PBS高端访谈:太阳能为无电居民带去希望（在线收听）

JUDY WOODRUFF: In the Navajo Nation, many residents still live off the grid, making it challenging to live their day-to-day lives. Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro recently traveled to the sprawling reservation, which is spread across parts of New Mexico, Arizona and Utah.

It's part of our weekly segment on the Leading Edge of science and technology.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Neighbors and visitors are few and far between in much of the Navajo Nation in Northeastern Arizona. So, Grace White was especially happy to get a recent visit from Melissa Parrish (ph), who works for the Navajo electric utility; 75-year-old White survives and even speaks, much like her ancestors did, living in a mud hogan, with neither electricity nor running water.

GRACE WHITE, Navajo Nation (through translator): I use kerosene for lighting and wood to heat my home. Fresh food doesn't last more than a day or two.

So, for meat, I dry it in the sun to make jerky.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: For more than 60 years, she and her family have tried to get connected to the electrical grid. They have even built a more modern building on their homestead with light fixtures and electrical outlets just waiting to be hooked up. But it would cost more than $40,000 to do so. That's money she doesn't have. One-third of the homes in Navajo Nation, about 18,000 of them, have no access to grid electricity. Back in the 1930s and '40s, the federal government provided loans to utilities to connect rural and remote areas to the grid under the Rural Electrification Act. However, the Navajo Nation, like many reservations, was bypassed. Utilities didn't typically serve Native lands and opted not to expand into them.

The irony is that the Navajo Nation is a huge exporter of electricity. The biggest coal-fired plant west of the Mississippi is located here, churning out power that is sold to millions of customers in Arizona, Nevada and California. What the Navajo Nation did get from the plant and a coal mine that fed it is employment, more than 1,000 jobs. But now even that could soon be lost. The plant's Phoenix-based owners plan to shut it down next year.

LORENZO BATES, Navajo Council Speaker: It's challenging and it's frustrating.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Navajo Council speaker LoRenzo Bates says the unemployment rate as it is, is 50 percent on the reservation, which stands to lose not only the jobs, but many people who held them.

LORENZO BATES: It's either take a transfer or you're out of a job. The breadwinners of the family are literally forced to go someplace else to work.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: He says the mine and power plant pay some $30 million to $40 million in annual taxes and royalties, which are needed by the tribe.

LORENZO BATES: Youth programs, any social services.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Tribal leaders are trying to find a buyer for the plant to avoid the shut down. It won't be easy. Many energy experts, including the plant's current owners, say cleaner burning natural gas is cheaper than coal. Others see a new opportunity. With its wide-open, windblown spaces and abundant sunshine, many here in Navajo country see the solution to its energy needs in renewables. And the first major installment in the direction is called the Kayenta Solar Project, a massive array of collectors that's big enough to power at least 13,000 homes. Plans are already under way to double the size of this array, and within five years, it is expected to generate nearly the same amount of power as the Navajo generating station. Twenty-three-year-old Tasi Malala says solar is the only way forward. He helped build the this solar field, which also launched his career.

TASI MALALA, Solar Employee: I learned everything from the bottom up, from the piles in the ground to installing the hardware, managing my own crew, to actually setting up communications here that go back to the control center.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Nearly 300 people were employed during the construction of the solar array. Most of them, like Tasi Malala, were Navajo.

TASI MALALA: Having these jobs open up, it's really opening a lot more doors for the younger generation, kids or even people in high school.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: However, once construction was done, few jobs remained. Tasi Malala was hired by the company that built this array. But much of his work is off the reservation, from South Carolina to Georgia and now California, working on new installations. And that's the problem that Tasi's father, George Malala, has with renewables. He says coal has been a reliable source of energy and stability.

GEORGE MALALA, Coal Miner: For me, coal is long-term years of employment. It employs a lot of people, compared to natural gas and solar.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: He is a mechanic in the coal mine which will likely close down with the power plant, tearing apart community and lifestyle, in his case, the popular hobby of rodeo.

GEORGE MALALA: It's family that is going to break up. Won't be nothing but ghost towns, you know? We have seen it through history.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: There's a classic generational divide here. Coal has brought a good living to the father. Solar promises a good one to his son. But few people argue with protesting employees and their supporters that nothing could soon replace the economic impact of the Navajo generating station. But large solar fields won't bring electricity to people living far from the grid. So the tribal utility has begun installing off-grid home units. About 3,000 panels have been installed so far, but the utility's resources are limited and many more families are on the waiting list; 78-year-old Glenda Ashley recalls what it was like to live without a refrigerator.

GLENDA ASHLEY, Navajo Nation: We bought meat. We had the old refrigerator out there, freezer, and we would leave it out there for overnight, because it was colder out there.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: But you couldn't store meat for more than a night?

GLENDA ASHLEY: Oh, no, no.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Six years ago, she got an off-grid solar system that now powers a refrigerator. It has brought convenience and huge savings from fewer trips to the grocery store. The nearest one is a 45-minute drive.

GLENDA ASHLEY: It really is a help.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: She still needs to conserve to keep the appliance going. Too many lights on or too much TV could drain the limited power stored in the unit's batteries. Limited as it is, an off-grid system would be a huge improvement for Grace White. But the utility's Parrish could only promise she'd be back soon, no fixed dates, with a solar installation. It could be months or even years away. For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Fred de Sam Lazaro in the Navajo Nation.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Fred's reporting is a partnership with the Under-Told Stories Project at University of St. Thomas in Minnesota.

朱蒂·伍德拉夫：在纳瓦霍保护区，许多居民仍然用不到电，这使得他们的日常生活非常艰难。特约记者弗莱德·德·山姆·拉扎罗最近前往新墨西哥州，亚利桑那州和犹他州的部分地区。这是我们每周《科学与技术前沿》节目中的一部分。

弗莱德·德·山姆·拉扎罗：在亚利桑那州东北部的大部分纳瓦霍保护区中，当地定居者和游客都非常稀少。因此，格蕾丝·怀特对于最近见到了为纳瓦霍电力公司工作的梅丽莎·帕里什感到非常高兴；75岁的怀特健在甚至还能说话，就像她的祖先一样，生活在泥泞中，既没有电也没有自来水。

格蕾丝·怀特，纳瓦霍族（通过翻译）：我用煤油照明，用木材取暖。新鲜食物的存储超不过一两天。因此，对于肉类，我在阳光下将它们暴晒，使其变成肉干。

弗莱德·德·山姆·拉扎罗：60多年来，她和她的家人一直试图通电。他们甚至在他们的宅基地上建造了一座更加现代化的建筑，里面的灯具和电源插座都等着连接起来。但是将它们连接起来会花费超过40,000美元。她负担不起。纳瓦霍国家中有三分之一的住户，约18,000人没有接入电网。早在20世纪30年代和40年代，联邦政府就根据《农村电气化法案》向公用事业部门提供贷款，将农村和偏远地区连入电网。然而，像许多保护区一样，纳瓦霍国家保护区被绕过去了。公用事业部门通常服务不到原住民区域，并选择不将服务扩展到那里。具有讽刺意味的是，纳瓦霍国家保护区是一个巨大的电力出口区。密西西比河以西最大的燃煤电厂位于这里，向亚利桑那州，内华达州和加利福尼亚州的数百万居民销售电力。纳瓦霍保护区从电厂和煤矿得到的东西就是就业，那里提供了超过1,000个工作岗位，他们就靠这个维持生计。但现在即使这种东西，也很快就会失去。该工厂位于凤凰城的业主计划明年将其关闭。

洛伦佐·贝茨，纳瓦霍议会议长：这很有挑战性，令人沮丧。

弗莱德·德·山姆·拉扎罗：纳瓦霍理事会发言人洛伦佐·贝茨表示，保护区的失业率占到50％，这不仅意味着失去工作，而且还意味着失去很多做这些工作的人。

洛伦佐·贝茨：要么接受搬迁，要么就是失业。这个家庭的主要经济支柱者，实际上被迫要去别的地方工作。

弗莱德·德·山姆·拉扎罗：他说矿山和发电厂每年需要支付3000万到4000万美元的年税和特许权使用费。

洛伦佐·贝茨：青年计划，任何社会服务。

弗莱德·德·山姆·拉扎罗：部落领导人正在努力寻找工厂的买主以避免关闭。这谈何容易。包括工厂现有业主在内的许多能源专家表示，清洁燃烧的天然气比煤炭便宜。其他人看到了新的机会。这里地形开阔，多风且阳光充足，凭借这些优势，纳瓦霍国家保护区的许多人都可以看到其利用可再生能源解决其能源需求的方案。而该方向的第一个主要部分称为Kayenta太阳能项目，这是一个庞大的收集器阵列，足以为至少13,000个家庭提供电力。目前已经有计划将这个阵列的规模扩大一倍，并且在五年内，预计它将可以输出与纳瓦霍发电站几乎相同的功率。二十三岁的塔西·马拉拉说太阳能是前进的唯一途径。他帮助建立了这个太阳能产区，这也开启了他的职业生涯。

塔西·马拉拉，太阳能产区员工：我从下到上学习了各种东西，从地面的桩到安装硬件，管理我自己的工作人员，到实际建立回到控制中心的通信连接。

弗莱德·德·山姆·拉扎罗：在建造太阳能电池阵列期间雇用了近300人。他们中的大多数人，就像塔西·马拉拉一样，都是纳瓦霍人。

塔西·马拉拉：展开这些工作，它确实为年轻一代，孩子们甚至高中生们打开了更多的大门。

弗莱德·德·山姆·拉扎罗：但是，一旦完工，就很少有工作岗位了。塔西·马拉拉是由建造这个阵列的公司雇用的。但他的大部分工作都不在预定范围内，从南卡罗来纳州到佐治亚州，现在又在加利福尼亚，他正在开展新的安装工作。这就是塔西的父亲乔治·马拉拉在可再生能源方面遇到的问题。他说煤炭是能源和生活稳定的可靠来源。

乔治·马拉拉，煤矿工人：对我来说，煤炭才能保障长久的就业。与天然气和太阳能相比，它所雇佣的人很多。

弗莱德·德·山姆·拉扎罗：他是那家煤矿的机械师，就是那个可能会关闭的发电厂，它撕裂了社区，改变了生活方式，就他而言，流行的竞技爱好。

乔治·马拉拉：它的家庭将要分离。你知道吗，除了变成鬼城，还有别的出路吗？历史上有多少这样的例子。

弗莱德·德·山姆·拉扎罗：这里有一个典型的代际鸿沟。煤炭为父亲带来了美好的生活。太阳能向他的儿子许诺了一个美好的前景。但很少有人与抗议的员工及其支持者争论，没有什么能够很快取代纳瓦霍发电站的经济影响。但是大型太阳能电站不会为远离电网的人们带来电力。因此，部落公用事业部门已经开始布设离网家庭单元。到目前为止，已经布设了大约3,000个面板，但公用事业部门的资源有限，还有更多的家庭位列等待名单之上; 78岁的格伦达·艾希礼回忆起没有冰箱的生活。格伦达·艾希礼，纳瓦霍族：我们买了肉。我们那里有旧冰箱，冷冻室，我们会把肉留在那里过夜，因为那里温度比较低。

弗莱德·德·山姆·拉扎罗：但你存放肉，不能超过一晚？

格伦达·艾希礼：哦，不能，不能。

弗莱德·德·山姆·拉扎罗：六年前，她得到了一个离网太阳能系统，现在为冰箱供电。这减少了她去杂货店的次数，带来了便利，大幅缩减了开支。最近的一个是45分钟的车程。

格伦达·阿什利：这真的是一个帮助。

弗莱德·德·山姆·拉扎罗：她仍然需要保存电量以保持设备运转。太多的灯或太多的电视可能会耗尽设备电池中存储的有限电量。尽管有限，离网系统对格雷斯·怀特来说是一个巨大的进步。但公用事业部门的帕里什只能承诺她太阳能装置将很快到位，但没有给出固定的日期。这可能还需要数月甚至数年。PBS《新闻一小时》，我是弗莱德·德·山姆·拉扎罗，从纳瓦霍国家保护区发来报道。

朱蒂·伍德拉夫：弗莱德的报道与明尼苏达州圣托马斯大学的Under-Told Stories项目合作展开。