密歇根新闻广播 法律无用时

 

There's little doubt that the most appalling¹ part of the Snyder administration has been the laughably misnamed Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

You have to give the MDEQ this: It never misses an opportunity to show that it doesn't care about the environment, or what the citizens of Michigan think, unless they happen to be executives of large corporations.

What's more, it doesn't even feel any need to pretend it cares what we think. The MDEQ, the agency which lied about the water in Flint, did ask for public comment about a proposal to allow Nestle, a giant corporation based in Switzerland, to vastly increase how much water it was sucking out of White Pine Springs in Osceola County in Northern Michigan.

They got comment, all right. A total of 80,945 people were against it, and 75 were in favor. That works out to slightly more than 99.9 percent opposing this plan, which is an even greater margin² than Albanian dictators used to give themselves when they staged rigged elections.

When the comments were in, the MDEQ cheerfully granted Nestle the permit. Matt Gamble, a water supervisor³ for the agency, told Michigan Radio that under the law, the agency can't say no, "even if the vast majority of the public wants them to."

Well, I don't know how much Charles Dickens you remember, but I instantly thought of Oliver Twist's Mr. Bumble saying, "If the law supposes that, the law is an ass⁴."

Actually, this isn't about the law, but priorities. One of the current DEQ's guiding principles, as Michael Jackman of Detroit's Metro⁶ Times newspaper has pointed⁷ out, is to be "partners in economic development" with the people they regulate.

So it was scarcely surprising that Heidi Grether, the head of the MDEQ, admitted that "in full transparency," the people were against this, but basically said that was not "and should not be part of an administrative⁸ permit decision."

Grether became head of the MDEQ after the previous director was fired when the agency's attempts to cover up what happened in Flint were exposed. She had previously⁹ been an oil and gas industry lobbyist who, eight years ago, worked for BP America during its disastrous¹⁰ Deepwater Horizon oil spill. That's not exactly the background you might think someone running an agency charged with protecting our environment might have.

But that's what we got. Two years ago, the citizens of the densely-settled Detroit suburb of Southfield vigorously protested plans to drill for oil on the grounds of a church which borders an area where residents depend on well water. Naturally, DEQ granted the permit anyway.

Fortunately, no oil was found. Candice Miller¹¹, now Macomb County's public works commissioner¹² calls herself a strong conservative Republican. Her voting record in Congress and actions as Michigan Secretary of State prove that.

But she thinks this decision is reckless and "totally outrageous¹³." She added, "It is extremely distressing¹⁴ that our current state leadership will not take the necessary steps to protect the irreplaceable international treasure that we have in the Great Lakes."

What's baffling to me is that the candidates for governor aren't campaigning on a pledge to fire everyone who has been perverting¹⁵ the mission of the DEQ.

I think that would be Job One, if it were me.

Jack⁵ Lessenberry is Michigan Radio's Senior Political Analyst¹⁶. Views expressed in his essays are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Radio, its management or the station licensee, The University of Michigan.

1 appalling   

adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions.恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• Nothing can extenuate such appalling behaviour.这种骇人听闻的行径罪无可恕。

2 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

3 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

4 ass   

n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人

参考例句：

• He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。
• An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。

5 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

6 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。

7 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

8 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

9 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

10 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

11 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

12 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

13 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

14 distressing   

a.使人痛苦的

参考例句：

• All who saw the distressing scene revolted against it. 所有看到这种悲惨景象的人都对此感到难过。
• It is distressing to see food being wasted like this. 这样浪费粮食令人痛心。

15 perverting   

v.滥用( pervert的现在分词 )；腐蚀；败坏；使堕落

参考例句：

• We must never tolerate any taking bribes and perverting justice. 我们决不能姑息贪赃枉法的行为！ 来自互联网
• District Councillor was jailed for three months for vote-planting and perverting the course of justice. 区议员因选举种票及妨碍司法公正被判监三个月。 来自互联网

16 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。