To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
This remains a five-alarm fire. We have just days left in our Fall Campaign and the numbers we’re seeing are not good. This is terrifying for us, especially when everything we cherish is on the ballot just one week from now.
Two women walk in front of a billboard, which says "Ebola must go. Stopping Ebola is Everybody's Business" in Monrovia, Liberia on 15 January 2015 (Photo: UNMIL/Emmanuel Tobey)
The world's largest privately-held coal company has been exposed capitalizing off the Ebola crisis in West Africa--a move public health officials called "ludicrous" and "opportunistic."
A Guardian expose reveals that Peabody Coal's new public relations campaign--which aims to brand the iconic pollutant as a "21st century fuel"--promotes its product "as an answer to Africa's devastating public health crisis."
Journalist Suzanne Goldberg reports:
Greg Boyce, the chief executive of Peabody, a US-based multinational with mining interests around the world, included a slide on Ebola and energy in a presentation to a coal industry conference in September last year. The slide suggested that more energy would have spurred the distribution of a hypothetical Ebola vaccine - citing as supporting evidence a University of Pennsylvania infectious disease expert.
As part of its campaign, Peabody cites Irwin Redlener, director of Columbia University's National Center for Disaster Preparedness. But Redlener told the Guardian he had never heard of the company and that their claim has no "merit."
"Peabody has very specific and explicit corporate goals," Redlener said. "I think this is a pretty far fetched leap from a global crisis to try to justify the existence of a company that is interested in producing and selling coal."
West Africa is slowly working to rebuild following the Ebola epidemic, which began in December 2013 in Guinea before spreading to Liberia and Sierra Leone, with outbreaks reported in Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, and Spain. The World Health Organization estimates that as of May 9, 2015, there were a total 26,683 suspected cases of the disease, claiming 11,022 lives.
The investigation into Peabody is part of a series conducted by the Guardian to expose the social and environmental toll of certain fossil fuel companies. In March, the newspaper launched its Keep It In the Ground campaign, which is calling on the world's two largest foundations, the Gates Foundation and Wellcome Trust, to divest their holdings from fossil fuel companies.
According to the Guardian, the Gates Foundations' Asset Trust has a $1.6m holding in Peabody. The Wellcome Trust does not have a direct investment in the company.
The future of all that we cherish is on the line and we have to fight like hell to protect democracy, human decency, and a liveable planet. The last line of defense is people who understand what’s at stake—activists, writers, thinkers, doers, and everyday people who see what is happening, know in their hearts that a better world is possible, and are willing to fight for it. You are one of the good people Common Dreams was built for. We provide independent news, progressive opinion, and crucial analysis on the day’s most important issues. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. But to keep publishing and remain strong in these dangerous times, we need your support. So we’re asking you today: Will you donate to our Fall Campaign and keep the progressive, nonprofit journalism of Common Dreams alive? |
The world's largest privately-held coal company has been exposed capitalizing off the Ebola crisis in West Africa--a move public health officials called "ludicrous" and "opportunistic."
A Guardian expose reveals that Peabody Coal's new public relations campaign--which aims to brand the iconic pollutant as a "21st century fuel"--promotes its product "as an answer to Africa's devastating public health crisis."
Journalist Suzanne Goldberg reports:
Greg Boyce, the chief executive of Peabody, a US-based multinational with mining interests around the world, included a slide on Ebola and energy in a presentation to a coal industry conference in September last year. The slide suggested that more energy would have spurred the distribution of a hypothetical Ebola vaccine - citing as supporting evidence a University of Pennsylvania infectious disease expert.
As part of its campaign, Peabody cites Irwin Redlener, director of Columbia University's National Center for Disaster Preparedness. But Redlener told the Guardian he had never heard of the company and that their claim has no "merit."
"Peabody has very specific and explicit corporate goals," Redlener said. "I think this is a pretty far fetched leap from a global crisis to try to justify the existence of a company that is interested in producing and selling coal."
West Africa is slowly working to rebuild following the Ebola epidemic, which began in December 2013 in Guinea before spreading to Liberia and Sierra Leone, with outbreaks reported in Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, and Spain. The World Health Organization estimates that as of May 9, 2015, there were a total 26,683 suspected cases of the disease, claiming 11,022 lives.
The investigation into Peabody is part of a series conducted by the Guardian to expose the social and environmental toll of certain fossil fuel companies. In March, the newspaper launched its Keep It In the Ground campaign, which is calling on the world's two largest foundations, the Gates Foundation and Wellcome Trust, to divest their holdings from fossil fuel companies.
According to the Guardian, the Gates Foundations' Asset Trust has a $1.6m holding in Peabody. The Wellcome Trust does not have a direct investment in the company.
The world's largest privately-held coal company has been exposed capitalizing off the Ebola crisis in West Africa--a move public health officials called "ludicrous" and "opportunistic."
A Guardian expose reveals that Peabody Coal's new public relations campaign--which aims to brand the iconic pollutant as a "21st century fuel"--promotes its product "as an answer to Africa's devastating public health crisis."
Journalist Suzanne Goldberg reports:
Greg Boyce, the chief executive of Peabody, a US-based multinational with mining interests around the world, included a slide on Ebola and energy in a presentation to a coal industry conference in September last year. The slide suggested that more energy would have spurred the distribution of a hypothetical Ebola vaccine - citing as supporting evidence a University of Pennsylvania infectious disease expert.
As part of its campaign, Peabody cites Irwin Redlener, director of Columbia University's National Center for Disaster Preparedness. But Redlener told the Guardian he had never heard of the company and that their claim has no "merit."
"Peabody has very specific and explicit corporate goals," Redlener said. "I think this is a pretty far fetched leap from a global crisis to try to justify the existence of a company that is interested in producing and selling coal."
West Africa is slowly working to rebuild following the Ebola epidemic, which began in December 2013 in Guinea before spreading to Liberia and Sierra Leone, with outbreaks reported in Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, and Spain. The World Health Organization estimates that as of May 9, 2015, there were a total 26,683 suspected cases of the disease, claiming 11,022 lives.
The investigation into Peabody is part of a series conducted by the Guardian to expose the social and environmental toll of certain fossil fuel companies. In March, the newspaper launched its Keep It In the Ground campaign, which is calling on the world's two largest foundations, the Gates Foundation and Wellcome Trust, to divest their holdings from fossil fuel companies.
According to the Guardian, the Gates Foundations' Asset Trust has a $1.6m holding in Peabody. The Wellcome Trust does not have a direct investment in the company.