VOA英语2010年-Turning Love of Nature into Action

For more than four decades, John Adams has fought to defend the environment and empowered individuals in the US and around the world to join the cause. Adams is co-founder of the Natural Resources Defense¹ Council, the nation's first law firm for the environment.

Defending the environment, John Adams says, is personal.

Taking it personally

"When you care about something, like the environment, it does become a passion," he says. "It becomes your life. I grew up on a small-town farm in the Catskill [Mountains] of New York. It was a wonderful place to grow up. I loved it. I learned to love a lot about spending time alone and looking at what was out there."

But by the 1960's, he didn't love what he saw happening to the environment.

"We were a major industrial force with no pollution controls. So if you were in Pittsburg or New York or the factory areas of New Jersey² or California, you would be hit with air pollution that had virtually no pollution controls," says Adams. "In New York, we burnt a lot of our garbage right in the buildings - with incinerators in it, of course. Fly ash would come up and it was really all over the city. The rivers were burning because of the pollution that came from the factories. The Hudson River, where I live and grew up, was raw sewage and it smelled because there were no requirements for sewage control."

He also woried about the chemical pollution of the waters and the disappearing farmland around the big cities which became suburban³ sprawl⁴ without any planning.

Adams turned his love for nature into action, leaving his job with the U.S. Attorney's office in New York in 1970 to help establish the Natural Resources Defense Council, the NRDC. The 33-year-old lawyer became its first director.

Professional corps⁵ of environmentalists

"An older group of lawyers, very wonderful people, both from Yale law school and the bar in New York, came to me and said, 'We should start the first public interest law firm for the environment.' So I agreed to leave the Attorney's office to do that. And with a grant from the Ford⁶ Foundation, we started the first public interest law firm to practice law as a charitable corporation, the first in the country."

The founding of the NRDC coincided with the strengthening of federal laws protecting the quality of air, water and land.

 
'A Force for Nature,' chronicles the evolution of the Natural Resources Defense Council from a home-grown advocacy group to a 1.3-million member organization with global reach.
"We were there to work on helping⁷ to write [the laws], and then, most important, we were there to help work on making sure the rules and the regulations under those statues provided for protection of the environment, and provided citizens the right to challenge, if they didn't adequately protect the environment. So we helped to create an environmental movement that gave citizens the right to participate."

Force of nature

In their new book, "A Force for Nature," John Adams and his wife, Patricia, also an environmental activist⁸, chronicle the evolution of the NRDC from a home-grown advocacy group to a 1.3-million member organization with international reach.

"The model that we used for building the NRDC, I think, works. It works because, first of all, we wanted to have a collegial place that would attract really, really, bright people who had the dedication⁹ to want to really make a difference about the environment. We wanted them to stay and become professional environmentalists. Back in 1970, there were not very many places for a lawyer or a scientist to be an environmentalist unless they stayed at a university. So we thought that that there should be a professional corps of environmentalists."

The core philosophy of NRDC's environmental advocacy, Adams says, is to fight on many fronts at once - national and state legislatures, the court system and at the grassroots level. In some places, he says, advocating for environmental issues gives people their first opportunity to have a voice in public policy.

Having a voice

"We have an office in China. We work with Beijing University. And a group of law professors there has started an environmental clinic much like what we did here in the US almost 40 years ago," says Adams. "They are now representing citizens on a wide range of pollution cases. They are fighting back and actually having a big impact on China. China doesn't want its citizens to protest. And a lot of protesting has been going on about the environment. So they have allowed much more freedom for people to stand up and let the government know what's wrong with their environment. In Africa, the same thing is true."

Adams' hope is to inspire more people around the globe to become part of the environmental movement.

"I encourage people through the Voice of America's wonderful voice to remember that they can do a lot to protect the environment. Their voices are very, very important. We need to hear from all of the people who care about the environment. We need them to support the work of the environmental world. We think of them as we think of nature. They are very much part of it."

Adams led the NRDC for 36 years, and remains¹⁰ on its Board of Trustees. Today, he is chairman of the Open Space Institute, working to purchase scenic¹¹ and natural land in New England to protect it from development.

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

3 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

4 sprawl   

vi.躺卧，扩张，蔓延；vt.使蔓延；n.躺卧，蔓延

参考例句：

• In our garden,bushes are allowed to sprawl as they will.在我们园子里，灌木丛爱怎么蔓延就怎么蔓延。
• He is lying in a sprawl on the bed.他伸开四肢躺在床上。

5 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

6 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

9 dedication   

n.奉献，献身，致力，题献，献辞

参考例句：

• We admire her courage,compassion and dedication.我们钦佩她的勇气、爱心和奉献精神。
• Her dedication to her work was admirable.她对工作的奉献精神可钦可佩。

10 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

11 scenic   

adj.自然景色的，景色优美的

参考例句：

• The scenic beauty of the place entranced the visitors.这里的美丽风光把游客们迷住了。
• The scenic spot is on northwestern outskirts of Beijing.这个风景区位于北京的西北远郊。