美国国家公共电台 NPR 'From The Ashes' Documents Rise And Fall Of Coal In America

 

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

When President Trump¹ promised to step out of the Paris climate accord earlier this month, dozens of mayors and a handful of governors promised to step in. Officials like the mayor of Los Angeles and the governor of New York pledged to keep cutting emissions² to meet the goals laid out in the Paris deal. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is coordinating³ that effort, and he's pledged $15 million from his own foundation to cover some of the money that the U.N. will lose when the U.S. pulls out of the deal. His foundation also helped fund a new documentary about coal in America. "From The Ashes" airs this Sunday on the National Geographic⁴ Channel.

I talked to Michael Bloomberg earlier this week, along with Sidney Beaumont. He's the producer of "From The Ashes." And I started by asking Bloomberg about coal and politics, and why President Trump pointed⁵ to coal workers as one reason to pull out of the Paris climate agreement.

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG: Well, I just can't answer that. You have to ask the president. I can just tell you the facts. There are roughly 50,000 people that work in coal with - 15,000 are miners. And what's happened over the years is that coal has become much more automated⁶. And so the number of people that work in the coal industry keeps going down. And that started long before we even focused on the environmental impact of coal. So the real answer here is that technology is destroying jobs in coal, and we as a society have to find ways to retrain people to go and have jobs in industries that need them.

MCEVERS: And for people who don't know, what is coal's role in climate change? We know that coal-fired power plants give off greenhouse gases, but just help us understand it.

BLOOMBERG: Sidney, you want to...

SIDNEY BEAUMONT: Our film focuses on climate change. And we speak to a number of people who are experts, climate scientists and other policy folks in this area. And they point to coal as being one of the largest, most important elements in contributing to climate change.

BLOOMBERG: Kelly, let me add to that. This is Mike Bloomberg.

MCEVERS: Yeah.

BLOOMBERG: Plenty of other things that put stuff into the air, but coal is so pervasive⁷ and so significant a percentage of it in America. By closing half of the coal-fired power plants we've reduced greenhouse gases by roughly 20 percent in this country. We're going to meet our French COP21 goals. We're halfway⁸ there already, and we still have eight years to go.

MCEVERS: And, Sidney, I want to talk about the film a little bit. You spend time with families who work in the coal industry, who are going to be devastated⁹ by the collapse¹⁰ of this industry. I want to hear a clip from one of those families, Cecil and Regina Lily (ph) from West Virginia. Let's listen to them.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "FROM THE ASHES")

CECIL LILY: You have kids, and you go to work one day and they say, well, you don't work here no more. And you've got to go home and face your family and say to them that you don't have the job no more.

REGINA LILY: You know, we're not alone in this boat. There's so many more people. I'm hurt over it because I see people suffering and I know what they're doing. And I know how they're - what they're going through.

MCEVERS: So, you know, we know that coal's a major contributor to climate change, but these are real people whose lives are being affected¹¹.

BLOOMBERG: Kelly, Kelly, let me say that there are people in every industry where this is true and that your heart has to go out to them. And we have to not just sit around and wring¹² our hands. We have to find ways to train them for the jobs of the future. Sidney?

BEAUMONT: We visited Cecil and Regina Lily. And these are folks who, in their families, for generations, have actually mined coal and been part of the industry. And we can sympathize with their plight¹³, absolutely. But even they themselves and others who have been sort of victims or the butt¹⁴ of this downfall are critical of this industry because it's actually terribly impacting them, their lives, their communities, their water and their air.

MCEVERS: Can mayors and governors really pick up the slack here? Earlier this year President Trump ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to unwind President Obama's Clean Power Plan. That would have closed hundreds of coal-fired power plants.

BLOOMBERG: They can do something, but basically it's been done by corporations and individuals. Local governments can do something, state governments less and federal governments almost nothing.

MCEVERS: If the feds really don't have that big of a role, then should it not have been such a big deal that, you know, the U.S. pulled out of Paris?

BLOOMBERG: It sends a terrible message. It's an embarrassment¹⁵. But also, if somebody on the other side of the world pollutes, you breathe their air. This stuff goes all around the globe. And so we all have a vested interest in having others stop polluting. Anybody that does helps us, and anybody that doesn't hurt us. But it does to everybody.

MCEVERS: Michael Bloomberg is the former mayor of New York City, and Sidney Beaumont is the producer of the new documentary "From The Ashes." You can see it this Sunday on the National Geographic Channel. Thanks to both of you.

BLOOMBERG: You're welcome. Thank you.

BEAUMONT: Thank you very much.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 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。

3 coordinating   

v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的现在分词 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• He abolished the Operations Coordinating Board and the Planning Board. 他废除了行动协调委员会和计划委员会。 来自辞典例句
• He's coordinating the wedding, and then we're not going to invite him? 他是来协调婚礼的，难道我们不去请他？ 来自电影对白

4 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

5 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。

6 automated   

a.自动化的

参考例句：

• The entire manufacturing process has been automated. 整个生产过程已自动化。
• Automated Highway System (AHS) is recently regarded as one subsystem of Intelligent Transport System (ITS). 近年来自动公路系统(Automated Highway System,AHS)，作为智能运输系统的子系统之一越来越受到重视。

7 pervasive   

adj.普遍的；遍布的，(到处)弥漫的；渗透性的

参考例句：

• It is the most pervasive compound on earth.它是地球上最普遍的化合物。
• The adverse health effects of car exhaust are pervasive and difficult to measure.汽车尾气对人类健康所构成的有害影响是普遍的，并且难以估算。

8 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

9 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

10 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

11 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

12 wring   

n.扭绞；v.拧，绞出，扭

参考例句：

• My socks were so wet that I had to wring them.我的袜子很湿，我不得不拧干它们。
• I'll wring your neck if you don't behave!你要是不规矩，我就拧断你的脖子。

13 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

14 butt   

n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶

参考例句：

• The water butt catches the overflow from this pipe.大水桶盛接管子里流出的东西。
• He was the butt of their jokes.他是他们的笑柄。

15 embarrassment   

n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫

参考例句：

• She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
• Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。