Upon news that the House passed another bloated farm bill on Friday that subsidizes U.S. farmers (mostly of the deceased, non-farming and corporate varieties) at the expense of poor people around the world, it seems like the U.S. and EU might never get their act together.

Agriculture is probably the industry closest to the hearts of both Americans and Europeans. Farm policies that damage prospects for development in poor countries may be the last to go -- a shame, since most of the developing world (particularly the poorest) still make their living in the agricultural sector.

But Germany is showing the way in another sector that has undergone a similar history with deep roots in the culture: coal. The Washington Post reports that by 2018, hard coal production in Germany will cease. That's a big deal for a country that built its economic success -- several times over -- on energy from its own coal. Since World War II, coal has become an economic burden rather than a blessing for Germany, just as agriculture is becoming for the the U.S. and EU:

For decades, German lawmakers have propped up the industry, unwilling to risk massive layoffs and reluctant to eliminate a reliable energy source as gas and oil supplies become scarcer.

But after spending more than $200 billion in subsidies since the 1960s, the federal government this year decided that the practice had become unaffordable. The 2018 sunset for the hard-coal industry was set.

Coal is more fungible than food, for certain. No large country will ever do away entirely with its own food production. But at least this case seems to show that there's hope that sensible policy-making will eventually catch up with bad policies.