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What does coal have to do with buying school supplies? Nothing! But that didn't stop the infamous industry group American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (which is working to stop the climate bill from limiting pollution) from making a comparison between the two in a weird attempt to bolster their case for coal.
You see, around now--the ACCCE is looking for any reason, any reason at all that will help make the case that America needs coal. So what's the reason this time? Why does America need coal? Because it's cheaper than buying back to school supplies for three children, that's why!
Yes, the ACCCE released the bizarre line of reasoning in an email to supporters. The National Resource Defense Council explains their rationale:
"You see, ACCCE reports that Bloomberg reports that the average costs of supplies and activity materials will be $473 per elementary school student this year. Three kids = $1,419 on school supplies. But a year's worth of electricity would only cost $1,200. See the savings? ... Neither do I."
And neither do I--what, you could buy three kids back to school supplies or pay for a years' worth of electricity? What kind of comparison is that? And what if you only have one or two kids in your family? Then coal loses out?
So many questions remain. Well, I guess the answer to the question posed in the headline is buying school supplies is cheaper, unless you have three or more children.
I still don't really understand what coal has to do with back to school shopping--besides the fact that most of those school products were probably made in factories powered by electricity generated in coal plants, I suppose. Anyhow, the reason that we need climate action is partly because coal is too cheap--when utility companies get to buy and burn the stuff so cheaply, they don't have to cover many of the ancillary costs: the cost of cleaning up the rivers they contaminate, treating the asthma that children who live in polluted areas contract, or cleaning up the mess after an ash spill. The price utility companies pay is not the true cost of coal--and that's without even mentioning its key role in causing climate change.
One final aside: does anyone else find it strange that the study says it costs $473 to buy back to school supplies for one child? Have prices for pens and paper boomed since I was a child? Do 'back to school supplies' include iPhones now? Seriously--I bet I could send a kid back to school entirely adequately prepared for under $50. Just sayin.
