It seems like yesterday that railroads were crying the blues over sharp losses in one of their chief business sectors, coal. U.S. Class I railroads originated a record 7.71 million carloads of coal in 2008, but that figure dropped to 5.95 million carloads in 201 3, the lowest level in 20 years. Much of this decline occurred as power plants switched from coal to natural gas-or shut down completely-in the wake of stricter federal air quality standards. After a decade in which America's use of coal exceeded one billion tons annually, consumption dropped to less than 890 million tons in 2012, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
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机译：就像昨天一样，铁路公司因其主要业务部门之一煤炭的巨大损失而哭泣。美国的I类铁路在2008年产生了创纪录的771万卡车煤炭，但这一数字在201 3年下降到595万卡车，为20年来最低水平。这种下降的主要原因是，随着严格的联邦空气质量标准的实施，发电厂从燃煤改用天然气或完全关闭。根据美国能源信息署（US Information Information Administration）的数据，在十年后，美国的煤炭年使用量每年超过10亿吨，2012年的消费量降至不到8.9亿吨。
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