, consistent coal power while you still have it — Charles Fausett | For The Salt Lake Tribune

" ... If I had been a harness maker in 1900 and lost my career because the automobile put me out of business, because it was an obviously better mode of transportation, I would be angry but I could understand the reasoning. But wind and solar power, which are trying to put my industry out of business, are not more efficient, nor cheaper. Only by generous government subsidies are they anywhere near affordable compared to coal energy. Add to that the cost of legal wrangling due to the brother-in-law relationship between the EPA and environmental groups, and it's easy to feel like I'm in someone's crosshairs. ..."

"China's biggest coal region has a fix for the country's glut that may send shivers through miners from the U.S. Appalachian Mountains to Australia's Hunter Basin.

"The Chinese government wants to shut roughly 9 percent of its production capacity to shrink its industrial sector and clean its polluted skies. That means dismissing 1.3 million coal workers, risking social unrest that Beijing wants to avoid. An alternative touted by the northern province of Shanxi, which produces more coal than any country other than China, is to keep mines running and ship the excess overseas. ...

" ... Competition from China may be the last thing producers need. At least six U.S. coal miners declared bankruptcy in the past two years, crushed by falling demand, massive debt, mounting environmental regulations and competition from natural gas. U.S. production fell last year to the lowest in decades and is seen declining further.

"The combined market capitalization of publicly traded U.S. coal miners was $5.9 billion Tuesday, down from $77 billion in 2011, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. ..."