纽约时报 对煤炭欲罢不能 地球已经岌岌可危(5)（在线收听）

President Trump has promised, unsuccessfully so far, to revive coal mining jobs

特朗普总统承诺重新开放煤炭开采岗位，虽然目前还未兑现，

and instructed his Environmental Protection Agency to roll back rules to reduce emissions from coal-fired power plants.

他还指示环保局放松对煤电厂减排方面的要求。

That message might be welcome in American coal country,

这一消息或许会受到煤炭地区的欢迎，

but the industry’s future in the United States is not promising.

但该行业在美国的前景并不乐观。

There are cheaper fuels, including natural gas;

因为美国有更便宜的能源，天然气就是一例；

gas now accounts for around 31 percent of total power generation in the United States, the same share as coal.

目前，天然气占到了美国发电总量的31％左右，与煤炭所占比例持平。

China has imposed tariffs on coal imports from the United States, in the tit-for-tat trade dispute.

中国也在针锋相对的贸易争端中对从美国进口的煤炭征收了关税。

More than 200 coal plants have closed since 2010,

自2010年以来，美国已有200多家燃煤电厂被关，

and coal consumption has continued to decline, contrary to Mr. Trump’s false claims.

煤炭消耗持续下降，与特朗普虚假的声明恰恰相反。

Coal mining jobs have plummeted over the last decade,

过去十年里，煤炭开采工作的数量大幅缩水，

despite a modest increase of about 4 percent in the first 18 months of the Trump presidency.

尽管特朗普总统任期的前18个月中出现了大约4％的小幅增长。

‘We have coal. We are producing more every year.’

“我们有煤炭。我们的产煤量年年都在增长。

The economics, and the political calculus, are very different in the world’s biggest democracy: India, population 1.3 billion.

在世界上最大的民主国家，有着13亿人口的印度，与煤炭相关的经济状况以及政治考量则大不相同。

Ajay Mishra, the career civil servant in charge of energy in the central Indian state of Telangana, knows firsthand.

阿贾伊·米什拉，是印度中部泰伦加纳区负责能源的职业公务员，对此有着深切的体会。

Five years ago, he said, daily power cuts cursed his state.

他说，五年前，他所在的地区每天都会停电。

Ceiling fans cut out on stifling summer afternoons.

夏日闷热的午后，天花板上的吊扇就会停止。

Factories ran on diesel-guzzling generators.

工厂靠柴油发电机撑着。

The people of Telangana were furious.

泰伦加纳区的人民是怨声载道。

State officials had to do something to fix the electricity problem.

当地官员不得不采取措施解决电力问题。

They harnessed the sun, briefly making Telangana a leading solar power producer in India.

他们利用起了太阳能，让泰伦加纳区建成了印度首个太阳能发电厂。

They also turned to what government officials have relied on for over a century:

他们还将目光转向了政府官员一个多世纪以来一直依赖的东西：

the vast vein of coal that sat underground, stretching across the hills and forests of central India.

横跨印度中部大片山丘和森林的漫长产煤地带。

Telangana now has round-the-clock electricity.

如今，泰伦加纳区已经有了24小时全天候的电力供应。

Its farmers get it free to pump water.

当地农民还可以免费用电抽水。

It sweetens the re-election bid of Telangana’s top elected official, K. Chandrashekar Rao, in state polls later this year.

这一改善也降低了泰伦加纳区票数最多的官员K. 昌德拉谢卡在该州今年晚些时候的民意调查中的连任竞选之路变得更加通畅了。

“We have coal,” Mr. Mishra said. “We are producing more every year. For the next 100 years we have it.”

“我们有煤炭，”米什拉先生说。 “而且我们的煤炭产量年年都在增长。接下来的100年，我们都有煤炭可用。”