Macarthur, a major exporter of pulverized coal used by steelmakers, said its board voted unanimously against Peabodys offer of 14 Australian dollars ($12.91) per share. Macarthur rejected an offer of 13 Australian dollars per share last month.
“Peabodys revised proposal remains highly conditional and does not fully value Macarthur and its significant growth prospects,” chairman Keith De Lacy said in a statement.
The board gave no indication of a possible price it might accept but said Peabodys offer is not an “adequate premium” for control. The American offer is 15.8 percent above Macarthurs closing stock price on March - - - - >

That was down from the previous low of 52 in 2008.
U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration documents show 18 of the deaths occurred in coal mines, down from 29 in 2008; and 16 were in gold, copper and other types of mines, down from 22 in 2008. Most involved aboveground truck accidents on mine property, though some of the deaths resulted from rock falls and being struck by machinery.
Obama administration mine safety czar Joe Main said the numbers are encouraging, but he wont be satisfied until no miners are killed on the job.
“I think thats accomplishable, if you look at - - - - >

Its natural gas, the same fossil fuel that was in such short supply a decade ago that it was deemed unreliable. Its now being uncovered at such a rapid pace that its price is near a seven-year low. Long used to heat half the nations homes, its becoming the fuel of choice when building new power plants. Someday, it may win wider acceptance as a replacement for gasoline in our cars and trucks.
Natural gas abundance and low price come as governments around the world debate how to curtail carbon dioxide and other pollution that contribute to global warming. The likely - - - - >

Company executives did say that coal markets - weighed down by huge stockpiles of coal and soft prices for natural gas - were bottoming out and poised for a rebound.
Natural gas competes with coal as a power source.
“Unfortunately coal has suffered the full brunt of this economic recession,” Steve Leer, Archs chairman and CEO, told analysts during a conference call. But “looking ahead, were beginning to see signs of life in the economy and expect industry fundamentals and our performance to improve as we progress through the remainder of the year.”
Performance may improve, but Leer said the company expects “a - - - - >

The report by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology concludes that the United States cannot meet its targets for stabilizing greenhouse gases unless it finds a way to economically capture carbon dioxide emissions coming from existing coal-burning power plants.
Coal plants generate about half of the countrys electricity and 80 percent of the nearly 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide released annually into the atmosphere from power production. China also relies heavily on coal for electricity production and in the last five years has been on a rush to build new coal plants - none of them designed to capture carbon dioxide.
“There - - - - >

Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Friday that reviving the FutureGen plant is an important step that shows the Obama administrations commitment to carbon-capture technology.
“Developing this technology is critically important for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. and around the world,” Chu said in a statement.
Negotiations for the FutureGen project have been under way since the Obama administration announced it would consider reviving the project. Under President George W. Bush, the project was canceled after cost overruns that a congressional auditor later said were based on false projections.
The Energy Department will commit more than $1 billion to the project, under - - - - >

Chu told a meeting of the National Coal Council on Friday that its essential that ways are found to capture carbon dioxide from coal-burning power plants and industrial sources. Carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels is the leading greenhouse gas blamed for global warming.
Chu said coal will remain an essential energy source. He said even if coal plants in the United States were shut down, as some environmentalists want, China and India will not turn their back on coal.
Source

Foundation Coal shares jumped nearly 21 percent.
Talk of another wave of consolidation in the coal industry has been growing louder in recent weeks and on Tuesday, Alpha Chief Executive Mike Quillen said the bid for Foundation reflected that need.
Producers have wrestled with declining demand, falling prices and tight credit, not to mention increased environmental scrutiny under the administration of Barrack Obama.
“I think people had predicted that the Alpha-Foundation one was one that made a lot of sense,” Quillen said in an interview.
Combined, Alpha and Foundation would be well-financed - theyd have approximately $743 million in cash and available credit - - - - - >

On Tuesday, the EPA announced it will take a closer look at 150 to 200 coal mine permit applications under review by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. EPA singled out two proposed surface mines in West Virginia and one in Kentucky as a start.
In a break from Bush administration policies, EPA is asserting its authority under the federal Clean Water Act to scrutinize plans to dump mine waste into streams and wetlands.
The National Mining Association estimates EPAs reviews could threaten 77,500 coal mining jobs and 385 million tons of annual production in southern West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, southwest Virginia, - - - - >

The fuel literally spills from the ground where streambanks cut into the earth, hinting at reserves estimated at 180 billion tons. But even here lawsuits over global warming and the changing political landscape in Washington are pummeling an industry that has long been the backbone of Americas power supply.
In recent weeks, a group of rural Montana electric co-ops abandoned a partially built 250-megawatt coal plant, ending a four-year legal campaign by environmentalists to stop the project. The co-ops plan to instead get their electricity from a natural gas plant - more expensive for customers but also more likely to get - - - - >