Frederick D. Palmer is a senior fellow for energy and climate at The Heartland Institute. From 2001 to 2015 Palmer served as Peabody Energy’s senior vice president of government relations, which included service on the Executive Leadership Team. Most recently he served as a special advisor to the office of Peabody’s executive chairman.
Prior to joining Peabody Energy, Palmer served for five years as general counsel and 15 years as chief executive officer of Western Fuels Association, Inc. While at Western Fuels, Palmer served on the Board of Directors of the National Mining Association (NMA) and in that capacity served as chair of the NMA Legal Committee with a focus on coal and climate policies during the Clinton/Gore years in the 1990s.
Palmer began his career in 1969 in Washington, D.C., on the staff of Arizona Congressman Morris K. Udall, where he served for two years. He was a partner in Duncan, Brown, Weinberg & Palmer, a Washington, D.C.-based law firm, for eight years where he specialized in utility, environmental, and resource law.
He was the 2004 recipient of the Erskine Ramsay Medal Award from the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration. He is a member of the National Coal Council where he is chairman of the New Markets For Coal Subcommittee, Coal Policy Committee. While at Peabody Energy, he was Peabody’s representative on the Board of Directors of the World Coal Association and served as its chairman from November 2010 to November 2012. He also represented Peabody on the Board of the FutureGen Alliance from its formation until June 2015. Additionally, he is a member of the California and D.C. Bar Associations.
Palmer attended the University of Arizona, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1966 and Juris Doctorate with honors in 1969. He was inducted into the University of Arizona’s Order of the Coif honor society in 1969 and served as Symposium Editor of the Arizona Law Review.
