If you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes, you may have seen a movie or description in the books after the fog in London, UK. In reality, although London is accessible by river to the ocean and the fog does come in, much of the fog was coal pollution. Ever since the discovery of coal in northern England, London has been burning coal, at first for heating in homes and then to generate electricity. The ports and railways of England developed to bring coal to the marketplaces.

If you know something about British history, former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher closed down coal mines and caused a great deal of strife in labor relationship.

In an article by Elizabeth Piper and Susanna Twidale of Reuters, the UK Minister of Energy Anne-Marie Trevelyan moved the target to end the use of coal to generate electricity to October 2024. Part of the reason is climate change and the year was to be 2025, the other part of the reason is the UK is hosting the UN Climate Change Conference in November.

Coal known as coking coal will still be mined for the steel industry.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, industries changed over time, but people get attached to the history and do not see the alternatives. It takes effort to see the alternatives becoming better and the new need to change. For companies that continually make profits and pay dividends, examining strategic values is important or you may want to find alternatives.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.