There’s wasteful, and then there’s government wasteful.

You can guess which one is worse.

Just in case you didn’t already know, earlier this month there was a stark reminder of our need to be ever vigilant against government excess. This time, the offending item was in the latest defense spending bill and includes the plan to ship coal to Germany all the way from the U.S., all on the taxpayer dime.

Stephen Ellis, a VP at Taxpayers for Common Sense writes the following in a recent email.

[…T]ucked into the legislation is a provision intended to revive a wasteful program to ship coal to Germany to fuel particular U.S. facilities there.

He’s right to call attention to the matter. The idea is senseless in so many ways.

First, coal is as cheap in Germany as it is in the U.S., so it makes no sense to add shipping and logistics to the bill as well. Coal from northern Appalachia is priced at around $53 a metric ton versus near $60 for the European version.

However, the cost of rail transport within North America alone will typically add another 50% or more to the price, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Add to that the charges for ocean-borne freight, and it’s easy to see the expenditures mounting above what needs to be paid, which generally should be the lowest price possible.

Then there is the fact that Germany isn’t exactly short of coal. It produced 177 million tons of the stuff in 2016 according to the Enerdata statistical yearbook for 2017. That makes it the eighth largest coal producer in the world. In other words, they have enough of the energy to sell some to local U.S. military bases and other sites.

Germany is an ally of the U.S. The idea that Germany would not supply the U.S. military bases in Germany with coal is preposterous. In other countries that may not be the case, but with Germany I think we can rest assured that they are on the same side as Washington when it comes to security matters. The recent trade friction will not likely get in the way of Germany acting as a robust supporter.

Finally, but no less important is that Appalachia has had a hard time of things lately. If the idea of buying U.S. coal is to help support ailing communities, then that is understandable. In part, getting economic help was why many such states as Kentucky, West Virginia, and Tennessee voted for Donald Trump in the last election.

But it would seem far better to just buy the coal in Germany and send some cash straight to beleaguered coal mining communities where appropriate.

This final idea has two distinct benefits. It is more honest, which means the fiction of U.S. coal in Germany being more secure can be ditched. And it is more efficient because it doesn’t involve needlessly tying up the U.S. and international transport system hauling black rocks around.

Of course, efficiency and government don’t usually go together. Hopefully, they will this time.