Germany announced last week that they are ahead of schedule in their plan to shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources providing for the country's energy needs. Their plan was to be at 74% by the end of 2015 and they exceeded that and are at 78% of their energy requirements being provided by solar, wind, and tidal sources.

If other countries can make that commitment and be successful, why can't we? It's good for the environment, good for human health, provides a whole new array of invention, industries, and technology to support the production and grid that will provide new jobs. It seems to me there is very little downside to making this switch.

Goose wrote:

The economics of our time have caused the near collapse of coal. It has very little to do with who the President might be. Other sources of energy are increasingly becoming more attractive financially.
Such is life. And, if better, and cleaner sources become available, the market will move on, exactly as it is supposed to. Depends on how one looks at things I guess. You can lament the collapse of the horse carriage industry, or get on board with the automobile.



U.S. Coal Decline Driven By Free Market, Despite Industry Opposition To Obama
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/05/us-coal-decline_n_2621904.html

Excerpt:
"Despite Murray’s protestations, the decline of the coal industry is being driven by the free market. U.S. natural gas production rose 16 percent from November 2008 to November 2012, creating a cheap supply that has made gas-generated electricity more competitive than that from coal".

If you look at the Spider Energy Sector ETF, it's down roughly 35% since it's high of mid-2014.

Obviously that accounts for oil, coal, gas, and number of other energy related companies.

I think there are a ton of market forces at play here. Getting oil and gas is constantly getting more efficient. The anti-frackers have essentially lost, meaning more land is open to exploration and production. Vehicles are consistently getting better fuel mileage and sales of hybrid and electric cars are up. And alternative renewable energy options are becoming cheaper and more attractive as people look to the future and see the science becoming clearer on the warming trend in our global climate.

Very little of this has to do with government. It is just the natural evolution of technology, science, and capitalism and the free market.

Obama's proposals in 2008 have NOTHING to do with the demise of Coal in the US. 

The demise is because of the rise of natural gas and cheap oil. BTW, he DID drill, baby, drill.! 

BTW, Coal is NOT going away for a long while. Many of Peabody's mines are profitable, but the debt that Peabody has built up along with falling coal prices has left them (and a number of other big coal producers) no option but to declare bankruptcy. What WILL come out of this is a breaking up of Peabody into smaller units that will be privately owned. Some of Peabody's troubles also came from an  ill-timed acquisition of Australia’s Macarthur Coal Ltd. for $5.1 billion in 2011. Prices have been declining ever since.

One big issue is for investors as a $1 billion series of bonds Peabody sold just in March 2015 recently traded for 7 cents on the dollar, according to MarketAxess. Shame on financial advisors that may have directed anyone into this venture. 






 

Last edited by tennyson (5/04/2016 11:40 am)