2023考研英語閱讀美國煤炭的燃眉之急
A FREIGHT train, its dozen cars loaded with coalcovered in a light dusting of snow, snaked throughthe narrow valley, sometimes following the two-lane highway and sometimes crossing it. The valleywas silent and snowy, and though it was two daysinto 2023 it could easily have been 1982, 1942 or1922: coal has been mined in Appalachia andcarried out by rail for well over a century.
一列貨運火車裝載著十二車煤炭，煤炭上覆蓋著一層薄薄的白雪，火車迂回地行進于狹窄的山谷之間，時而沿著這一條雙車道高速公路行駛，時而又穿過那一條。峽谷寂靜而多雪，盡管這已經是進入2023年以來的的第二天了，然而在阿帕拉契亞，這樣的一天也可以發生在1982年,1942年或者是1922年：一個世紀以來，煤炭在這里挖掘，并不斷用火車運走。
And by some measures, coal is still going strong. It provides more of Americas electricitythan any other fuel. Production has fallen off since 2008, but it remains high, as do prices, forwhich thank the developing worlds appetite. In Appalachia, coal remains a source of well-paid jobs in a region that needs them: for the first three quarters of 2011 employment in theAppalachian coal industry was at its highest level since 1997. And the Powder River Basin,which spans Wyoming and Montana, has become Americas major source of coal in the pastdecade, relieving overmined Kentucky and West Virginia. The Energy InformationAdministration reckons America has enough coal to meet current demand levels forthe next 200 years.
然而在某種程度上，煤炭業依舊很昌盛。較比其他的燃料，煤炭為美國提供了更多的電力資源。自2008年以來，煤炭產量逐漸減少，但仍能維持較高的生產量，而且價格也沒有大幅跌落，這都得益于發展中國家對于煤炭的廣泛需求。在阿帕拉契亞那些需要煤炭的地區，煤炭一直是高收入工作的主要在2011年的前三個季度，煤炭產業的就業狀況達到了其自 1997年以來的最高水準。在過去十年里，橫跨懷俄明州和蒙大納的粉河盆地已經成為了美國重要的煤炭來源，緩解了肯塔基州和西弗吉尼亞州的重度開采。能源信息管理局則認為，美國有足夠的煤炭來滿足其未來200年的需求。
But if the raw numbers look good, the trends tell a different story. Regulatory uncertaintyand the emergence of alternative fuel sources will probablymake Americas future far less coal-reliant than its past. In 2000 America got 52% of itselectricity from coal; in 2010 that number was 45%. Robust as exports are, they account forless than one-tenth of American mined coal; exports cannot pick up the slack if Americastaste for coal declines. Appalachian coal production peaked in the early 1990s; the EIAforecasts a decline for the next three years, followed by two decades of low-level stability.Increased employment and declining productivity suggest that Appalachian coal is gettingharder to find.
但如果原始數據前景看好，那么未來趨勢則另當別論。管理規章的不確定性和可替代燃料能源的出現可能會使美國不再會像過去一樣依賴于煤炭資源。2000年美國52%的電力資源來自煤炭;2010年這一數字是45%。盡管出口很強勁，出口的煤炭量不到美國開采煤炭量的十分之一;然而如果美國自身對于煤炭的需求量逐漸減少，對外出口也不會緩解這一蕭條景象。阿帕拉契亞的煤炭產量在20世紀90年代初達到頂峰; 美國能源信息管理局預測未來三年煤產量會減少，之后會迎來二十年的低水平穩定期。就業增加，生產率降低，預示著阿帕拉契亞的煤炭會越來越難開采。
Toughening regulation has an effect, too. Coal-fired power plants are the source of morethan one-third of greenhouse-gas emissions in America. Last July the EnvironmentalProtection Agency issued a rule that requires 28 states to reduce the amount of sulphurdioxide and nitrogen oxide they emit; in December came another, reducing the amount ofmercury and other toxic air pollutants that power plants can puff out.
加強管理也具有一定的效用。美國三分之一以上的溫室氣體排放來自燃煤發電廠。去年七月，環境保護局發表了一項規章，要求28個州減少二氧化硫和氮氧化物的排放;在接下來的十二月份，又要求發電廠減少汞和其他有毒空氣污染物的排放。
Many plants have already made the necessary upgrades and retrofits; around 53% ofAmericas coal-fired capacity comes from units fitted with scrubbers. But others, particularlyolder plants, will have to decide whether such expensive upgrades are worth doing at all.Most of Americas coal-fired capacity comes from plants at least 30 years old, and as muchas 14% of existing coal-fired plants, accounting for 4% of Americas generation capacity, willhave to be retired in the next five to eight years. Energy providers face a stark choice. Theycan fight these regulations in court . They can retrofit old plants: plentyhave done that, too. Or they can build new plantsin which case, far more are choosingplants that burn natural gas or use renewables rather than coal.
許多工廠已經做了必要的升級和改進;大約53%的美國燃煤生產力來自裝有洗滌器的裝置。但是其他的工廠，尤其是一些歷史更久遠的工廠，必須得決定這樣昂貴的升級到底值不值。大多數的美國燃煤生產力來自于30年余久的工廠，這樣的工廠占現有燃煤工廠的14%，發電量占美國發電總量的的4%，然而這些工廠在接下來的5到8年內必須淘汰。能量供應商面臨著一個嚴峻的抉擇。他們可以上訴公堂，與這些規章條例作斗爭。他們也可以改進這些工廠：很多人也已經這么做了。或者他們可以建造新的工廠 在這種情況下，更多人會選擇燒天然氣或使用可再生能源，而不是煤炭。
A FREIGHT train, its dozen cars loaded with coalcovered in a light dusting of snow, snaked throughthe narrow valley, sometimes following the two-lane highway and sometimes crossing it. The valleywas silent and snowy, and though it was two daysinto 2023 it could easily have been 1982, 1942 or1922: coal has been mined in Appalachia andcarried out by rail for well over a century.
一列貨運火車裝載著十二車煤炭，煤炭上覆蓋著一層薄薄的白雪，火車迂回地行進于狹窄的山谷之間，時而沿著這一條雙車道高速公路行駛，時而又穿過那一條。峽谷寂靜而多雪，盡管這已經是進入2023年以來的的第二天了，然而在阿帕拉契亞，這樣的一天也可以發生在1982年,1942年或者是1922年：一個世紀以來，煤炭在這里挖掘，并不斷用火車運走。
And by some measures, coal is still going strong. It provides more of Americas electricitythan any other fuel. Production has fallen off since 2008, but it remains high, as do prices, forwhich thank the developing worlds appetite. In Appalachia, coal remains a source of well-paid jobs in a region that needs them: for the first three quarters of 2011 employment in theAppalachian coal industry was at its highest level since 1997. And the Powder River Basin,which spans Wyoming and Montana, has become Americas major source of coal in the pastdecade, relieving overmined Kentucky and West Virginia. The Energy InformationAdministration reckons America has enough coal to meet current demand levels forthe next 200 years.
然而在某種程度上，煤炭業依舊很昌盛。較比其他的燃料，煤炭為美國提供了更多的電力資源。自2008年以來，煤炭產量逐漸減少，但仍能維持較高的生產量，而且價格也沒有大幅跌落，這都得益于發展中國家對于煤炭的廣泛需求。在阿帕拉契亞那些需要煤炭的地區，煤炭一直是高收入工作的主要在2011年的前三個季度，煤炭產業的就業狀況達到了其自 1997年以來的最高水準。在過去十年里，橫跨懷俄明州和蒙大納的粉河盆地已經成為了美國重要的煤炭來源，緩解了肯塔基州和西弗吉尼亞州的重度開采。能源信息管理局則認為，美國有足夠的煤炭來滿足其未來200年的需求。
But if the raw numbers look good, the trends tell a different story. Regulatory uncertaintyand the emergence of alternative fuel sources will probablymake Americas future far less coal-reliant than its past. In 2000 America got 52% of itselectricity from coal; in 2010 that number was 45%. Robust as exports are, they account forless than one-tenth of American mined coal; exports cannot pick up the slack if Americastaste for coal declines. Appalachian coal production peaked in the early 1990s; the EIAforecasts a decline for the next three years, followed by two decades of low-level stability.Increased employment and declining productivity suggest that Appalachian coal is gettingharder to find.
但如果原始數據前景看好，那么未來趨勢則另當別論。管理規章的不確定性和可替代燃料能源的出現可能會使美國不再會像過去一樣依賴于煤炭資源。2000年美國52%的電力資源來自煤炭;2010年這一數字是45%。盡管出口很強勁，出口的煤炭量不到美國開采煤炭量的十分之一;然而如果美國自身對于煤炭的需求量逐漸減少，對外出口也不會緩解這一蕭條景象。阿帕拉契亞的煤炭產量在20世紀90年代初達到頂峰; 美國能源信息管理局預測未來三年煤產量會減少，之后會迎來二十年的低水平穩定期。就業增加，生產率降低，預示著阿帕拉契亞的煤炭會越來越難開采。
Toughening regulation has an effect, too. Coal-fired power plants are the source of morethan one-third of greenhouse-gas emissions in America. Last July the EnvironmentalProtection Agency issued a rule that requires 28 states to reduce the amount of sulphurdioxide and nitrogen oxide they emit; in December came another, reducing the amount ofmercury and other toxic air pollutants that power plants can puff out.
加強管理也具有一定的效用。美國三分之一以上的溫室氣體排放來自燃煤發電廠。去年七月，環境保護局發表了一項規章，要求28個州減少二氧化硫和氮氧化物的排放;在接下來的十二月份，又要求發電廠減少汞和其他有毒空氣污染物的排放。
Many plants have already made the necessary upgrades and retrofits; around 53% ofAmericas coal-fired capacity comes from units fitted with scrubbers. But others, particularlyolder plants, will have to decide whether such expensive upgrades are worth doing at all.Most of Americas coal-fired capacity comes from plants at least 30 years old, and as muchas 14% of existing coal-fired plants, accounting for 4% of Americas generation capacity, willhave to be retired in the next five to eight years. Energy providers face a stark choice. Theycan fight these regulations in court . They can retrofit old plants: plentyhave done that, too. Or they can build new plantsin which case, far more are choosingplants that burn natural gas or use renewables rather than coal.
許多工廠已經做了必要的升級和改進;大約53%的美國燃煤生產力來自裝有洗滌器的裝置。但是其他的工廠，尤其是一些歷史更久遠的工廠，必須得決定這樣昂貴的升級到底值不值。大多數的美國燃煤生產力來自于30年余久的工廠，這樣的工廠占現有燃煤工廠的14%，發電量占美國發電總量的的4%，然而這些工廠在接下來的5到8年內必須淘汰。能量供應商面臨著一個嚴峻的抉擇。他們可以上訴公堂，與這些規章條例作斗爭。他們也可以改進這些工廠：很多人也已經這么做了。或者他們可以建造新的工廠 在這種情況下，更多人會選擇燒天然氣或使用可再生能源，而不是煤炭。
