It’s been a pretty good 18 months for the coal industry following the disastrous price crash of 2015, but on Tuesday miners got a big lump in their stockings. BHP, the world’s largest mining company, announced it may quit the World Coal Association, the industry’s lobby group. BHP cited the WCA’s support for abandoning Australia’s proposed Clean Energy Target as one reason for its preliminary decision to bow out. BHP’s action is largely symbolic but it still smarts coming from one of the grande dames of the mining world. It also comes as Rio Tinto, BHP’s big rival down under, is rapidly selling down its coal assets. The move is, of course, partly about public relations. But big companies like BHP and Rio ultimately make their decisions based on the bottom line, and BHP’s latest move […]