美国国家公共电台 NPR Politics Of Wildfires: Biggest Battle Is In California's Capital

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Here in California, these massive wildfires are setting records for the second year in a row. And state leaders here are scrambling¹ to close some gaps in the law. They're hoping this might help curb² future fires or make the difference between life and death once a blaze breaks out. They're rushing to do this before the legislative³ session ends this month. From member station KQED in San Francisco, Marisa Lagos reports.

MARISA LAGOS, BYLINE⁴: Patrick McCallum is no stranger to Sacramento. He's a lobbyist in the state capital, representing community college districts.

PATRICK MCCALLUM: But on the morning of October 9 at 4:02 in the morning, our smoke alarms went off in our bedroom and woke Judy and I up. And she started screaming.

LAGOS: McCallum's Sonoma County house was in the path of the biggest blaze that broke out north of San Francisco last fall.

MCCALLUM: And I jumped out of bed, and, looking down the hallway, we saw our house on fire. And we ran.

LAGOS: Nearly a year later, McCallum now finds himself embroiled⁵ in one of the biggest political debates of the year in California - how state officials should respond to the ferocious⁶ wildfires that have repeatedly swept through the state. The questions plaguing California lawmakers are challenging many Western states - whether electrical utilities should pay if their equipment starts fires, how to shore up emergency alert systems and how to prevent fires through better forest management.

HANNAH-BETH JACKSON: We have looked at fire as an enemy.

LAGOS: But that's a problem, says State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson. She represents Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, which were devastated⁷ by the enormous Thomas fire last December.

JACKSON: We have been doing less and less to try to clear vegetation, to do controlled burns. And as a result, we have conditions that are seeing them - the fruition with these enormous and out-of-control fires.

LAGOS: Jackson says, after years of inaction, everyone in California is finally at the table, including environmental groups. There's widespread support for bills like hers that would expand prescribed burns and other forest management practices on both public and private lands. Jackson also has a bill that would let counties automatically enroll⁸ residents in emergency notification systems. She notes that technology has changed.

JACKSON: We rely upon people's cell phones, so we've got to adapt. And that's what this program will hopefully do.

LAGOS: At the national level, there's also political maneuvering⁹ over fires. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen visited a fire zone in Northern California earlier this month and promised to start providing federal emergency funding earlier, while California's U.S. Senator Kamala Harris spoke¹⁰ about her push to expand federal funding for both fighting and preventing wildfires during a recent tour of a fire area.

KAMALA HARRIS: Let's also invest resources in things like deforestation and getting rid of these dead trees and doing the other kind of work that is necessary to mitigate¹¹ the harm that is caused by these fires.

LAGOS: It's a rare issue that's received bipartisan support. Several bills are before the U.S. Congress, including one that's backed by senators from 10 other states, many of them in the fire-prone West. The federal money those bills could bring is important. California has blown through its firefighting budget in seven of the last 10 years and is on track to do so again. This fiscal¹² year started just six weeks ago, and the state has already spent three-quarters of its firefighting budget for the entire year. For NPR News, I'm Marisa Lagos in San Francisco.

(SOUNDBITE OF BOSSK'S "THE REVERIE")

1 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

3 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

4 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。

5 embroiled   

adj.卷入的；纠缠不清的

参考例句：

• He became embroiled in a dispute with his neighbours. 他与邻居们发生了争执。
• John and Peter were quarrelling, but Mary refused to get embroiled. 约翰和彼得在争吵，但玛丽不愿卷入。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 ferocious   

adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的

参考例句：

• The ferocious winds seemed about to tear the ship to pieces.狂风仿佛要把船撕成碎片似的。
• The ferocious panther is chasing a rabbit.那只凶猛的豹子正追赶一只兔子。

7 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。

8 enroll   

v.招收；登记；入学；参军；成为会员（英)enrol

参考例句：

• I should like to enroll all my children in the swimming class.我愿意让我的孩子们都参加游泳班。
• They enroll him as a member of the club.他们吸收他为俱乐部会员。

9 maneuvering   

v.移动，用策略( maneuver的现在分词 )；操纵

参考例句：

• This Manstein did, with some brilliant maneuvering under the worse winter conditions. 曼施坦因在最恶劣的严冬条件下，出色地施展了灵活机动的战术，终于完成了任务。 来自辞典例句
• In short, large goals required farsighted policies, not tactical maneuvering. 一句话，大的目标需要有高瞻远瞩的政策，玩弄策略是不行的。 来自辞典例句

10 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

11 mitigate   

vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和

参考例句：

• The government is trying to mitigate the effects of inflation.政府正试图缓和通货膨胀的影响。
• Governments should endeavour to mitigate distress.政府应努力缓解贫困问题。

12 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。