The Guardian’s story (Firm tried to exploit Ebola crisis for gain, say health experts, 20 May) on Peabody Energy’s campaign to combat global energy poverty grossly distorted Peabody’s discussion of Africa’s Ebola crisis last fall.
In speaking at a conference last fall, Peabody executive chairman Greg Boyce simply echoed the words of the World Health Organisation in noting that lack of electricity is a barrier to combating diseases such as Ebola.
Note to the Guardian: reliable low-cost electricity at large scale, such as that provided by coal, allows a large number of aspects of a society to work better – including providing basics such as healthcare. This isn’t a controversial statement, and it’s stunning that the Guardian and its allies would try to drum up issues where none exist.
Given the Guardian’s active campaign to promote fossil fuel divestment, one can only question its ability to report on coal or other fossil fuels without bias and conflict of interest. This tortured attempt to distort the facts demonstrates that the answer is no.
We encourage all readers to go to www.AdvancedEnergyforLife.com to discover the global crisis that is energy poverty, the benefits of access to low-cost electricity, and the improving emissions from clean coal technologies.
Vic Svec
Senior vice-president – global investor and corporate relations, Peabody Energy