The debate over U.S. energy policy took a dramatic turn last month when Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk squared off against the CEO top privately-owned U.S. coal producer Murray Energy.
In an interview for the CNBC show "Squawk Box," Robert Murray called Tesla and its electric cars a "fraud."
He criticized the automaker for failing to turn a profit even while receiving taxpayer subsidies.
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Murray went on to say that closing every coal-fired power plant in the U.S. immediately "would not affect the temperature of the Earth at all."
Musk almost immediately fired back with, as is typical for him, a tweet.
He linked to the original CNBC video of the interview, and wrote that the "real fraud going on is denial of climate science."
![2016 Tesla Model S 2016 Tesla Model S](https://images.hgmsites.net/lrg/2016-tesla-model-s_100555783_l.jpg)
2016 Tesla Model S
In the original interview, Murray said Tesla had received "$2 billion from the taxpayer," and that the company has "not made a penny yet in cash flow."
After the interview aired, Tesla announced that it had earned a $22 million profit in the third quarter, its first profitable period since 2013.
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Tesla has taken some government money, including a $465 million Department of Energy loan it paid back in 2013.
That loan was part of the Advanced-Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) program, which offered loans to other companies, including established automakers Ford and Nissan.
Tesla buyers also qualify for a $7,500 federal tax credit, at least until the automaker hits a ceiling of 200,000 sales that will phase out the credit.
![2016 Tesla Model X 2016 Tesla Model X](https://images.hgmsites.net/lrg/2016-tesla-model-x_100529242_l.jpg)
2016 Tesla Model X
CNBC noted Energy Information Administration data showing that, in 2013, electricity production and federal utilities that rely on coal received $1.08 billion in direct cash outlays through federal programs, tax benefits, research and development funding, loans, and guarantees.
That amounted to 6 percent of such funding.
In comparison, electricity production from renewable-energy sources received $15.04 billion—or 72 percent of such funding—in the same year.
![Ontario Power Generation Nanticoke Generating Station coal power plant Ontario Power Generation Nanticoke Generating Station coal power plant](https://images.hgmsites.net/med/ontario-power-generation-nanticoke-generating-station-coal-power-plant_100549481_m.jpg)
Ontario Power Generation Nanticoke Generating Station coal power plant
While he criticized Musk for taking subsidies, Murray also advocated for more government funding of so-called "clean-coal" technologies.
He said increased government subsidies for these technologies would create a "level playing field" with subsidized wind and solar power.
In December 2013, the Department of Energy did offer $8 billion in subsidies for projects to abate or reduce greenhouse-gas emissions from fossil fuels, including carbon capture and storage for coal-fired power plants, according to CNBC.
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