美国国家公共电台 NPR--Oregon jury finds electric utility PacifiCorp liable in devastating wildfires

Oregon jury finds electric utility PacifiCorp liable in devastating¹ wildfires

Transcript²

PacifiCorp may have to pay out billions of dollars in damages after being found liable in a series of destructive wildfires over Labor³ Day weekend in 2020.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Electric utility PacifiCorp could be on the hook for billions of dollars in damages. It's been found liable for its role in Oregon's most destructive wildfire season on record in 2020. Oregon Public Broadcasting's Ryan Haas reports.

RYAN HAAS, BYLINE⁴: The jury awarded $90 million to 17 plaintiffs who lost homes and businesses in a series of fires that grew to an overwhelming scale Labor Day weekend 2020. Some of those fires, the jury ruled, were PacifiCorp's fault. The company could potentially owe billions to many more people who are part of a class-action lawsuit⁵. The fires exploded in the midst of high winds and very dry conditions.

CODY BERNE: These were absolutely traumatic and catastrophic fires. They were preventable, and this never had to happen.

HAAS: Cody Berne was the lead trial attorney for the plaintiffs. He and a team of lawyers argued that PacifiCorp's power lines started many of the fires. They said at trial that even after PacifiCorp learned its lines were sparking, they refused to turn the power off. During the nearly two-month trial, PacifiCorp's lawyers said the company did everything in its power to mitigate⁶ wildfire risk, including trimming trees and tracking the weather. They also argued that turning off the power would have presented its own hazards - for example, for people with certain medical needs or those escaping the fires on roads with stoplights. PacifiCorp's lead attorney, Doug Dixon, said that climate change was the real culprit.

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DOUG DIXON: Plaintiffs want to ignore a changing world and blame it all on my client, Pacific Power. Why? Because they view Pacific Power as an easy - as a convenient target, and you can't sue climate change.

HAAS: PacifiCorp released a statement after the jury's decision saying that they plan to appeal. As the climate warms, the risks of major wildfires are growing, and PacifiCorp is not the only utility to face blame for their role in sparking them. California's Pacific Gas and Electric filed for bankruptcy⁷ in 2019 after a flood of lawsuits⁸ related to deadly wildfires. And this month, an investigation⁹ found that the utility XL Energy helped start the destructive 2021 Marshall Fire in Colorado. That company is also facing a lawsuit.

MICHAEL WARA: What the decision today and yesterday tells you is that the old way of doing business is not acceptable, given the changing risk and the expectations of the public.

HAAS: Michael Wara is director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program at Stanford's Woods Institute for the Environment. He says utilities need to do more to prevent wildfires. That will mean spending more on tree trimming and burying power lines and sometimes turning the power off.

For NPR News, I'm Ryan Haas.

(SOUNDBITE OF THOSE WHO RIDE WITH GIANTS' "THE WHISPERING CAVES")

1 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

6 mitigate   

vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和

参考例句：

• The government is trying to mitigate the effects of inflation.政府正试图缓和通货膨胀的影响。
• Governments should endeavour to mitigate distress.政府应努力缓解贫困问题。

7 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

8 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

9 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。