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President Trump has promised, unsuccessfully so far, to revive coal mining jobs
特朗普總統承諾重新開放煤炭開采崗位，雖然目前還未兌現，
and instructed his Environmental Protection Agency to roll back rules to reduce emissions from coal-fired power plants.
他還指示環保局放松對煤電廠減排方面的要求。
That message might be welcome in American coal country,
這一消息或許會受到煤炭地區的歡迎，
but the industry’s future in the United States is not promising.
但該行業在美國的前景并不樂觀。
There are cheaper fuels, including natural gas;
因為美國有更便宜的能源，天然氣就是一例；
gas now accounts for around 31 percent of total power generation in the United States, the same share as coal.
目前，天然氣占到了美國發電總量的31％左右，與煤炭所占比例持平。
China has imposed tariffs on coal imports from the United States, in the tit-for-tat trade dispute.
中國也在針鋒相對的貿易爭端中對從美國進口的煤炭征收了關稅。
More than 200 coal plants have closed since 2010,
自2010年以來，美國已有200多家燃煤電廠被關，
and coal consumption has continued to decline, contrary to Mr. Trump’s false claims.
煤炭消耗持續下降，與特朗普虛假的聲明恰恰相反。
Coal mining jobs have plummeted over the last decade,
過去十年里，煤炭開采工作的數量大幅縮水，
despite a modest increase of about 4 percent in the first 18 months of the Trump presidency.
盡管特朗普總統任期的前18個月中出現了大約4％的小幅增長。
‘We have coal. We are producing more every year.’
“我們有煤炭。我們的產煤量年年都在增長。
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國家，有著13億人口的印度，與煤炭相關的經濟狀況以及政治考量則大不相同。
Ajay Mishra, the career civil servant in charge of energy in the central Indian state of Telangana, knows firsthand.
阿賈伊·米什拉，是印度中部泰倫加納區負責能源的職業公務員，對此有著深切的體會。
Five years ago, he said, daily power cuts cursed his state.
他說，五年前，他所在的地區每天都會停電。
Ceiling fans cut out on stifling summer afternoons.
夏日悶熱的午后，天花板上的吊扇就會停止。
Factories ran on diesel-guzzling generators.
工廠靠柴油發電機撐著。
The people of Telangana were furious.
泰倫加納區的人民是怨聲載道。
State officials had to do something to fix the electricity problem.
當地官員不得不采取措施解決電力問題。
They harnessed the sun, briefly making Telangana a leading solar power producer in India.
他們利用起了太陽能，讓泰倫加納區建成了印度首個太陽能發電廠。
They also turned to what government officials have relied on for over a century:
他們還將目光轉向了政府官員一個多世紀以來一直依賴的東西：
the vast vein of coal that sat underground, stretching across the hills and forests of central India.
橫跨印度中部大片山丘和森林的漫長產煤地帶。
Telangana now has round-the-clock electricity.
如今，泰倫加納區已經有了24小時全天候的電力供應。
Its farmers get it free to pump water.
當地農民還可以免費用電抽水。
It sweetens the re-election bid of Telangana’s top elected official, K. Chandrashekar Rao, in state polls later this year.
這一改善也降低了泰倫加納區票數最多的官員K. 昌德拉謝卡在該州今年晚些時候的民意調查中的連任競選之路變得更加通暢了。
“We have coal,” Mr. Mishra said. “We are producing more every year. For the next 100 years we have it.”
“我們有煤炭，”米什拉先生說。 “而且我們的煤炭產量年年都在增長。接下來的100年，我們都有煤炭可用。”
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