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Federal coal subsidies

64 bytes added, 17:37, 8 July 2011
SW: add section
{{#badges: CoalSwarm}} '''Federal coal subsidies''' are forms of financial assistance paid by federal taxpayers to the coal and power industry. Such subsidies include direct spending, tax breaks and exemptions, low-interest loans, loan guarantees, loan forgiveness, grants, lost government revenue such as discounted royalty fees to mine federal lands, and federally-subsidized external costs, such as health care expenses and environmental clean-up due to the negative effects of coal use. [[External costs of coal]] include the loss or degradation of valuable ecosystems and community health.
According to In June 2010, the U.S. [[Energy Information Administration]] (EIA), in FY 2007, refined coal (chemically enhanced to reduce certain emissions) received about $2.4 billion in subsidies.<ref>[http://www.eia.gov/energy_in_brief/energy_subsidies.cfm "How much does the Federal Government spend on energy-specific subsidies and support?"] Energy Information Administration, September 8, 2008.</ref> In June 2010, the EIA said $557 billion was spent to subsidize fossil fuels globally in 2008, compared to $43 billion in support of renewable energy.<ref>Alex Morales, [http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-29/fossil-fuel-subsidies-are-12-times-support-for-renewables-study-shows.html "Fossil Fuel Subsidies Are Twelve Times Renewables Support"] Bloomberg, July 29, 2010.</ref>
==Government Funding and Loans for Coal Plants==
"Still these figures do not represent the full societal and environmental burden of coal. In quantifying the damages, we have omitted the impacts of toxic chemicals and heavy metals on ecological systems and diverse plants and animals; some ill-health endpoints (morbidity) aside from mortality related to air pollutants released through coal combustion that are still not captured; the direct risks and hazards posed by [[coal sludge]], [[coal slurry]], and [[coal waste]] impoundments; the full contributions of [[nitrogen]] deposition to eutrophication of fresh and coastal sea water; the prolonged impacts of [[acid rain]] and [[acid mine drainage]]; many of the long-term impacts on the physical and mental health of those living in coal-field regions and nearby [[MTR]] sites; some of the health impacts and climate forcing due to increased tropospheric [[ozone]] formation; and the full assessment of impacts due to an increasingly unstable climate."<ref name=cp/>
=="Clean Coal"==According to the U.S. [[Energy Information Administration]] (EIA), in FY 2007, refined coal (chemically enhanced to reduce certain emissions) received about $2.4 billion in subsidies.<ref>[http://www.eia.gov/energy_in_brief/energy_subsidies.cfm "How much does the Federal Government spend on energy-specific subsidies and support?"] Energy Information Administration, September 8, 2008.</ref> ===The Clean Coal Power Initiative===
According to the U.S. Department of Energy:
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