美国国家公共电台 NPR As Coal Jobs Decline, Solar Sector Shines

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

For decades men without much education could make a very good living by mining coal. The loss of those jobs has stung as the coal industry has declined. Renewable power, especially solar power, is now where jobs are. So we wondered how they compare. We sent The Alleghany Front's Reid Frazier to find out.

REID FRAZIER, BYLINE¹: At Consol Energy's Harvey mine, south of Pittsburgh, I meet Craig Williams in a crowded break room. He's in his work gear - dusty jacket, hard hat with a headlamp and safety glasses. He's kept his job through tough times in the coal industry.

CRAIG WILLIAMS: Pittsburgh used to be a big - big on steel. That's mostly gone now. We're one of the last industries around and hope to keep it that way.

FRAZIER: A father of two, he says, like generations before him, coal is the best way he's able to support his family. He wouldn't say what he's making, but, nationwide, coal miners make around $80,000 a year.

WILLIAMS: If you had to take another job in this area especially, you're going to take anywhere from a 50 to 70 percent pay cut to what the next best thing is that's out there.

FRAZIER: But coal has shed jobs - 40 percent since 2011. And renewable energy is growing. Now, it's hard to compare these two industries. Solar power accounts for just under 1.5 percent of electricity in the U.S. And yet, according to the Department of Energy, solar jobs outnumbered those in coal by more than 2 to 1. So can laid-off coal miners find jobs in solar?

ROB GODBY: Well, certainly, it's a possibility, but there are a couple of major challenges.

FRAZIER: Rob Godby is an energy economist² at the University of Wyoming. He says one of those challenges is simple - location.

GODBY: When you are thinking about coal mining in Appalachia, I mean, oftentimes there are generations of families in those regions, and it's just very difficult to pick up and move.

FRAZIER: And then there's pay. Coal miners make on average around $35 an hour, Godby says, in part because the job can be dangerous. In renewables, it's more like 20 or $25 an hour.

GODBY: That doesn't mean you couldn't raise a family on that. But you're a lot closer to the average income in a lot of states in the solar industry than you are in mining industries.

FRAZIER: On a rooftop at a community center near Pittsburgh, seven workers in neon green T-shirts bolt down solar panels. Brian Krenzelak was a roofer before joining this company, Energy Independent Solutions, seven and a half years ago. Now he installs solar and helps train others.

BRIAN KRENZELAK: Have that prepped. Have these out.

FRAZIER: He believes in the mission of solar, and it's a good living. His wife also works. And the couple have three kids, one in college and another about to enter.

KRENZELAK: You know, I do well with this company - very well. It covers what we need to cover. I mean, I'm not becoming a millionaire overnight. But steadily³, I've been building the nest egg for sure.

FRAZIER: Experts say solar's surge is being helped by incentives⁴ that are scheduled to run out in a few years. And they don't know how long the boom will last. But they say solar is here to stay, and it'll be hard for machines to replace these jobs.

Krenzelak's company is busy. It's looking to basically double its workforce⁵ of 22.

KRENZELAK: We had to slow the salesmen down at a certain point. We we're selling so much solar, we had to actually slowed them down a little bit until we caught up.

FRAZIER: He says it feels good to be in an industry with a future. For NPR News, I'm Reid Frazier in Pittsburgh.

(SOUNDBITE OF SLANG SONG, "WHAT A DAY MAY BRING")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

3 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

4 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

5 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。