Coal company will change disclosures on business risks of climate change to end state AG's probe
The nation’s largest publicly traded coal company, Peabody Energy Corp., has agreed to change its shareholder disclosures to reflect the business risks associated with climate change and the regulatory response.
The agreement, in the form of an assurance of discontinuance (PDF), ends an investigation by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, according to a press release. The attorney general contends the company violated New York laws barring false and misleading conduct in statements to the public and investors.
In public statements, Peabody Energy had referred to a projection by the International Energy Agency that predicted rising future demand for coal based on an assumption that governments won’t adopt new policies or regulations to address climate change. The company failed to disclose two other IEA scenarios that were less bullish on future coal demand, the press release says.
The company also said in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it didn’t have the ability to predict the impact of potential regulations, even though the company had made internal projections considering how aggressive regulatory action could affect coal sales, the press release says.
Schneiderman is also investigating Exxon Mobil to determine whether the company lied to consumers about climate change risks or lied to investors about the potential business impact of those risks, according to recent news reports.
