Trump admin’s coal investments assist plants with repeated violations
Trump admin’s coal investments assist plants with repeated violations
特朗普政府的煤炭投资资助了存在多次违规记录的发电厂
In 2023, after years of pollution, equipment failures, and health concerns, the Cumberland Fossil Plant in Tennessee was slated to close within the decade. The coal-fired plant had been part of a multibillion-dollar settlement in 2011 after its operator, the Tennessee Valley Authority, failed to install pollution control technology a decade earlier. Regulators cited the plant for more air-pollution violations in 2017 and 2023. TVA said it would shutter Cumberland’s units in 2026 and 2028. 2023年，在经历了多年的污染、设备故障和健康担忧后，位于田纳西州的坎伯兰（Cumberland）化石燃料发电厂原定于十年内关闭。该燃煤电厂曾在2011年涉及一项数十亿美元的和解协议，原因是其运营商田纳西河谷管理局（TVA）在十年前未能安装污染控制技术。监管机构在2017年和2023年又多次指控该厂存在空气污染违规行为。TVA曾表示将在2026年和2028年关闭坎伯兰的机组。
Then the Trump administration replaced four of TVA’s board members, and the agency reneged on its retirement plan in February. Now, TVA has a federal pledge for $46 million to extend Cumberland’s lifespan—part of a nationwide push by President Donald Trump to keep older coal plants running. 随后，特朗普政府更换了TVA的四名董事会成员，该机构在2月份推翻了其退役计划。目前，TVA已获得联邦政府承诺的4600万美元资金，用于延长坎伯兰电厂的使用寿命——这是唐纳德·特朗普总统在全国范围内推动维持老旧燃煤电厂运行计划的一部分。
Cumberland is one of at least three of the 12 plants receiving the Department of Energy grants that have been repeatedly cited for violating the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, or both, an Inside Climate News review found. The other two are Grand River Energy Center in Oklahoma and the Roxboro Steam Electric Plant in North Carolina, cited for various environmental violations, such as releasing wastewater with excess pollutants, over the past decade. 《气候内幕》（Inside Climate News）的一项调查发现，在获得能源部拨款的12家发电厂中，至少有3家（包括坎伯兰电厂）曾因违反《清洁空气法》、《清洁水法》或两者兼而有之而多次受到指控。另外两家是俄克拉荷马州的大河能源中心（Grand River Energy Center）和北卡罗来纳州的罗克斯伯勒蒸汽发电厂（Roxboro Steam Electric Plant），它们在过去十年中因各种环境违规行为（如排放污染物超标的废水）而受到指控。
For Angie Mummaw, a local organizer who lives eight miles from the Cumberland plant, the grant was like a “slap in the face.” “I feel like it’s a step backwards when we should be investing in clean energy, in new technology, and moving away from the fossil fuel industry,” said Mummaw, who is the Middle Tennessee organizer for Appalachian Voices, an environmental group. 对于住在距离坎伯兰电厂八英里处的当地组织者安吉·马莫（Angie Mummaw）来说，这笔拨款就像是“打在脸上的一记耳光”。作为环保组织“阿巴拉契亚之声”（Appalachian Voices）田纳西州中部的组织者，马莫表示：“我觉得这是一种倒退，我们本应该投资清洁能源和新技术，并逐步摆脱化石燃料行业。”
Maggie Shober, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy’s research director, said retiring coal plants is “one of our primary ways” to combat pollution, climate change, and associated health harms. Extending their operations, she said, “will make climate change happen faster and will make it worse over the long-term.” 南方清洁能源联盟（Southern Alliance for Clean Energy）研究主任玛吉·肖伯（Maggie Shober）表示，淘汰燃煤电厂是应对污染、气候变化及相关健康危害的“主要途径之一”。她说，延长这些电厂的运营“将加速气候变化，并从长远来看使其恶化”。
Multiple studies have also linked coal-plant air pollution to early death, with impacts reaching hundreds of miles from the facilities themselves. One study estimates that just one of Cumberland’s air pollutants, toxic fine particles, contributed to 1,000 deaths as far away as New York and Massachusetts from 1999 to 2020. 多项研究还将燃煤电厂的空气污染与过早死亡联系起来，其影响范围可达电厂周边数百英里。一项研究估计，仅坎伯兰电厂排放的一种空气污染物——有毒细颗粒物，在1999年至2020年间就导致了远至纽约和马萨诸塞州的1000人死亡。
The June investment comes after the Trump administration unraveled climate regulations and relaxed environmental enforcement, which experts say could have lasting effects on public health. Trump, an outspoken coal proponent, has made defending fossil fuels a centerpoint of his presidency, dismaying activists and academics. 这笔6月份的投资是在特朗普政府废除气候法规并放宽环境执法之后进行的，专家称这可能对公共健康产生持久影响。作为直言不讳的煤炭支持者，特朗普将捍卫化石燃料作为其总统任期的核心，这令活动人士和学者感到沮丧。
An Energy Department spokesperson did not respond to specific questions about the history of violations at three of the coal plants it’s funding, saying instead that Trump is committed to “reversing the American war on coal.” 能源部发言人没有回应关于其资助的三家煤电厂违规历史的具体问题，而是表示特朗普致力于“扭转美国对煤炭的战争”。
“These investments are intended to keep reliable generation online, strengthen grid resilience, expand coal supply chain capacity, and ensure the availability of power needed to support critical infrastructure and maintain essential generation resources during periods of high demand and grid stress, including severe weather events,” the spokesperson wrote. 该发言人写道：“这些投资旨在保持可靠的发电能力，加强电网韧性，扩大煤炭供应链能力，并确保在需求高峰和电网压力期间（包括极端天气事件）支持关键基础设施和维持必要发电资源所需的电力供应。”
Courtney Bernhardt, research director for the watchdog group Environmental Integrity Project, said funding plants with a record of violations aligns with Trump’s second-term policies. “I’m not surprised—but I am disturbed,” Bernhardt said in an email. “The Trump administration seems to disregard the compliance status of many of the plants that they’re trying to put forward, and they’re trying to, at the same time, weaken permitting requirements for the energy sector.” 监督组织“环境诚信项目”（Environmental Integrity Project）的研究主任考特尼·伯恩哈特（Courtney Bernhardt）表示，资助有违规记录的电厂符合特朗普的第二任期政策。伯恩哈特在电子邮件中说：“我并不感到惊讶，但我感到不安。特朗普政府似乎无视他们试图推进的许多电厂的合规状况，同时他们还试图削弱能源行业的许可要求。”
Repeated violations
多次违规
Scott Fiedler, a TVA spokesman, said “increasing power demand and changes in the regulatory landscape” prompted the February decision not to close the Cumberland plant. When making long-term decisions, he added, TVA follows “a structured, transparent process that includes environmental reviews, operational assessments, system‑wide reliability analysis and compliance with all applicable regulations.” TVA发言人斯科特·菲德勒（Scott Fiedler）表示，“电力需求的增加和监管环境的变化”促成了2月份不关闭坎伯兰电厂的决定。他补充说，在做出长期决策时，TVA遵循“一个结构化、透明的流程，包括环境审查、运营评估、全系统可靠性分析以及对所有适用法规的遵守”。
“TVA remains committed to serving the Valley with energy that is reliable, affordable and resilient,” Fielder added. “TVA仍然致力于为该地区提供可靠、负担得起且具有韧性的能源，”菲德勒补充道。
The Southern Environmental Law Center, which has long opposed Cumberland, said TVA did not give the public an opportunity to comment on the change. Delaney King, an associate attorney with the group, said the plant’s history of violations speaks to a broader challenge. “Cumberland is more a symptom of the larger problem that these coal plants are many decades old and trying to be dragged into a modern regulation and environmental space that they’re not well-suited for, because of how old and dirty and unreliable that they are,” King said. 长期反对坎伯兰电厂的南方环境法律中心（Southern Environmental Law Center）表示，TVA没有给公众提供对这一变更发表评论的机会。该组织的助理律师德莱尼·金（Delaney King）表示，该电厂的违规历史反映了一个更广泛的挑战。金说：“坎伯兰电厂更多是一个更大问题的症状，即这些燃煤电厂已经有几十年历史了，却被强行拖入现代监管和环境空间，由于它们过于陈旧、肮脏且不可靠，它们并不适合这种环境。”
Mummaw, who lives near the Cumberland plant, said residents can see the impact: “As the pollution’s coming out of the stacks, it tends to settle on cars and things, and so there’ll be this sooty dust that accumulates on folks’ cars and homes.” 住在坎伯兰电厂附近的马莫说，居民们可以看到这种影响：“当污染物从烟囱里冒出来时，它往往会沉降在汽车和其他物体上，所以人们的汽车和房屋上会积聚这种煤灰。”
In April the state of Oklahoma proposed an $8,100 fine against the operator of the Grand River plant—to which the Energy Department pledged $28.5 million toward a $76.5 million project—for failing to test for particulate matter. The state also sent the plant five notices of air pollution violations between 2017 and 2021, and found the plant exceeded pollution limits in its wastewater several times in the past three years. 今年4月，俄克拉荷马州提议对大河电厂的运营商处以8100美元的罚款，原因是其未能进行颗粒物检测（能源部已承诺为该厂的一个7650万美元项目提供2850万美元资金）。该州还在2017年至2021年间向该厂发出了五份空气污染违规通知，并发现该厂在过去三年中多次超过其废水中的污染限值。
Asked for comment about the violations, a spokesman for operator Grand River Dam Authority sent a press release that did not address that question. It said the grant would help modernize the facility and extend its operational life. 当被要求就违规行为发表评论时，运营商大河大坝管理局（Grand River Dam Authority）的发言人发送了一份新闻稿，但并未回应这一问题。新闻稿称，这笔拨款将有助于实现设施现代化并延长其使用寿命。
Christopher Sellers, an environmental history professor at Stony Brook University who reviewed the Grand River and Cumberland records for ICN, said repeated violations often indicate fundamental issues with plants. 石溪大学环境历史学教授克里斯托弗·塞勒斯（Christopher Sellers）为《气候内幕》审查了大河电厂和坎伯兰电厂的记录，他表示，多次违规往往表明电厂存在根本性问题。