Here is the:

Statement of Peabody Energy Regarding Petition for Reconsideration to EPA

* Peabody Energy today filed a detailed petition citing new information as a basis to urge the U.S. EPA to reconsider its claim that greenhouse gases endanger human health.

o Under the Clean Air Act, EPA’s “endangerment finding” could mean regulation of hundreds of thousands and perhaps millions of buildings, farms, businesses and other facilities in the U.S.

* Peabody believes that EPA ignored its obligation to render sound judgment and conduct a rigorous review of science, instead relying almost exclusively on the work of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as a major basis for its recent endangerment finding.

o The IPCC is an international body whose work is not subject to U.S. data quality standards or consistently peer reviewed.

* Compounding this error, EPA outsourced its scientific obligations to an agency whose work has since been shown to be deeply tainted by flaws, in light of multiple instances of errors, manipulated data and gaps in information that make conclusions unreliable. It is clear that the intent of some was to shape a report to satisfy an agenda that is political and not scientific.

* Given the seriousness of the flaws by the IPCC, relied upon by EPA, the immediacy of draconian regulation is unwarranted. There is no sufficient basis to implement regulations that would harm a fragile economy, further suppress investment and raise energy costs for Americans. The agency needs to step back and begin a thorough review of the real state of scientific understanding of greenhouse gases.

o To the extent that long-term concern regarding greenhouse gas emissions still validly exists, climate change is at worst a long-term challenge - not the immediate crisis that has been conveyed. There is ample time to develop low-emissions technologies such as carbon capture and storage, which global agencies and multiple nations believe are essential for meeting long-term carbon goals.

* This supplements Peabody’s original objections to the finding, which ignores the many societal benefits from coal use in helping people live longer and better, while focusing only on perceived costs. Peabody continues to believe that coal use is essential for U.S. economic growth and the advancement of human development around the world. Coal is the fastest growing fuel in the world and global coal demand is expected to increase more than 1.5 times faster than the combined growth rate of oil, natural gas, nuclear and renewables.