美国国家公共电台 NPR--Pa. politicians often calibrate their views on fracking based on voters' opinions

Pa. politicians often calibrate¹ their views on fracking based on voters' opinions

Transcript²

Both U.S. Senate candidates from Pennsylvania, Mehmet Oz and John Fetterman, have changed their positions on fracking, and say they now support it — despite climate change concerns.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

A single election could decide control of the U.S. Senate. It is the election of a senator in Pennsylvania.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The campaign there has turned on personalities³ - the candidate who had a stroke against the TV host who lived out of state. But the candidates have also had to address a big issue, one that touches on far more than the Senate. It involves climate change, the environment and the economy.

INSKEEP: It's the debate over fracking, a drilling technique used to bring up oil and gas. Both candidates criticized fracking, yet both say they support it. Their contradictory⁴ statements reflect the electorate⁵. Here's Reid Frazier of The Allegheny Front.

REID FRAZIER: As a columnist⁶, Dr. Mehmet Oz once called for a pause on fracking pending⁷ the results of a public health study. But in this week's debate, he gushed⁸ about the gas industry's economic potential.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MEHMET OZ: Fracking has been demonstrated - it's a very old technology - to be safe. It is a lifeline for this commonwealth⁹ to be able to build wealth.

FRAZIER: And before new state rules were put in place in 2016, John Fetterman wanted a moratorium¹⁰ on fracking. But at Tuesday's debate...

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JOHN FETTERMAN: I've always supported fracking. And I always believed that independence with our energy is critical. And we can't be held, you know, ransom¹¹ to somebody like Russia.

FRAZIER: The hard-to-pin-down views of both Fetterman and Oz on fracking reflect voters' own views on the issue, says Chris Borick, director of the Institute of Public Opinion at Muhlenberg College. He says most Pennsylvania voters don't want to ban fracking.

CHRIS BORICK: On the other hand, Pennsylvanians have been really fairly consistent in wanting fracking to be monitored, regulated, taxed in ways that the state often has not.

FRAZIER: Borick says fracking is often discussed during campaigns, but it's never a top issue for the electorate like the economy or abortion¹² are this year. Berwood Yost, a pollster at Franklin & Marshall College, says the issue is more tricky¹³ for Democrats¹⁴ like Fetterman. Many of their voters worry about fracking's potential for pollution. But he says Fetterman is also trying to win back voters the Democratic Party has been losing for years.

BERWOOD YOST: There are sizable numbers of particularly white working-class voters who feel strongly that fracking is - that kind of energy development is good for the economy.

FRAZIER: Don Furko is one of the voters Fetterman is trying to court. He's head of a local steelworkers union at a U.S. steel plant near Pittsburgh. Many workers at his plant - at least the vocal¹⁵ ones - are voting for Oz over issues like guns and abortion. But he is voting for Fetterman because he sees him as on the side of workers like those at his mill.

DON FURKO: I think his - if he had to straddle the fence that his - you know, the foot that he's stepping with is going to be the one that's with jobs.

FRAZIER: Outside a shopping plaza¹⁶ in the Pittsburgh suburb of West Mifflin, Carol Martin and her husband John, both 82, say they support fracking.

CAROL MARTIN: Creates a lot of jobs and keeps people working.

JOHN MARTIN: And keeps the price of everything down.

FRAZIER: While John says he's voting for Oz, Carol's undecided. Her top issues are the economy and the war in Ukraine. Fetterman's changing views on fracking don't bother her much.

C MARTIN: He's for it now. That's fine. If he was against it, then, well, he changed his mind. A lot of them change their mind on a lot of things.

FRAZIER: A few stores over, Andrea Webb of Pittsburgh says she's against fracking because of the potential environmental impacts.

ANDREA WEBB: Like my god-granddaughter tells me, save the planet, Nana, save the planet. OK. And fracking is very harmful, especially to people's water supply, underground water.

FRAZIER: Even though Fetterman supports fracking, she'll still vote for him because she likes his stance on other issues, like the economy. She thinks the government should be doing more to help people with low incomes.

For NPR News, I'm Reid Frazier in Pittsburgh.

1 calibrate   

校准；使合标准；测量（枪的）口径

参考例句：

• Pesticide levels in food are simply too difficult to calibrate.食品中杀虫剂的含量很难精确测定。

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 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。

4 contradictory   

adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立

参考例句：

• The argument is internally contradictory.论据本身自相矛盾。
• What he said was self-contradictory.他讲话前后不符。

5 electorate   

n.全体选民；选区

参考例句：

• The government was responsible to the electorate.政府对全体选民负责。
• He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。

6 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

7 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

8 gushed   

v.喷，涌( gush的过去式和过去分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话

参考例句：

• Oil gushed from the well. 石油从井口喷了出来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Clear water gushed into the irrigational channel. 清澈的水涌进了灌溉渠道。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 commonwealth   

n.共和国，联邦，共同体

参考例句：

• He is the chairman of the commonwealth of artists.他是艺术家协会的主席。
• Most of the members of the Commonwealth are nonwhite.英联邦的许多成员国不是白人国家。

10 moratorium   

n.(行动、活动的)暂停(期)，延期偿付

参考例句：

• The government has called for a moratorium on weapons testing.政府已要求暂停武器试验。
• We recommended a moratorium on two particular kinds of experiments.我们建议暂禁两种特殊的实验。

11 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

12 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

13 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

14 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

16 plaza   

n.广场，市场

参考例句：

• They designated the new shopping centre York Plaza.他们给这个新购物中心定名为约克购物中心。
• The plaza is teeming with undercover policemen.这个广场上布满了便衣警察。