This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
Trying to go blow by blow on the decline of newspapers and the decline of oil and coal.
Today, its mostly the fossil fuel industry that's in the news.
— Forget coal, just help coal workers — Bloomberg View | The Salt Lake Tribune
"The long, slow decline of coal will continue no matter who becomes the next president. The question is what should now sustain the communities devastated by its demise, and how the federal government can help. ..."
— Wyoming on the ropes — David Wendt | For The Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune
"Wyoming seems destined for harder times. It is common knowledge that the coal industry is in decline and state revenues are plummeting. Unemployment has risen over the past year from 3.8 percent to 4.7 percent, the highest increase in the nation. Layoffs continue unabated, with all the human and social costs associated with this misfortune. ...
" ... As Gov. Matt Mead has stated, it does not matter from an economic standpoint whether we believe in climate change or not; the market believes in it. The sooner we can put these differences behind us, the sooner we can get on with the real work of investing in the clean energy sources of the future, including cleaner use of coal. ..."
— 'We need a revolt against the fossil fuel industry' — Elton Musk | For The Guardian
"Tesla's chief executive Elon Musk has accused politicians of bowing to the 'unrelenting and enormous' lobbying power of the fossil fuel industry, warning that a global 'revolt' may be needed to accelerate the transition to more sustainable energy and transport systems.
"Speaking at the World Energy Innovation Forum at the Tesla Factory in California on Wednesday, Musk claimed that traditional vehicles and energy sources will continue to hold a competitive edge against greener alternatives due to the vast amounts of subsidies they receive.
"The solution to this energy dilemma, Musk says, is to introduce a price on carbon by defining a tax rate on greenhouse gas emissions or the carbon content of fossil fuels. ..."
— Coal industry is sinking — Jihan Gearon | For The Albuquerque Journal
"Peabody Energy filing for bankruptcy recently may come as little surprise – the company's share price has been in a nosedive for five years.
"But make no mistake, this news from the world's biggest coal corporation is a big deal. For those who've been slow or unwilling to acknowledge energy shifting off coal, this bankruptcy should be a wake-up call. It's an economic marker as stark on the energy landscape as Peabody's Kayenta strip mine on Navajo Black Mesa. ..."
— Moody's expects Chapter 11 process to herald new era for US coal — Henry Lazenby | Mining Weekly
"Low prices for steelmaking metallurgical coal and electricity-generating thermal coal, caused by a supply glut, lower demand, tighter environmental policies, cheap natural gas and growing contributions from alternative energy sources had pushed major producers, including Peabody Energy, Arch Coal and Alpha Natural Resources, to go through the Chapter 11 reorganisation process. ..."
— The 15 Biggest Oil Bankruptcies (So Far) — Christopher Helman | Forbes
" ... All told, 69 oil and gas producers with $34.3 billion in cumulative secured and unsecured debt have gone under. Since share prices peaked in 2014, the oil bust has wiped out about $1 trillion in equity, with the Dow Jones U.S. Oil & Gas Index off 40%.
"There's more to come...."
— The Saudi Reshuffle: five key reforms in Riyadh — Simeon Kerr | Financial Times
" ... The pushing aside of Saudi Arabia's influential longstanding oil minister, Ali Naimi, has grabbed headlines around the world thanks to his position within global energy markets
But Mr Naimi's retirement was part of a wider reshuffle that put in place the team handpicked by Mohammed bin Salman, deputy crown prince, to implement his ambitious reform programme, Vision 2030.
The plan aims to reorient the economy towards the private sector and away from statist dependence on oil revenues. ..."
— Activists ramp up fight over fossil fuels with protests, billboards and song — By Amy Joi O'Donoghue | Deseret News
"In recent testimony before a congressional committee, the national head of the Bureau of Land Management mentioned environmental protesters in the same breath as armed militia, explaining why the public lands agency moved its Salt Lake City oil and gas auction to a larger venue. ..."
Some newsprint today, too:
— Tampa Bay newspaper sale is grim industry news — Tamara Lush | The Associated Press | The Salt Lake Tribune
"St. Petersburg, Fla. • If a metro area with 2.7 million people can't sustain two newspapers — especially with an aging population with the time and inclination to read a printed paper — can anywhere?
"Some say maybe not.
"The purchase of the 123-year-old Tampa Tribune in Florida this week by the paper's rival, The Tampa Bay Times, stunned employees and area residents. But media watchers largely shrugged, calling it the latest in a long slide of obsolescence for America's print media.
" 'Well within our lifetime, there will be places where there are no newspapers,' said Alan D. Mutter, a former Chicago Sun-Times editor and currently a Silicon Valley new media consultant who writes the blog, "Reflections of a Newsosaur." "There's not enough business for two newspapers in a market like Tampa-St. Petersburg..'..."