美国国家公共电台 NPR Natural Gas Building Boom Fuels Climate Worries, Enrages Landowners

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Pretty soon, the United States might be producing more natural gas than it needs. And yet, there is a pipeline¹ construction boom in the Northeast. Critics say this may be less about providing gas and more about profit. StateImpact Pennsylvania's Marie Cusick teamed up with the Center for Public Integrity.

MARIE CUSICK, BYLINE²: The Atlantic Coast Pipeline would wind 600 miles underground, carrying natural gas from West Virginia to Virginia and North Carolina. Its construction could affect thousands of landowners, like Mike Hirrel.

MIKE HIRREL: Hello.

CUSICK: Hi.

HIRREL: Hi.

CUSICK: Nice to meet you.

HIRREL: It's nice to meet you.

CUSICK: The planned route crosses the Blue Ridge³ Mountain resort, where he owns a second home. Hirrel worries about leaks or explosions, but he tracks the project for another reason. He's a former antitrust litigator with the Department of Justice. In the study of his Northern Virginia apartment is a foot-high stack of research on the pipeline.

HIRREL: Let's see. This is the antitrust file.

CUSICK: Hirrel says the Atlantic Coast Pipeline would be an illegal monopolization⁴. That's because the pipeline and the utilities that would pay for most of the space in it are owned by the same companies. Hirrel and the Virginia chapter of the Sierra Club have filed separate complaints with the Federal Trade Commission.

HIRREL: We haven't seen this sort of antitrust violation⁵ since the beginning of antitrust law in the early part of the 20th century.

CUSICK: An analysis by the Center for Public Integrity and StateImpact Pennsylvania finds this kind of self-dealing with four of six major pipelines⁶ proposed in the Northeast. Industry analysts⁷ say there's a risk of building something that's not really needed.

GREG LANDER: The reason it's upsetting is because the gas pipeline industry is a good industry.

CUSICK: Greg Lander is a longtime gas industry consultant⁸. He and others say building an unnecessary pipeline could still boost a company's bottom line because captive ratepayers pick up the tab.

LANDER: I'd say that there is certainly very likely a measure of greed. And that will hurt everybody. It'll hurt the industry. It'll hurt producers. It'll hurt consumers.

PHILLIP GRIGSBY: I don't believe they're valid⁹ criticisms.

CUSICK: Phillip Grigsby is with Duke Energy, one of the companies building the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. They call the antitrust allegations baseless. And Grigsby says there is plenty of use for the flood of gas unleashed¹⁰ by America's shale¹¹ boom.

Dozens of former coal plants like this one in Pennsylvania are being repurposed to burn cheaper, cleaner natural gas. Grigsby says gas is also used to heat homes and power energy-hungry factories.

GRIGSBY: We have a demonstrated market for the gas in the states and for specific uses.

CUSICK: But by next year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration expects the country to produce more gas than it uses.

HET SHAH: Yeah, there's definitely an overbuild of pipeline.

CUSICK: And Het Shah of Bloomberg New Energy Finance says most of the future demand for gas won't be in the U.S. It will be driven by exports. There is a federal agency whose job it is to decide whether there's a public need for new pipelines.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: The last item for present (ph) and discussion this morning is item A-3.

CUSICK: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC. But former FERC commissioner¹² Suedeen Kelly says the agency has a limited mandate¹³. When it evaluates need, it simply looks to see if there are signed contracts for the gas.

SUEDEEN KELLY: Well, what you're really doing is you're asking the entities¹⁴ that are actually going to use the pipeline, do you need it?

CUSICK: FERC declined multiple interview requests for this story. But earlier this year, its outgoing chair called for more scrutiny¹⁵, warning that a glut¹⁶ of natural gas pipelines could become stranded¹⁷ assets. For NPR News, I'm Marie Cusick.

GREENE: And you can find our full investigation¹⁸ with the Center for Public Integrity, including maps of pipeline projects, at npr.org.

1 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

2 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。

3 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

4 monopolization   

n.独占，专卖，垄断

参考例句：

• The world history was completely established when capitalism came into monopolization phase. 资本主义发展到垄断阶段，最终形成完整意义上的世界史。 来自互联网
• Activity that concern monopolization and behave against anti-monopolization law and regulations. 违反有关反垄断的法律、行政法规的规定实施垄断行为。 来自互联网

5 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

6 pipelines   

管道( pipeline的名词复数 )； 输油管道； 在考虑（或规划、准备） 中； 在酿中

参考例句：

• The oil is carried to the oil refinery by pipelines. 石油通过输油管输送到炼油厂。
• The oil carried in pipelines. 石油用管道输送。

7 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

8 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

9 valid   

adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的

参考例句：

• His claim to own the house is valid.他主张对此屋的所有权有效。
• Do you have valid reasons for your absence?你的缺席有正当理由吗？

10 unleashed   

v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The government's proposals unleashed a storm of protest in the press. 政府的提案引发了新闻界的抗议浪潮。
• The full force of his rage was unleashed against me. 他把所有的怒气都发泄在我身上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 shale   

n.页岩，泥板岩

参考例句：

• We can extract oil from shale.我们可以从页岩中提取石油。
• Most of the rock in this mountain is shale.这座山上大部分的岩石都是页岩。

12 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

13 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

14 entities   

实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities. 北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

15 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

16 glut   

n.存货过多，供过于求；v.狼吞虎咽

参考例句：

• The glut of coffee led to a sharp drop in prices.咖啡供过于求道致价格急剧下跌。
• There's a glut of agricultural products in Western Europe.西欧的农产品供过于求。

17 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

18 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。