美国加州早期淘金技术以及其对环境的影响(1850-1900)（英文）

Early Mining Technologies and their Environmental Impact in California, 1850-1900

本文讨论了1850年至1900年加州淘金热时期沙盘淘金、"长汤姆",特别是水力淘金对环境的影响。通过对日记、回忆录、法律诉讼的分析,文章认为在化石燃料广泛应用之前人类就已经开始破坏环境。这与环境史学家John F.Richards和John Mc Neill的观点不同。他们认为产生污染的化石燃料在二十世纪才被广泛使用,所以人类对环境的破坏始于二十世纪初。其次,通过对矿工和农民之间诉讼的考察,文章认为,在企业、政府、知识分子之外,普通公民在环境保护中同样发挥重要作用。当环境问题侵害到农民利益时,农民自觉组成环保的公民社会,从保护个人利益出发,客观上为保护环境做出努力。最后,文章讨论了淘金技术向农业生产的转移,分析了传统工业绿色发展的可能性与现实意义。

This article examines the environmental impact of early mining technologies including panning, long toms, and most importantly, hydraulic mining in the California Gold Rush between 1850 and 1900. Using diaries, memoirs, and lawsuits of the day, this research, first of all, shows that human beings were able to make profound and longstanding environmental impact in the early times before fossil fuels were used. The argument is different from what environmental historians such as John F. Richards and John Mc Neill have argued that environmental degradation intensified in the twentieth century because of the wide application of fossil fuels. Secondly, by investigating the controversy between miners and farmers at the turn of the century, the article argues that in addition to the state, government, and intellectuals, ordinary people played an equally important role in environmental protection. When farmers＇ interest was harmed by environmental devastation, they organized themselves into a civil society, pushing the government to pass and implement environmental protection acts, though their original intention was pragmatic and self-centered. Finally, the article discusses the possibility and the meanings of technological transfers between industries in the process of regulating pollution.