A coal group is arguing that spending $4 billion each year to subsidize coal and nuclear plants is not that much for consumers to bear because it would create energy security and boost national security.
“While $4 billion per year is not trivial, it is tiny compared to other investments for national security,” according to a new paper from the pro-coal American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity that will be released Monday.
The paper goes on to explain that Defense Department spending over the past three fiscal years averaged about $645 billion per year. Therefore, “paying an additional $4 billion per year to promote national security would represent less than 0.6 percent of federal funding for the same purpose,” the paper added.
