美国国家公共电台 NPR--Why the pushback against more renewable energy infrastructures?

Why the pushback against more renewable energy infrastructures²?

Transcript³

The U.S. needs a lot more renewable energy to rein⁴ in climate change. But much of the opposition⁵ to larger solar projects is coming from local environmentalists and conservationists themselves.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Reining⁶ in climate change requires building a lot more renewable energy infrastructure¹. But across the country, there's much opposition to those projects, and often that pushback comes from local environmentalists. NPR's Julia Simon reports.

JULIA SIMON, BYLINE⁷: Amherst - not Am-hurst (ph) - Mass., is a town of highly educated people who speak their mind.

DWAYNE BREGER: There's a saying in Amherst that only the H is silent, meaning that people like to voice their opinions.

SIMON: Dwayne Breger is with UMass Amherst. He says the town pretty much agrees climate change is here. But as for where to put larger solar projects that would cut emissions⁸, that's where opinions split. On one side are people like Janet McGowan.

JANET MCGOWAN: It just seems really odd to me to cut down a forest to put up a solar facility.

SIMON: McGowan, a lawyer and mediator⁹, says she's not anti-solar, but she worries about losing the town's forests and farmland to new solar projects.

MCGOWAN: My concern is if you build a solar array on a farm, that's sort of taken out of production.

SIMON: Then there's her neighbor down the road, Steven Roof.

STEVEN ROOF: The evidence is clear, and it has been for decades. We have to stop burning fossil fuels.

SIMON: Roof's an environmental science professor at Hampshire College who takes students to the Arctic to see the effects of global warming. He worries fears about conserving¹⁰ farms and forests could lead Amherst to enact¹¹ restrictive regulations that limit the ability to build solar and reduce emissions.

ROOF: If we don't turn to renewable energy and stop burning fossil fuels in 10 or 15 years, our ecosystems¹² are going to be ravaged¹³ from climate change.

SIMON: Disagreements over solar between environmentalists aren't unique to Amherst. A new report from Columbia University identified more than a dozen solar projects that faced opposition from environmentalists. In Amherst, conservation concerns have already delayed solar. The town sustainability director, Stephanie Ciccarello, recalls a proposed solar array on a landfill.

STEPHANIE CICCARELLO: A pair of nesting grasshopper¹⁴ sparrows were identified at the south landfill location.

SIMON: Because the birds are endangered, the town ultimately put the solar array on another landfill. It took seven years. Now, as the town writes regulations for where to locate solar, many, like McGowan, are pushing to keep solar primarily on the built environment like school buildings and commercial rooftops.

MCGOWAN: Like, why are we putting solar on farmland and not on, you know, Walmart and Target?

SIMON: But while solar on rooftops will be part of the energy transition, larger solar projects on the ground like community or utility-scale solar can be a lot cheaper. Jesse Jenkins, an energy professor at Princeton University, says the U.S. will need a lot more renewable electricity as we replace things like coal and gas plants and as we turn to electric cars, electric heat pumps.

JESSE JENKINS: We can do that if we scale up both distributed and utility-scale solar. But we're not going to get there with rooftops alone.

SIMON: There are ways to settle conservation disputes over solar, according to a new report from the Nature Conservancy - elevating solar over farmland to keep it in use, over pollinator-friendly plants for bees, engaging the community a lot. But Michael Gerrard, environmental law professor at Columbia University, says we've run out of time to save everything we want to save. Had we listened to climate scientists decades ago, maybe we wouldn't be in this place.

MICHAEL GERRARD: But society all around the world has delayed, and we are now at a point where we have to swallow hard, put some of these wind and solar facilities in imperfect places, unfortunately kill some birds. But there's no other way around it.

SIMON: Back in Amherst, Breger says he hopes the new solar regulations will be careful but not overly restrictive. The town hopes to have the regulations done by the end of the summer.

Julia Simon, NPR News.

1 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

2 infrastructures   

n.基础设施( infrastructure的名词复数 )；基础结构；行政机构；秘密机构

参考例句：

• Public transportation termini and depots are important infrastructures for a city. 公交场站设施是城市重要的基础设施。 来自互联网
• The increasingly fast urbanization process requires more and more infrastructures. 我国城市化进程不断加快，对城市基础设施的需求也越来越大。 来自互联网

3 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。

4 rein   

n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治

参考例句：

• The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
• He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 reining   

勒缰绳使（马）停步( rein的现在分词 )； 驾驭； 严格控制； 加强管理

参考例句：

• "That's a fine bevy, Ma'm,'said Gerald gallantly, reining his horse alongside the carriage. "太太！好一窝漂亮的云雀呀！" 杰拉尔德殷勤地说，一面让自己的马告近塔尔顿的马车。
• I was a temperamental genius in need of reining in by stabler personalities. 我是个需要由更稳重的人降服住的神经质的天才。

7 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。

8 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

9 mediator   

n.调解人，中介人

参考例句：

• He always takes the role of a mediator in any dispute.他总是在争论中充当调停人的角色。
• He will appear in the role of mediator.他将出演调停者。

10 conserving   

v.保护，保藏，保存( conserve的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Contour planning with or without terracing is effective in conserving both soil and moisture. 顺等高线栽植，无论做或不做梯田对于保持水土都能有效。 来自辞典例句
• Economic savings, consistent with a conserving society and the public philosophy. 经济节约，符合创建节约型社会的公共理念。 来自互联网

11 enact   

vt.制定(法律)；上演，扮演

参考例句：

• The U.S. Congress has exclusive authority to enact federal legislation.美国国会是唯一有权颁布联邦法律的。
• For example,a country can enact laws and economic policies to attract foreign investment fairly quickly.例如一个国家可以很快颁布吸引外资的法令和经济政策。

12 ecosystems   

n.生态系统( ecosystem的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There are highly sensitive and delicately balanced ecosystems in the forest. 森林里有高度敏感、灵敏平衡的各种生态系统。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Madagascar's ecosystems range from rainforest to semi-desert. 马达加斯加生态系统类型多样，从雨林到半荒漠等不一而足。 来自辞典例句

13 ravaged   

毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫

参考例句：

• a country ravaged by civil war 遭受内战重创的国家
• The whole area was ravaged by forest fires. 森林火灾使整个地区荒废了。

14 grasshopper   

n.蚱蜢，蝗虫，蚂蚱

参考例句：

• He thought he had made an end of the little grasshopper.他以为把那个小蚱蜢干掉了。
• The grasshopper could not find anything to eat.蚱蜢找不到任何吃的东西。