美国加州年年大火岁岁燃，执政者难辞其咎 | 经济学人精讲第758期
文章导读
本文选自《经济学人》9月12日刊文章。加州是年年大火岁岁燃，一年更比一年旺，今年的大火又是有史以来最大。大火产生的烟雾遮盖住了整个旧金山湾区和北加州大部分地区的上空，使得整片天空都变成了橘黄色，而高温和大风使火势更盛。今年加州的火灾季节还有三个多月，会造成每年最严重火灾的季风尚未到来。加州大火除了气候变化和大风等自然原因外，决策者的防火政策也成为帮凶。虽然加州制定了防火安全建筑规范，但高昂的防火建设成本让他们犹豫不前、望而却步，甚至一些人担心防火建设所付出的代价，比火灾本身更高。所以加州陷入了燃烧-重建-再燃烧的恶性循环。
由于篇幅较长，本文节选全文重点段落进行精讲，译文仅供参考。
选文精讲
Golden State ablaze 点亮加州
Golden state 是美国加州的别称，所以美国加州旧金山的职业篮球队被称为“金州勇士队”
Why is California burning?
为什么火燃加州？
It’s time to think harder about incentives
是时候该更认真考虑起火原因了
Sep 12th 2020 |
FOR DECADES environmentalists have warned that the world is going to burn. Mostly, they meant it figuratively. But footage of fires sweeping through the Siberian steppe, the Amazon forest, parts of Australia and now, once again, California, make it easy to believe the planet is, literally, on fire. New infernos have been whipped up by strong winds and scorching temperatures across the Golden State. On September 7th PG&E, a utility serving northern California, shut off the power supply to tens of thousands of homes in an attempt to stop live lines from sparking more blazes. So far this year, California has seen more than 2.5m acres (1m hectares) burned and more than 3,700 structures destroyed—all before the autumn months when the Santa Ana winds normally stir up the worst of the annual blazes. With over three months remaining of this year’s fire season, few doubt the state is facing its worst yet.
figuratively: 象征性地
inferno: 地狱、无法控制的大火
whip up: 激起
live line: 带电线路
stir up: 激起、煽动
几十年来，环保人士一直警告说，地球将会燃烧，大多数情况下，他们只是象征性的意思。但是，大火席卷西伯利亚大草原、亚马逊森林、澳大利亚部分地区，现在又一次席卷加州的画面，很容易让人相信地球真的在燃烧。在这个黄金之州，强风和高温掀起了新的火海。9月7日，为加利福尼亚北部供电的PG&E公司切断了对数万户家庭的电力供应，以阻止带电电线引发更多的火灾。今年到目前为止，加州已经有超过250万英亩(100万公顷)的土地被烧毁，超过3700座建筑被毁——这些还都是发生在秋季之前，通常秋季的圣安娜风会引发每年最严重的火灾。今年的火灾季节还有三个多月，几乎没有人怀疑加州现在正面临着最糟糕的情况。
The fires themselves cannot be stopped; they are fuelled by climate change layered on top of an ecosystem that burns regularly as part of its natural cycle. Hotter temperatures and drier landscapes mean more fires. But the damage need not be so great. Much of California’s mess is of its own making. It has made itself more vulnerable with a litany of out-of-date regulations and self-defeating policies.
大火本身是无法阻止的，它们是由气候变化推动的，而气候变化是基于生态系统，生态系统的定期燃烧是自然循环的一部分。更炎热的气温和更干燥的地貌意味着更多的火灾。但（大火带来的）损害不是一定要这么大，加州的很多混乱都是自己造成的，一系列过时的监管规定和弄巧成拙的政策，让它变得更加脆弱。
California does deserve credit (for being the only American state to have adopted fire-safe building codes) (for what is known as the “wildland-urban interface”), (where houses are sparsely dotted through tall, flammable trees and vegetation, often on steep slopes that flames can race up). Evidence suggests the codes do help limit damage. However, they apply only to new structures, and do nothing about the need to retrofit the vast majority of existing houses and other properties. Nor are there subsidies or other incentives to nudge people and firms to take on the onerous and expensive task of making buildings safe.
race up: 急剧上升
retrofit: 改进、改善
nudge: 推动、推进
onerous: 繁重的
加州确实值得赞扬，因为它是美国唯一一个在被称为“荒地-城市交界地带”采用防火安全建筑规范的州，在这个地带，房屋稀疏地散布在高大、易燃的树木和植被之间，而且通常是建在火势可以迅速加强的陡峭山坡上。证据表明，这些防火规范确实有助于减小损害。然而，它们只适用于新建筑，对改造绝大多数现有房屋和其他房地产的需求毫无作用，也没有补贴或其他激励措施来鼓励人们和公司承担繁重而昂贵的建筑安全任务。
感谢阅读