今日主題：Environmental policy-- Reefer madness
環保政策--珊瑚礁化狂熱
康康精選GRE&GMAT會考的主題，堅持每天精讀一定會進步的哦!
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http://xia2.kekenet.com/Sound/2016/…/ecob0111_2647362Jbj.mp3
只有音檔怎夠，聽不懂地方，不用怕，康康幫你準備好中英文稿了：
中英文稿：
Environmental policy-- Reefer madness
環保政策--珊瑚礁化狂熱
Turning oil rigs into reefs saves money and marine life. Yet many greens oppose it
石油鑽塔變成群礁，既可以省錢，又可以拯救海洋生命。然而，許多綠色環保人士依舊反對這項舉措。
WHEN an offshore well stops producing oil, what should be done with the rig? One option is to haul it ashore, break it up and recycle it. This is expensive. For a big, deep-water oil or gas platform, it can cost $200m. Just hiring a derrick barge massive enough to do the job can cost $700,000 a day. But there is an alternative: simply leave most of the structure where it is. That is what you would expect a greedy oil firm to do: despoil the ocean just to save a lousy few million dollars. The surprise is, the cheap option may actually be greener.
當海上油井停止產油，那我們該怎樣處置鑽塔呢？其中一個做法就是將其拉上岸，分解再重新回收利用。但其費用昂貴。一個大型的深海石油或天然氣平臺大約花費 2億美金。租一艘井架駁船就足夠搞定，其費用為每天70萬美元。還有另外一個選擇：放任其不管。而那樣做的只會是貪婪的石油公司，他們打劫海洋，省下幾百 萬。然而，讓人吃驚的是，最便宜的選擇也許是最環保的。
For a start, it takes a lot of energy to move a rig. The ships that would be needed to shift California's largest one would emit 29,400 tonnes of carbon dioxide, by one estimate. And moving a rig disturbs the organisms that have attached themselves to its underside, or jacket. Far better, some say, to turn old rigs into coral reefs.
一開始，要移除鑽塔需要費很大力氣。若想要動加州最大的鑽塔，那麼運輸船在這個過程中預估會釋放出2.94萬噸二氧化碳。而且，移動鑽塔會影響附著在塔周圍的有機體。若要全面考慮的話，有些人認為應該把老的鑽塔轉換成珊瑚礁。
“Reefing” typically involves bringing a platform's above-water parts ashore and cropping the lower parts to leave at least 26m of clearance: deep enough for ships to pass over, yet shallow enough for photosynthesis to nourish organisms on its upper reaches (see picture). Oil-rig reefs may shelter and feed up to eight tonnes of fish. In 2009 Shell moved a jacket in the Gulf of Mexico ten kilometres (six miles) away. The fish followed.
“珊瑚礁化”過程往往涵蓋了把石油平臺水上的部分拉上岸以及保證水下部分26米的空隙，這樣方便船隻通過，但對滋潤生物的光合作用空間卻依然不夠（詳情見 圖）。石油鑽塔珊瑚礁可以給高達8噸的魚群提供庇護以及食物。2009年，謝爾把位於墨西哥灣的鑽塔挪了大概6米，魚群也跟著移動了。
More than 490 platforms in American waters have become reefs in the past three decades. The federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement urges states to issue reefing permits. State coffers gain: oil firms typically hand over half the money they save by reefing.
在過去的三十年間，美國海域裡超過490個石油鑽井平臺已經轉變成珊瑚礁了。美國聯邦安全和環境執法局督促各州“珊瑚礁化”。國庫增加，而且石油公司往往可以從“珊瑚礁化”中直接獲得超過一半的錢。
Those savings vary greatly. Small platforms in shallow waters can often be removed for $10m, but sometimes for as little as $1m, according to DecomWorld, a consultancy. But for states with lots of offshore oil rigs, the windfalls soon add up. Mississippi pocketed an average of $625,000 for each of the 12 permits it has issued, according to Melissa Scallan of the state's Department of Marine Resources. Louisiana's take has averaged $270,000 per reefing—and the state has seen 336 of them, says Mike McDonough of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
從“珊瑚礁化”中省下的錢數目各不相同。在淺水海域，小鑽井平臺所需費用大概是1億美元，有時候也可能只要100萬美元。這些資料來源於 DecomWorld顧問公司。但是，擁有的海上鑽塔數量越多，就越能大發橫財。國家海洋能源局梅麗莎提供資訊，表明在12個鑽塔中，密西西比州能從中平 均每一個鑽塔獲得62.5萬美元。來自路易斯安那野生動物與漁業局的麥克認為，該州平均從每個珊瑚礁獲利27萬美元，而且目前已經發現了336座珊瑚礁。
Currently, less than a tenth of America's old oil and gas platforms are reefed. Sometimes the reasons for this are practical. For example, platforms may be removed if waiting for a permit means weathering another hurricane season (in 2005 150 defunct platforms in the Gulf of Mexico were toppled by winds and waves). Operators typically favour reefing but it is not always economical or allowed, says David Welch of Stone Energy Corporation. The firm has only reefed 12 of the 60 Gulf of Mexico platforms it has decommissioned.
在美國，不到十分之一的老天然氣和石油平臺珊瑚化。理由往往很現實。比如，平臺只要能熬過颶風季節，那麼才有可能移除（在2005年，位於墨西哥灣的 150座廢棄平臺被海風海浪摧毀）。能源公司的大衛•威爾士認為，經營商特別支持“珊瑚礁化”，但是，這樣做往往不划算而且也不合法。該公司目前也才將墨 西哥灣60座退役平臺中的12座“珊瑚礁化”。
That share is likely to grow. Within five years oil firms will be reefing one offshore rig in four, predicts Quenton Dokken of the Gulf of Mexico Foundation, a conservation group. Gulf states, particularly Louisiana and Texas, are making “a big push” to streamline the permitting process, he says.
這中趨勢有可能會增加，墨西哥灣基地的Quenton預測，在五年內，石油公司將能把四分之一的海上鑽井平臺“珊瑚礁化”。海灣各州，特別是路易斯安那州和德州，正在努力簡化審批流程。
Far bigger savings are possible in the deep waters off California. Four years ago the Golden State passed a law allowing reefing. Operators are loth to estimate costs publicly, but the Tulane University Energy Institute reckons that reefing the state's 27 platforms could save $2 billion. A platform or two could be retired as early as next year, though rising oil prices may mean they keep pumping longer.
在遠離加州海岸線的深水區裡，省下的錢或許會更多。四年前，加州通過了一項允許“珊瑚化”的法律。經營商並不願意公開費用，但是杜蘭大學能源學院認為，將 該州27個鑽井平臺“珊瑚礁化”能夠省下20億美元。儘管上升的油價會迫使鑽井平臺產生更多價值，但其中有1-2個平臺最早在明年就會停止使用。
The California Ocean Science Trust, a research group that has advised lawmakers, thinks that platforms increase marine life and should not all be removed. Skyli McAfee, the group's director, describes this conclusion as “a big fat duh”. Studies by Milton Love, a marine biologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, support it. Oil platforms serve as “excellent nursery grounds” that boost fish populations, he says. The bocaccio, a rockfish whose numbers are worrying fishing authorities, is one big beneficiary.
加州海洋科學信託研究機構，認為這些平臺使得海洋生物繁殖，不應該全部被移除。該機構主任斯蓋裡•麥考非將這一結論描述為“一個大胖墩”。加州大學聖芭芭 拉分校的生物學家彌爾頓發表一份研究，支持該結論。石油鑽井平臺就像“優質育兒室”，促進魚類繁殖。其中曾經一度讓魚類學家擔心會走向滅絕的菖鮋目前是最 大受益者。
Yet the odds of preserving most oil-rig reefs look bleak. Public opposition is robust. Not one platform off California has been reefed. Activists quote the findings of scientists such as James Cowan, an oceanographer at Louisiana State University, who studied isotopes, tissue caloric densities and the stomach contents of creatures from both natural and artificial reefs and concluded that the latter generate no extra biomass. The Environmental Defence Centre in Santa Barbara, a group that files anti-development lawsuits, advocates the complete removal of oil platforms. Linda Krop, its chief counsel, says that abandoned structures might damage anchors, rob natural reefs of fish and even leach poisons. She does, however, acknowledge the environmental damage associated with complete removal.
然而，要盡可能多地保留石油鑽機塔的幾率看起來很渺茫。公眾對此嗤之以鼻。加州海上鑽井塔沒有一個已經“珊瑚礁化”。激進分子引用一些科學家的研究結果， 比如路易士安娜州大學海洋學家詹姆斯•柯旺在研究同位素、組織熱量密度及天然珊瑚礁與人工珊瑚礁上的生物胃內情況之後，得出結論，人工珊瑚礁不會為生物提 供生活所需。聖芭芭拉環境保護中心主要任務就是給反運動的法律訴訟存檔，他們提倡完全移除石油鑽井平臺。其首席律師琳達•科咯普認為廢棄的建築可能會破壞 錨、珊瑚礁，甚至會釋放有毒物質。然而，她也承認完全移除這些平臺也會對環境造成破壞。
When reefs cause grief
當珊瑚礁引發災難
Greenpeace, a pressure group, makes a different argument. John Hocevar, its head of ocean campaigns, concedes that in some locations reefed platforms, if non-toxic, may increase marine life. But they should be banned anyway, he says, because they save the oil firms money and therefore encourage them to drill more.
綠色和平組織給出了不同的意見。該組織海洋運動的領頭人約翰承認在一些海域，如果“珊瑚礁化”的平臺無毒，那麼久有可能促進海洋生物的繁殖。但是，無論如 何都要禁止這些鑽井平臺“珊瑚礁化”。因為“珊瑚礁化”可以幫助石油公司省下一大筆錢，這樣一來，便會煽動他們去海上開採更多的石油。
The debate is likely to intensify. In the Gulf of Mexico some 400 platforms are now being decommissioned each year. Divers and many fishermen want more to be reefed; shrimpers complain that reefs prevent them from dragging nets across parts of the ocean floor. In California operators must decide quickly if they wish to turn redundant rigs into reefs. Until 2017 firms can keep 45% of the savings. After that the figure falls to 35% until 2023; then it drops to just 20%.
討論越趨激烈。每年，墨西哥灣有400座鑽井平臺停止使用。潛水夫和漁民希望鑽井平臺“珊瑚礁化”越多越好，而捕蝦人卻抱怨珊瑚礁會妨礙他們在洋底撒網。 在加州，經營商如果想把多餘的鑽井平臺變成珊瑚礁，他們必須儘快做出決定。到2017年，石油公司可以保證省下45%的費用，2017年以後，降至 35%，到2023年，降至20%。
For now, the evidence suggests that reefing is a rare policy. It is both eco-friendly and pays for itself.
至今為止，“珊瑚礁化”這一政策是很罕見的，這樣做不僅環保而且很負責。
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