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Both subsidizing dirty coal and using it to mine bitcoin both sound criminal to me. Subsidizing coal is the most evil while mining bitcoin with it is a meaningless act that's fun to dislike

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It's a poor country, they have lots of dirty coal. Their options are use it and have pollution, or pay money to import energy/electricity or build new nuclear power plants ( seems out of the question) or invest into renewables. Coal seems the cheapest option, especially for a country with complicated relations with many of their neighbours, which would make energy/electricity imports highly risky.

I think you replied to the wrong comment. Mind was about a poor country wasting govt money on populist subsidies

It's possible to use coal for power without subsidies (coal is cheap) and bonus it's even more economically efficient

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