导读:美国国土资源部为解决大型风力发电厂建造过程中遇到地方环保主义者抗议的问题推出新的土地使用方案，对于新法案能否顺利实施，各方持不同态度，究竟结果如何，也许只有时间能给我们答案。
The Bureau of Land Management faces a problem and wants to shake up the rules around wind farm approvals. The problem is straight-forward on its face, but difficult to reconcile logically: Why are so few new large-scale wind projects being built?
美国国土资源部面临着困难，想要撼动有关建设风力发电厂的批准规则。这一问题对于国土资源部当局来说是当务之急，但是问题的棘手之处在于很难得到圆满的协商：到底为什么大规模的风力发电项目几乎没有顺利建成的呢？
Despite the fact that nearly everyone – environmentalists, government regulators, and business interests –wants to build more wind farms, precious few are making it over the goal line.
尽管包括环保人士、政府管理者和商业组织在内的几乎所有人都想建造更多的风力发电厂，但在众多的风力发电厂项目中能落地实施的只有很少的部分。
Since 2009, the Obama Administration has approved 46 wind farm projects that would cover a proposed 216,356 acres of public land. Yet only 15 of these 46 projects have made it into operation. The rest are stuck in limbo with years of mandatory environmental analysis ahead or have been cancelled outright.
从2009年起，奥巴马当局政府就批准了46个风力发电厂项目，预计将占用216,356英亩的土地。然而，只有15个成功实施，其余项目不是陷入长达数年的环保可行性分析就是直接被撤销。
The BLM’s solution to this issue is to change the way it deals with land allocation. Essentially the government has two methods for dealing with private use of public land: first-come, first-served, and competitive bidding. The former method is used for cases like power line right of ways and engineered ditches. The latter is used for natural resource leases like oil and gas rights.
面对此困境，美国国土资源部尝试改变风力发电厂占用土地分配方法。如今政府已经出台了两项关于风力发电厂公有土地私用的方案，分别是是先来先到和竞标的方式。前者是用于解决输电线架设和工程沟壑的挖掘问题，后者是为了解决自然资源原油天然气的租用权。
Currently, wind farms operate on the former system. The BLM is proposing to switch to leasing wind farm acreage under the latter system as it does with O&G properties.
如今，风力发电厂都采取第一种方式，国土资源部正计划向将风力发电厂占地对外出租，就如同处理其它能源如原油和天然气一样。
The proposed new rules virtually guarantee more revenue for the government, assuming that agreeable tracts can be found to build wind farms on. Part of the problem with renewable projects have consistently been a NIMBY attitude. Nearly everyone likes the idea of renewable solar and wind farms, as long as they are located somewhere else. Local environmentalists have consistently risen up time and again to protest about new local area renewables projects despoiling local views or hurting local frogs, turtles, bugs, and birds.
假如关于兴建风力发电厂协议达成，新方案事实上可以为美国政府获得更多的收益。然而，美国大众对于这种可再生资源项目一直存在“邻癖综合征”，几乎所有人都支持像太阳能、风能等这种可再生资源项目，前提是不要在自家门口。地方的环保主义者会不停地抗议可再生资源项目，他们认为会对当地的青蛙、乌龟、虫类和鸟类生物造成破坏。
Environmentalists are generally supportive of the new rules from the BLM as those rules would theoretically identify the least objectionable areas for development. By contrast, the industry is predictably against the new rules given the increase in costs associated with those rules.
由于新的方案在理论上可以挑选出异议最小的地区进行可再生资源项目的实施，所以如今环保主义者正逐渐对国土资源部对此方案持支持态度。然而，就像预期中的一样，考虑到新方案引起的成本增加，美国工业界对此持反对态度。
It’s unclear what the eventual rule will be, but with only 15 of 46 approved wind farms actually making it into operation in the last 7 years, it is clear that the current system is not working.
目前，此方案能否顺利实施还是未知。但是，根据在过去的7年里，46个通过的风力发电厂建设项目最终只有15个投建的结果，已经清楚的表明现行的法案是行不通的。
The alternative to the BLM system is instead what many wind power producers appear to be banking on – wind power development is increasingly being done on existing private lands like farms which have wind open space and are likely to face far fewer environmental hurdles. It is possible then that the BLM is building a system and no one will come to use it. only time will tell.
国土资源局新的替代法案可能是众多风力发电厂商所期待的，借助此项方案风力发电厂的私有土地面临的环境问题将大幅减少，抑或是国土资源部又推出了一种无人问津的举措。结果究竟如何，就让时间来检验吧。
