SHALE exploitation in North Dakota has lifted incomes and brought unemployment down to 3.2% of the workforce, the lowest level in the country. Californians are rarely found looking longingly towards the Midwest. But the revelation that their state, with unemployment at 9.8% and America’s highest poverty rate, may be sitting on the largest deposit of shale oil in the continental United States has led some to wonder if their salvation lies 10,000 feet (3,000 metres) beneath them.
北达科他州页岩燃气开采带来了丰厚收入，并把失业率降到了全美历史最低，3.2%。 人们很少看到加州人会伸长脖子盯着中西部地区的发展。但从中我们也不难看出，失业率高达9.8%，美国贫困比例最高的加州，或许也正北美大陆页岩燃气储量最丰富的地区。这让一些人开始考虑，解开加州经济困局的出路就在加州人1000英尺（3000米）以下的页岩层中。
California has been an oil state since 1865. Thanks largely to reserves that can still be tapped by conventional means, it remains the third-largest producer in the country. Output has lately been declining by 2-3% a year, according to the state’s Energy Commission. But in 2011 the federal Energy Information Administration declared that the Monterey shale formation, which spans 1,750 square miles (450,000 hectares) in southern and central California, held 15.42 billion barrels of recoverable oil, 64% of the total estimated to be in the 48 contiguous states.
自1865年起加州就是产油州。主要得力于当地石油储区仍可采用传统方式开采，加州仍为美国第三大产油州。但加州能源委员会的数据显示，最近数年间加州年石油产量以2%-3%的速度下滑。但在2011年，联邦能源信息局宣布横跨加州南部和中部1750平方英里（45万公顷）地区面积内的蒙特利页岩层拥有154.2亿桶可回收石油储量，占北美大陆其它48个州预测总量的64%。
That should be an attractive prospect for a state with a history of unemployment and fiscal woe. But environmental scruples have long been as characteristic of California as budgetary mismanagement, and a battle is brewing. Opponents of the hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) technique often used to extract oil and gas from shale rock in “unconventional” drilling say regulations proposed by the state in December do not adequately protect against groundwater contamination or air pollution. Some mutter about earthquakes. Such concerns find receptive ears in a seismically active state with a large farm sector.
对于一向失业率居高不下，财政入不敷出的加州来说，这一数据足以吸许多人的注意。但就像加州预算管理不当那样，对于环保的种种顾虑也长期存在于加州。不仅也成了加州特色之一，甚至还有爆发的可能。“压裂”开采这一“非常规”的钻井方式过去常常应用于页岩石油和燃气抽取。这一技术的反对者们表示在十二月加州草拟的有关规章，不能确保压裂开采过程中地下水或大气能免受污染。有些人则对压裂开采引发地震有所想法。这类担忧在加州这个拥有大面积农场，地震活动频繁地区来说可是有受众群的。
The oilmen reply that fracking has been conducted in California for years without trouble. Moreover, they add, surely the environmentally concerned should want as much Californian oil as possible produced under the state’s tight regulations, rather than imported from places with looser regimes. Some see an emerging split between inland counties, which tend to have higher unemployment and more conservative politics, and the conservationists along the coast. The row will rumble on, with revised rules expected later this year.
石油开发商给出的解释是压裂开采技术已在加州安全应用了数年。而且他们与人们一样，基于对环保的忧虑，希望在州政府完善的规章制度下实行开采工作，而不是从管理松散地区进口燃气。在加州内陆各县，分歧愈加突显。这些地区失业率较高，政治观念比较保守。再加上海岸区域内保守主义者不住地摇旗呐喊。随着预计于今年晚些时修改规章的出台，关于压裂开采的争议肯定会愈演愈烈。
For some, the complex geology of the Monterey shale opens up alternative means of extraction. Santa Maria Energy, a small producer in Santa Barbara County, about 150 miles (240 km) north-west of Los Angeles, extracts 200 barrels of crude a day from the shale at depths of around 2,500 feet by exploiting natural fractures in the rock. Although the firm has no plans to begin fracking, David Pratt, its president, likes to say that the Monterey is California’s way out of the “fiscal toilet”.
对于一些人而言，蒙特利页岩复杂的地质提供多种可供选择的开采方案。位于洛杉矶西北150英里（240公里）外圣塔芭芭拉县的小型石油开采公司，圣塔玛丽亚能源公司通过探测岩石层天然形成的裂缝，每天从地下2500英尺的页岩层提取200桶原油。尽管此公司尚未计划采取压裂开采，但公司主席，大卫.普莱更倾向于蒙特利页岩燃气是加州走出“财政泥潭”的救命稻草，这一说法。
Some of the “Saudi America” talk is overdone. And even if California does begin exploiting the Monterey aggressively, an economic miracle is unlikely. California’s population is over 50 times bigger than North Dakota’s, and, as Kevin Klowden of the Milken Institute, a think-tank, points out, the opportunity costs of giving over land to drilling may be far higher in California than in some other states.
关于把加州是“美国沙特”的说法言过其实。即使加州真的开始大规模开采蒙特利页岩燃气，经济腾飞的场景也不会出现。加州人口是北达科他州50多倍。而且，如智库公司，梅肯研究院的凯文.克劳恩所说，加州土地钻井开采的机会成本可能要比其它一些州高得多得多。
No producer has yet found a way to begin large-scale extraction from the Monterey. But despite the geological and regulatory uncertainties, several firms have placed large bets on its future. And other states in the region sitting on shale reserves are forging merrily ahead. At a Senate hearing on February 12th John Hickenlooper, Colorado’s Democratic governor, staked out his position by announcing that he had once drunk a glass of fracking fluid.
至今尚无一家开采公司找出能大规模地开采蒙特利页岩燃气的方法。但尽管在地质上或规章上存在种种不确定因素，数家公司仍极为看好其未来发展前景，为此投入了巨资。同属这一地区，坐拥蒙特利页岩燃气储区的其它各州也是信心满满，踌躇满志。在2月12日举行的参议院听证会上，科罗拉多州州长约翰. 希肯卢珀不顾身份，声称他老兄曾喝过一杯压裂饮品。
Meanwhile, the technology that kick-started the revolution marches on. Some speak excitedly of fracking that uses saline rather than fresh water, or no water at all. The industry has moved so quickly in recent years, says Dan Kirschner of the Northwest Gas Association, a trade body, that it is starting to seem odd to call shale resources “unconventional”.
与此同时，能引发页岩燃气开发革命的技术则越来越成熟。一些人兴奋地表示，压裂开采中可以用盐水代替净水，或根本不需要用水。页岩燃气开采产业在几年间迅速发展。正如贸易机构，西北燃气协会的丹. 基施纳所表示的那样，再把页岩能源称为“非常规”能源已开始让人感到奇怪了。
北达科他州页岩燃气开采带来了丰厚收入，并把失业率降到了全美历史最低，3.2%。 人们很少看到加州人会伸长脖子盯着中西部地区的发展。但从中我们也不难看出，失业率高达9.8%，美国贫困比例最高的加州，或许也正北美大陆页岩燃气储量最丰富的地区。这让一些人开始考虑，解开加州经济困局的出路就在加州人1000英尺（3000米）以下的页岩层中。
California has been an oil state since 1865. Thanks largely to reserves that can still be tapped by conventional means, it remains the third-largest producer in the country. Output has lately been declining by 2-3% a year, according to the state’s Energy Commission. But in 2011 the federal Energy Information Administration declared that the Monterey shale formation, which spans 1,750 square miles (450,000 hectares) in southern and central California, held 15.42 billion barrels of recoverable oil, 64% of the total estimated to be in the 48 contiguous states.
自1865年起加州就是产油州。主要得力于当地石油储区仍可采用传统方式开采，加州仍为美国第三大产油州。但加州能源委员会的数据显示，最近数年间加州年石油产量以2%-3%的速度下滑。但在2011年，联邦能源信息局宣布横跨加州南部和中部1750平方英里（45万公顷）地区面积内的蒙特利页岩层拥有154.2亿桶可回收石油储量，占北美大陆其它48个州预测总量的64%。
That should be an attractive prospect for a state with a history of unemployment and fiscal woe. But environmental scruples have long been as characteristic of California as budgetary mismanagement, and a battle is brewing. Opponents of the hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) technique often used to extract oil and gas from shale rock in “unconventional” drilling say regulations proposed by the state in December do not adequately protect against groundwater contamination or air pollution. Some mutter about earthquakes. Such concerns find receptive ears in a seismically active state with a large farm sector.
对于一向失业率居高不下，财政入不敷出的加州来说，这一数据足以吸许多人的注意。但就像加州预算管理不当那样，对于环保的种种顾虑也长期存在于加州。不仅也成了加州特色之一，甚至还有爆发的可能。“压裂”开采这一“非常规”的钻井方式过去常常应用于页岩石油和燃气抽取。这一技术的反对者们表示在十二月加州草拟的有关规章，不能确保压裂开采过程中地下水或大气能免受污染。有些人则对压裂开采引发地震有所想法。这类担忧在加州这个拥有大面积农场，地震活动频繁地区来说可是有受众群的。
The oilmen reply that fracking has been conducted in California for years without trouble. Moreover, they add, surely the environmentally concerned should want as much Californian oil as possible produced under the state’s tight regulations, rather than imported from places with looser regimes. Some see an emerging split between inland counties, which tend to have higher unemployment and more conservative politics, and the conservationists along the coast. The row will rumble on, with revised rules expected later this year.
石油开发商给出的解释是压裂开采技术已在加州安全应用了数年。而且他们与人们一样，基于对环保的忧虑，希望在州政府完善的规章制度下实行开采工作，而不是从管理松散地区进口燃气。在加州内陆各县，分歧愈加突显。这些地区失业率较高，政治观念比较保守。再加上海岸区域内保守主义者不住地摇旗呐喊。随着预计于今年晚些时修改规章的出台，关于压裂开采的争议肯定会愈演愈烈。
For some, the complex geology of the Monterey shale opens up alternative means of extraction. Santa Maria Energy, a small producer in Santa Barbara County, about 150 miles (240 km) north-west of Los Angeles, extracts 200 barrels of crude a day from the shale at depths of around 2,500 feet by exploiting natural fractures in the rock. Although the firm has no plans to begin fracking, David Pratt, its president, likes to say that the Monterey is California’s way out of the “fiscal toilet”.
对于一些人而言，蒙特利页岩复杂的地质提供多种可供选择的开采方案。位于洛杉矶西北150英里（240公里）外圣塔芭芭拉县的小型石油开采公司，圣塔玛丽亚能源公司通过探测岩石层天然形成的裂缝，每天从地下2500英尺的页岩层提取200桶原油。尽管此公司尚未计划采取压裂开采，但公司主席，大卫.普莱更倾向于蒙特利页岩燃气是加州走出“财政泥潭”的救命稻草，这一说法。
Some of the “Saudi America” talk is overdone. And even if California does begin exploiting the Monterey aggressively, an economic miracle is unlikely. California’s population is over 50 times bigger than North Dakota’s, and, as Kevin Klowden of the Milken Institute, a think-tank, points out, the opportunity costs of giving over land to drilling may be far higher in California than in some other states.
关于把加州是“美国沙特”的说法言过其实。即使加州真的开始大规模开采蒙特利页岩燃气，经济腾飞的场景也不会出现。加州人口是北达科他州50多倍。而且，如智库公司，梅肯研究院的凯文.克劳恩所说，加州土地钻井开采的机会成本可能要比其它一些州高得多得多。
No producer has yet found a way to begin large-scale extraction from the Monterey. But despite the geological and regulatory uncertainties, several firms have placed large bets on its future. And other states in the region sitting on shale reserves are forging merrily ahead. At a Senate hearing on February 12th John Hickenlooper, Colorado’s Democratic governor, staked out his position by announcing that he had once drunk a glass of fracking fluid.
至今尚无一家开采公司找出能大规模地开采蒙特利页岩燃气的方法。但尽管在地质上或规章上存在种种不确定因素，数家公司仍极为看好其未来发展前景，为此投入了巨资。同属这一地区，坐拥蒙特利页岩燃气储区的其它各州也是信心满满，踌躇满志。在2月12日举行的参议院听证会上，科罗拉多州州长约翰. 希肯卢珀不顾身份，声称他老兄曾喝过一杯压裂饮品。
Meanwhile, the technology that kick-started the revolution marches on. Some speak excitedly of fracking that uses saline rather than fresh water, or no water at all. The industry has moved so quickly in recent years, says Dan Kirschner of the Northwest Gas Association, a trade body, that it is starting to seem odd to call shale resources “unconventional”.
与此同时，能引发页岩燃气开发革命的技术则越来越成熟。一些人兴奋地表示，压裂开采中可以用盐水代替净水，或根本不需要用水。页岩燃气开采产业在几年间迅速发展。正如贸易机构，西北燃气协会的丹. 基施纳所表示的那样，再把页岩能源称为“非常规”能源已开始让人感到奇怪了。
