欧美人文风情第91篇:煤炭怎么了?

 It's hard to believe that nearly forty percent of our country's electricity still comes from coal, a dirty, outdated¹ energy source. 很难相信我们国家的电力将近百分之四十仍然来自于煤炭，一个肮脏、过时的能源。

Coal not only causes health problems, but it's also the main contributor to climate disruption. 煤炭不只造成健康问题，它也是气候破坏的主要元凶。

Just how bad is coal: in mountaintop removal mining, coal companies clear-cut forest and literally² blow the tops off mountains to get the coal. 煤炭就是这么糟糕：在山巅移除开矿中，煤炭公司砍光森林树木然后一点也不夸张地把山的巅峰给炸掉去开矿。

This process dumps millions of tons of waste into our streets and poisons our drinking water. 这个过程倾倒数百万吨的废弃物到我们的街道上，然后污染我们的饮用水。

But mining coal is only the beginning. 但开採煤矿只是开端而已。

Burning coal generates smog, which can cause asthma³ attack, chest pains and breathing problems. 燃烧煤炭产生烟雾，那会造成哮喘、胸痛以及呼吸问题。

In fact, one out of ten children in the US suffers from asthma, and it's the number one reason kids miss school due to illness. 事实上，美国每十名孩童中有一位受哮喘之苦，而且它是孩子们因病缺课的首要原因。

The pollution from burning coal leads to twelve thousand emergency room visits and more than one hundred billion dollars in Health Cost every year. 燃烧煤炭的污染导致每年一万两千次的急诊室就诊以及超过一千亿美金于健保花费。

Coal pollution also contains toxic⁴ mercury that damages the nerve system, 煤炭污染也包含了损害神经系统的有毒水银，

and this is especially dangerous for babies and young children, 这对宝宝跟幼儿特别危险，

because it can cause developmental problems. 因为它会引起成长方面的问题。

Mercury rains down into our oceans, rivers and lakes, contaminating our fish and seafood⁵. 水银随着雨水降入我们的海洋、河流和湖泊，污染我们的渔获和海产。

And even after coal is burned, the waste that's left over is bad for our health. 甚至在煤炭燃烧以后，残留的废弃物对我们的健康有害。

Each year, coal plants generate more than one hundred and forty million tons of toxic waste, called coal ash. 每年，煤炭厂产生超过一亿四千万吨的有毒废弃物，叫做煤灰。

That's stored in thousands of pits across the country, enough toxic waste to fill more than four hundred thousand Olympic-size swimming pools. 那被储存在遍及全国的数千个坑洞中，足够填满超过四十万个奥林匹克标准尺寸游泳池的有毒废弃物。

Living near a toxic coal ash pit can be worse for kids' health than smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. 住在有毒煤灰坑洞附近对孩子们的健康来说，可是比一天抽一包烟还要糟糕。

The good news is that the United States has become an international leader in reducing carbon pollution, 好消息是，在减少碳污染方面美国已经变成国际先锋，

largely because we are retiring coal plants and replacing them with clean, renewable energy nationwide. 主要是因为我们正在全国让煤炭工厂退休并用干净、可再生的能源取代它们。

The amount of electricity America gets from wind and solar power has more than doubled in the past few years. 过去几年美国从风力以及太阳能得到的电量已经不只翻倍。

Iowa and South Dakota are already getting more than twenty percent of their energy from wind power. 爱荷华州和南达科达州已经在从风力获取超过他们百分之二十的能源。

And in 2012, ten states got more than ten percent of their energy from wind. 而在2012年，十个州从风力获得了超过他们百分之十的能源。

Coal is making us sick, and it's time to make this toxic, outdated energy source history. 煤炭在让我们生病，该是时候让这有毒、过时的能源成为历史。

Let's create a clean energy future for our country and for our kids. 让我们为国家和我们的孩子们创造一个干净能源的未来。

Let's move beyond coal. 让我们超越(舍弃)煤炭。

 

1 outdated   

adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时

参考例句：

• That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了，许多地址已经改了。
• Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。

2 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

3 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

4 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

5 seafood   

n.海产食品，海味，海鲜

参考例句：

• There's an excellent seafood restaurant near here.离这儿不远有家非常不错的海鲜馆。
• Shrimps are a popular type of seafood.小虾是比较普遍的一种海味。