2021年6月24日 星期四

Biden Administration to Restore Clean-Water Protections Ended by Trump 川普廢止的水保法 拜登將予恢復


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2021/06/25 第339期 訂閱/退訂看歷史報份
 
 
紐時周報精選 Biden Administration to Restore Clean-Water Protections Ended by Trump 川普廢止的水保法 拜登將予恢復
California Throws a Rescue Line to Its Dwindling Monarch Butterflies 加州搶救帝王斑蝶
紐時周報精選
 
Biden Administration to Restore Clean-Water Protections Ended by Trump 川普廢止的水保法 拜登將予恢復
文/Lisa Friedman
譯/陳韋廷 核稿/樂慧生

川普廢止的水保法 拜登將予恢復

The Biden administration intends to revive federal environmental protections for millions of streams, marshes and other bodies of water across the country that had been eliminated by former President Donald Trump in his quest to please homebuilders, farmers and ranchers.

美國前總統川普為取悅建商、農民和牧場主,取消了聯邦政府對全美數以百萬計溪流、沼澤和其他水體的保護令,拜登政府打算悉予恢復。

The Environmental Protection Agency made the announcement after it said it had found that the changes under Trump caused "significant environmental degradation."

美國環境保護署做此宣布之前曾表示,該署發現在川普治下所做的這些改變,使「環境嚴重劣化」。

The problem is particularly glaring in arid states such as New Mexico and Arizona, where nearly every one of more than 1,500 streams lost environmental protections under the Trump rules, said Michael Regan, administrator of the EPA. More than 300 development projects were able to go forward without regard to whether they were polluting streams or waterways under the changes made by Trump, the EPA said.

署長黎根說,這個問題在新墨西哥和亞利桑納等乾旱州尤為明顯,這些州的1500多條河流在川普時期的新規定下,幾乎沒有一 條受到保護。 該署指出,在川普所做的改變下,超過300個開發案得以在不須考慮是否汙染河流或水道的情況下進行。

It marked the latest in a series of decisions by President Joe Biden to restore environmental protections that Trump had weakened or repealed, and it sets the stage for a regulatory and legal battle over an issue that has pitted environmental groups against agricultural interests for decades.

現任總統拜登為恢復遭川普削弱或廢除的環保法規,已經做出了一系列決定,這是最新的一個。它也為圍繞此一問題的監管與法律之戰做好準備。數十年來這個問題一直讓環保組織與農業利益團體對立。

Republicans criticized the move and vowed to fight it, saying Trump's policy had protected farmers and removed what many felt were onerous cleanup burdens. "It's a shame the Biden administration wants to undo the good work of the Trump administration," Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said.

共和黨人批評這一舉措,並且誓言抗爭到底,他們表示川普的政策保護了農民,卸除了許多人認為十分繁重的清理負擔。北達科他州共和黨籍聯邦參議員克雷默說:「拜登想要拆毀川普政府的優秀政績,這很可恥。」

The original measure, known as the Waters of the United States rule, dates to the Obama administration and extended the range of bodies of water that were subject to the 1972 Clean Water Act, an issue that had for decades lacked clarity.

最初的法規被稱為「美國水域法規」,可追溯到歐巴馬政府時期,擴大了受1972年《清潔水法》管轄的水域範圍。幾十年來,這個問題一直欠缺明確的界定。

The Obama administration protected about 60% of the nation's waterways, including large bodies of water such as the Chesapeake Bay, Mississippi River and Puget Sound, and smaller headwaters, wetlands, seasonal streams and streams that run temporarily underground. It limited the discharge of pollutants such as fertilizers, pesticides and industrial chemicals into those waters.

歐巴馬政府保護了美國約60%的水道,包括契沙比克灣、密西西比河和普傑峽灣等大型水體,以及較小的水源、濕地、季節性溪流和暫時在地下流動的溪流。歐巴馬政府針對向這些水域排放化肥、農藥和工業化學品等汙染物設下了限制。

Trump repealed the policy in 2019, calling it "one of the most ridiculous regulations of all," and claimed that his repeal caused farmers to weep in gratitude.

川普在2019年廢除了這個政策,稱其為「最荒謬的法規之一」,並聲稱他的廢除令農民們感激涕零。

The Biden administration's decision to restore the federal protections is one in a string of reversals it is making to Trump-era environmental decisions, which were themselves reversals of Obama administration actions.

拜登政府恢復聯邦保護令的決定,是它對川普時代有關環境問題決策所做一系列逆轉動作之一,而川普的那些決策本身就是對歐巴馬政府行動的逆轉。

 
California Throws a Rescue Line to Its Dwindling Monarch Butterflies 加州搶救帝王斑蝶
文/Claire Fahy
譯/莊蕙嘉 核稿/樂慧生

加州搶救帝王斑蝶

Known for their windowpane wing design and bright orange color, Western monarch butterflies add a dash of magic to the California coast, where they spend the winter. Now a coalition of conservation groups, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the environmentalist organization River Partners are working together to extend a lifeline to the monarchs, whose population has been dwindling drastically.

西部帝王斑蝶以窗玻璃般的翅膀花樣和鮮豔橘色聞名,為牠們度過冬季的加州海岸增添些許魅力。現在,一個保育團體聯盟,「加州魚類及野生動物管理局」和環保組織「河流夥伴」正攜手合作,為數量急遽減少的帝王斑蝶提供一線生機。

The groups have embarked on an effort to add 30,000 milkweed plants across the state to provide the butterflies with places to breed and acquire the sustenance for migration.

這些組織已展開一項行動,在加州各地增植3萬株乳草,提供蝴蝶繁殖場所及遷徙所需糧食。

The Western monarchs' California population has fallen 99% since the 1980s, The San Francisco Chronicle reported. A major factor in that drop has been a decline in milkweed caused by farming and pesticide use. Milkweed is vital to monarchs as a place to lay eggs and as a food source for their caterpillars.

舊金山紀事報報導,加州西部帝王斑蝶數量自1980年代以來已減少99%,一大原因是,農作和使用農藥使得乳草減少。乳草對帝王斑蝶十分重要,是產卵之處,也是幼蟲食物來源。

Monarch butterflies do something called "overwintering" on the coast of California — spending time there from October to March before migrating farther inland to breed.

帝王斑蝶有所謂的「越冬」行為,在遷徙到更內陸地區繁殖之前,從10月到3月待在加州海岸。

Every year around Thanksgiving, volunteers count the migrating monarchs at the coastal overwintering sites, said Cheryl Schultz, a biology professor at Washington State University who works with the River Partners project. In 2019, 29,000 butterflies overwintered in California. A year later, that number was just 2,000, she said.

和河流夥伴合作專案的華盛頓州立大學生物學教授雪柔•休茲說,每年感恩節前後,志工在沿海越冬地點計算遷徙的帝王斑蝶數目。她說,2019年有2萬9000隻蝴蝶在加州越冬,一年後,數目只有2000隻。

In response, California put forward a $1 million state-funded initiative to restore the Western monarchs' natural habitat — and hopefully the population itself — by planting 600 acres of milkweed statewide.

為因應此一變化,加州祭出由州政府提供100萬美元經費的計畫,透過在州內各處種植600英畝的乳草,重建西部帝王斑蝶的自然棲息地,也希望能恢復數量。

"It's going to take time for that habit to establish," Schultz said. "It's not like we can plant milkweed today and poof, you know, three months from now we have 40 functioning habits for monarchs. Different areas will take different amounts of time to come online."

「那樣的棲息地需要花時間建立。」休茲說,「可不是我們今天種下乳草,然後咻的一下,三個月後就有40個可派上用場的帝王斑蝶棲息處。不同地區需要花不同的時間來達到可用狀態。」

Although monarch butterflies are faced with extinction, the species is not federally protected because other species are a higher priority.

帝王斑蝶雖面臨滅絕危機,卻並未受到聯邦保護,因為有其他物種排在前面。

According to the U.S. Forest Service, milkweed is a wildflower known for being "a mega food market for insects." Almost 500 types of insects, including butterflies, feed on some part of the milkweed plant — its sap, leaves and flowers all provide nutrition.

根據美國國家森林局的資料,乳草是一種野花,以「昆蟲的食物大賣場」聞名。包括蝴蝶在內,將近500種昆蟲以乳草的某個部分為食,它的汁液、葉子和花皆能提供養分。

Schultz said that, aside from being a source of food, milkweed contains cardenolides, enzymes that when digested by monarch caterpillars make them toxic to predators like birds.

休茲說,除了作為食物來源,乳草還含有強心甾,這些酶被帝王斑蝶幼蟲消化後,會使幼蟲對牠們的掠食者如鳥類而言具有毒性。

 
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