美国政府表示，东海岸风能开发权拍卖已经收到了创纪录的报价。
The auction sale began February 23. Energy companies are offering to buy the development rights for six areas that total more than 197,000 hectares. The areas are off the coasts of the states of New Jersey and New York in what is called the New York Bight.
这次拍卖于2月23日开始。能源企业可以购买6个地区的开发权，其总面积超过了19.7万公顷。这些地区位于新泽西州和纽约州海岸以外，即所谓的纽约湾。
By early Friday, the offers, or bids, totaled nearly $4 billion.
到周五早些时候，出价总和接近40亿美元。
It is the first offshore wind lease sale under President Joe Biden's administration. Biden has pushed for more wind energy. It is an important part of his administration's plans to deal with climate change. The administration has said the goal is to create jobs in the United States.
这是拜登政府执政期间第一笔海上风电租赁交易。拜登推动了更多风能项目。这是拜登政府应对气候变化计划的重要组成部分。拜登政府曾表示，其目标是在美国创造就业机会。
Europe depends more on energy from wind than North America and has more offshore wind farms.
欧洲比北美更依赖风能，并且拥有更多的海上风电场。
There are currently two small offshore wind farms in the United States off the coasts of Rhode Island and Virginia. Two larger projects were recently approved for development.
美国目前在罗德岛和弗吉尼亚海岸附近有两个小型的海上风电场。最近有两个较大的项目获得了开发许可。
Fred Zalcman is the director of the New York Offshore Wind Alliance. He said, "We're really just at the beginning of a process here." He added that the organization hopes to learn from Europe and gain from Europe's cost savings from wind farming.
弗雷德·扎尔克曼是纽约海上风电联盟的负责人。他说：“我们正处于风电开发过程的起始阶段。”他还表示，该组织希望学习欧洲，并从欧洲风电场节约成本的经验中受益。
The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) oversees energy development in federal waters. It is offering the six leases for the areas in the New York Bight.
美国海洋能源管理局负责监督联邦水域的能源开发。它为纽约湾地区的风电场提供了6份租约。
The sale is the largest U.S. offshore wind auction ever held. The administration has said the energy produced from the areas could one day power nearly 2 million homes.
此次拍卖是美国有史以来规模最大的海上风电拍卖。政府表示，这些地区产生的电力有朝一日可以为近200万户家庭供电。
The sale was carried out online. BOEM's website reported the bids. The total is larger than recent combined offers for U.S. government offshore oil and gas sales in the Gulf of Mexico.
此次拍卖是在网上进行。美国海洋能源管理局的网站报道了这些竞标。总额要高于美国政府最近拍卖墨西哥湾海上油气资源获得的总报价。
The earlier U.S. offshore wind development auction record was set in 2018. It was valued at $405 million.
美国之前的海上风电开发拍卖记录是在2018年创下的。它的价值为4.05亿美元。
BOEM reportedly said 14 companies were involved in the auction. Government documents showed that approved bidders included parent companies Equinor ASA, Avangrid Inc, BP Plc, and Eletricite de France SA, among others.
据报道，美国海洋能源管理局声称有14家公司参与了此次拍卖。政府文件显示，获准投标人的母公司包括挪威石油公司、Avangrid Inc、英国石油公司和法国电力公司等等。
Under the rules of the auction, each company can only win one lease.
根据拍卖规则，每家公司只能拍得一份租约。
Before the sale started, there were 25 possible bidders. The area up for auction is 22 percent smaller than first proposed because of fishing industry and military concerns.
在拍卖开始前有25家潜在竞标人。由于渔业和军事方面的考虑，拍卖面积比原定面积缩水了22%。
Zalcman said that state and federal officials have been considering the concerns of other groups. These include the fishing, shipping and boat transportation industries. Officials also said they studied the environmental effects on animals and how the farms will appear from the coast.
扎尔克曼表示，州和联邦官员一直在考虑其它团体的担忧。其中包括渔业、航运和船舶运输业。有关官员表示，他们研究了环境对动物的影响，以及风电场在岸上的观感。
A group representing people in New Jersey brought a legal case against BOEM over the plans. It said the large wind farms would reduce the number of visitors to the area, hurting the area's economy and property values.
一家代表新泽西州民众的团体就该计划对美国海洋能源管理局提起了法律诉讼。它说，大型风电场会减少该地区的游客数量，损害该地区的经济和房产价值。
How developers design the wind farms will be subject to another intense debate.
开发商如何设计风电场将引发另一场激烈争论。
I'm Gregory Stachel.
我是格雷戈里·斯塔切尔。(51VOA.COM原创翻译，请勿转载，违者必究！)