时代周刊:环保署的争议氛围(2)

But Pruitt's rollback isn't controversial for climate reasons alone.

但普鲁伊特的松口并不仅仅因为气候问题才引起的争议。

Though automakers had requested the revision, saying compliance² with Obama's rules would be costly³,

尽管是汽车制造商自己要求修改政策的，理由是遵守奥巴马的规定代价太大了，

they are now worried that the Administration may go too far.

他们现在又已经开始担心特朗普政府会把政策修改得太离谱。

Most significantly, California could set its own emissions⁴ standards in response,

最重要的是，加州此后可以制定自己的排放标准了，

leading to a protracted⁵ court battle that would force car-makers to operate without clear or uniform rules.

而这一变化将引发一场旷日持久的官司，最终迫使汽车制造商们在没有明确或统一的准则下运营。

Maintaining a single national program is critical to ensuring that cars remain affordable⁶,

“维持一个全国统一的大纲对于确保汽车价格维持在可接受水平内至关重要。”

the Auto¹ Alliance trade group said in a largely supportive statement.

美国汽车联盟在一份民众大体都表示支持的声明中表示。

THIS HESITANT REACTION to Pruitt's rollback underscores the strange position in which the EPA administrator⁷ finds himself.

对普鲁伊特的退让的迟疑反应也突显出这位环保署署长所处的奇怪处境。

He is extraordinarily⁸ effective at fulfilling Trump⁹'s promise to nix regulations—

他不仅在履行特朗普拒绝监管的承诺上卓有成效——

he's made more than 20 big deregulatory moves by his own count—

据他自己的计算，他已经部署了20多项放松管制的重大措施——

and also at attracting controversy¹⁰ that riles opponents

在引发激怒对手的争议上也是如此，

and has led to questions about how long he can survive in a White House prone¹¹ to turnover¹².

因为他已经引发了人们对他在一个容易发生人事变动的白宫还能再待多久的质疑。

The ethics¹³ scandals he faces are striking:

他面临的道德丑闻也颇令人震惊：

he lived for six months in a condo co-owned by a lobbyist, paying $50 a night;

他曾经在某说客和他人共有的一间公寓里住了长达6个月的时间，每晚支付的房费为50美元；

he spent more than $100,000 of taxpayer¹⁴ money on first- and business-class travel everywhere from Italy to New York City,

挪用10万多美元的国家税收坐头等舱从意大利到纽约满世界飞，

a move he defended as a security measure;

称是为了安全起见；

he went around the White House to give favored aides raises upwards¹⁵ of 30%.

还在白宫为自己喜欢的助手加薪30%以上。

And that's just news from the past few months.

这些还都只是过去几个月内的事情。

His wonkier policy moves have been equally controversial.

他那更靠不住的政策举措同样充满了争议。

Most recently, in March, he told the conservative Daily Caller

最近一次是，也就是今年3月，他告诉保守派的《每日通话》，

that he would stop the agency from using any studies that aren't based entirely¹⁶ on data accessible to the public.

他将阻止该机构使用任何不是完全依靠公开数据的研究得出的结论。

This means, for example, excluding research that relies on private health information.

这就意味着，那些依靠未公开健康信息的研究就要被排除在外。

Pruitt says it's about transparency, but scientists say that ignoring essential public-health research endangers lives.

普鲁伊特说，这一举措事关透明度，但科学家们表示，忽视不可或缺的公共卫生研究将危及到民众的生命。

"This leaves me and many of my colleagues puzzled about what to do," says Jonathan Levy¹⁷, a professor of environmental health at Boston University.

“这让我和我的许多同事都感到很困惑，不知该怎么办，”波士顿大学环境健康教授乔纳森·利维表示。

"How can you genuinely affect public health and decision-making if the decision-makers do not wish to use science?"

“决策者不走科学的道路，还怎么塑造公共卫生行业和政府的决策？”

Now Pruitt has hinted that the fight over vehicle-emissions standards will remain bitter if blue states don't fall into line.

由于普鲁伊特已经暗示，如果蓝州不同意，关于汽车排放标准的争论还会愈演愈烈。

"Cooperative federalism doesn't mean that one state can dictate¹⁸ standards for the rest of the country," he said.

“合作的联邦制并不意味着某一个州可以为全国所有地区制定标准，”他说。

So far, Trump has stood by his EPA chief.

到目前为止，特朗普一直是支持着他的环保局局长的。

Still, the relationship appeared strained as the latest round of revelations hit.

不过，随着最新一轮爆料的曝光，两人的关系似乎也有些紧张了。

The White House confirmed that the two men spoke¹⁹ by phone in the midst of the latest controversy but declined to give any more details.

白宫证实了两人在最近的争议期间曾通过电话，但他们拒绝透露更多细节。

Asked about Pruitt at a public appearance on April 3, Trump had a brief response.

在4月3日的一次公开露面中，当被问及普鲁特的情况时，特朗普只做出了简短的回应。

"I hope," the President said, "he's going to be great."

“我希望，”总统说，“他能表现得很好。”

1 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

2 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。

3 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

4 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。

5 protracted   

adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The war was protracted for four years. 战争拖延了四年。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We won victory through protracted struggle. 经过长期的斗争，我们取得了胜利。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

7 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

8 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

9 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。

10 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

11 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

12 turnover   

n.人员流动率，人事变动率；营业额，成交量

参考例句：

• The store greatly reduced the prices to make a quick turnover.这家商店实行大减价以迅速周转资金。
• Our turnover actually increased last year.去年我们的营业额竟然增加了。

13 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

14 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

15 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

16 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

17 levy   

n.征收税或其他款项，征收额

参考例句：

• They levy a tax on him.他们向他征税。
• A direct food levy was imposed by the local government.地方政府征收了食品税。

18 dictate   

v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令

参考例句：

• It took him a long time to dictate this letter.口述这封信花了他很长时间。
• What right have you to dictate to others?你有什么资格向别人发号施令？

19 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。