失去了兩座煤礦的農(nóng)村社區(qū)現(xiàn)在正在教孩子們安裝太陽能電池板

失去了兩座煤礦的農(nóng)村社區(qū)現(xiàn)在正在教孩子們安裝太陽能電池板

Colorado's Delta County is named after a delta of arable land in the western Rocky Mountains, formed by the confluence of the Gunnison and Uncompahgre rivers. In recent years, however, it has also embodied another meaning of its name: the Greek letter delta, used in math and science as a symbol for change.

科羅拉多州的三角洲縣是以西部洛磯山脈的一片可耕地的三角洲命名的，它是由甘尼遜河和昂康普格里河匯合處形成的。然而，近年來，它還體現(xiàn)了其名稱的另一種含義:希臘字母delta，在數(shù)學(xué)和科學(xué)中用作變化的象征。

Rising 11,400 feet above Paonia, Mount Lamborn is the tallest point in Colorado's Delta County. (Photo: Rachele A. Morlan/Shutterstock)

The economy of Delta County has long been led by agriculture and mining, but both industries have undergone notable changes lately. Drought and extreme weather events have taken a toll on many local farms and forests, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), while one of the county's three coal mines closed in 2013, followed by another in 2016.

長時(shí)間以來，三角洲縣的經(jīng)濟(jì)一直以農(nóng)業(yè)和礦業(yè)為主，但最近這兩個(gè)行業(yè)都發(fā)生了顯著的變化。根據(jù)美國國家海洋和大氣管理局(NOAA)的數(shù)據(jù)，干旱和極端天氣事件已經(jīng)對當(dāng)?shù)卦S多農(nóng)場和森林造成了損失，而該縣三家煤礦中的一家在2013年關(guān)閉，另一家在2016年關(guān)閉。

The mine closures alone were "catastrophic," according to a 2019 report by the Resource Legacy Fund, a nonprofit conservation group. Delta County went from 701 mining jobs in 2012 to 107 in 2016, a loss of more than 80%.

非營利環(huán)保組織“資源遺產(chǎn)基金”在2019年發(fā)布的一份報(bào)告稱，僅關(guān)閉這些煤礦就造成了“災(zāi)難性的后果”。三角洲縣的礦業(yè)工作崗位從2012年的701個(gè)增加到2016年的107個(gè)，減少了80%以上。

"Unlike some places that have a more gradual off-ramp or predictable decline, these mine closures came suddenly and significantly, allowing for little advance planning or preparation for what would come next," the report explained.

報(bào)告解釋說:“與一些出口比較平緩或下降趨勢可以預(yù)測的地方不同，這些礦井的關(guān)閉來得突然而又意義重大，幾乎沒有提前計(jì)劃或準(zhǔn)備。”

They were part of a broader decline in coal mining across the country, driven largely by cheap natural gas, which emits less carbon than coal, and the growing affordability of renewable energy. That decline is almost certainly a good thing overall, given the dangers of both mining and burning coal, but the short-term effects can also upend communities whose fates remain tethered to the coal industry.

它們是全國范圍內(nèi)煤炭開采量普遍下降的一部分，主要原因是廉價(jià)的天然氣(其碳排放量低于煤炭)以及可再生能源的可承受性日益增強(qiáng)?？紤]到開采和燃燒煤炭的危險(xiǎn)，這種下降幾乎可以肯定是一件好事，但短期的影響也可能顛覆那些命運(yùn)仍與煤炭行業(yè)緊密相連的社區(qū)。

On the bright side

往好處想

Delta reportedly has one of the highest potentials for solar power in Colorado. (Photo: Jeffrey Beall [CC BY-SA 2.0]/Flickr)

The county may be growing less reliant on its coal deposits, but it is paying more attention to another local energy source: sunlight. Delta has one of the highest potentials for solar photovoltaic (PV) electricity in the state, according to NOAA, and since so few mining jobs now await students after graduation, a teacher at Delta High is preparing his students to capitalize on their hometown's solar potential instead.

這個(gè)縣可能越來越不依賴于它的煤礦，但它更關(guān)注另一種當(dāng)?shù)啬茉?陽光。根據(jù)美國國家海洋和大氣管理局(NOAA)的數(shù)據(jù)，三角洲地區(qū)是全州太陽能光伏發(fā)電潛力最大的地區(qū)之一，由于現(xiàn)在學(xué)生畢業(yè)后等待他們的礦業(yè)工作機(jī)會(huì)很少，三角洲高中的一名教師正準(zhǔn)備讓學(xué)生利用家鄉(xiāng)的太陽能潛力。

Students pose with a solar array at Delta High School. (Photo: Ben Graves/NOAA Planet Stewards)

That hands-on training is a key part of the curriculum. On top of learning how to design and install solar panels, his students put those lessons to use by building a solar array in the school's Solar PV Lab Yard. Students lead every stage of the process, planning the layout of the panels, diagramming the wiring and installing the array. They also collect data on the panels' performance and try to maximize production across different seasons. In the 2017-2018 class, students laid groundwork for future solar installations, NOAA reports, both at their school and around the community.

動(dòng)手訓(xùn)練是課程的關(guān)鍵部分。除了學(xué)習(xí)如何設(shè)計(jì)和安裝太陽能電池板外，他的學(xué)生們還在學(xué)校的太陽能光伏實(shí)驗(yàn)室院子里建造了一個(gè)太陽能電池陣列，將這些課程付諸實(shí)踐。學(xué)生們領(lǐng)導(dǎo)整個(gè)過程的每一個(gè)階段，規(guī)劃面板的布局，繪制線路圖并安裝陣列。他們還收集面板性能的數(shù)據(jù)，并試圖在不同季節(jié)最大化生產(chǎn)。NOAA報(bào)告稱，在2017-2018年的課程中，學(xué)生們?yōu)槲磥淼奶柲苎b置奠定了基礎(chǔ)，無論是在學(xué)校還是社區(qū)。

Time for a change

是時(shí)候改變了

U. S. Route 50 is one of the main highways through Delta, Colorado. (Photo: Jeffrey Beall [CC BY-SA 2.0]/Flickr)

Solar power is popular in Delta County, a politically conservative community that apparently diverges from many national Republicans on the subject, instead focusing on the conservative values inherent to cheap, decentralized and renewable energy. The local electric cooperative, Delta-Montrose Electric Association (DMEA), is already working to shift from coal to renewable energy, thanks to a 2018 vote in which members opted to buy out their contract with a wholesale power provider that limited how much solar power they could produce locally. In addition to giving local residents more independence and self-sufficiency, Bowlin notes that using more renewable energy could also help DMEA cut costs for customers.

在德爾塔縣，太陽能很受歡迎。德爾塔縣是一個(gè)政治上比較保守的社區(qū)，在這個(gè)問題上，它顯然與許多全國性的共和黨人存在分歧，相反，它關(guān)注的是廉價(jià)、分散和可再生能源所固有的保守價(jià)值觀。當(dāng)?shù)仉娏献魃绲聽査?蒙特羅斯電力協(xié)會(huì)(DMEA)已經(jīng)在努力從煤炭轉(zhuǎn)向可再生能源，這要?dú)w功于2018年的一次投票。在投票中，成員們選擇買斷與一家批發(fā)電力供應(yīng)商的合同，限制了他們在當(dāng)?shù)乜梢陨a(chǎn)多少太陽能。除了給予當(dāng)?shù)鼐用窀嗟莫?dú)立性和自給自足，鮑林指出，使用更多的可再生能源也可以幫助DMEA降低客戶成本。