美国大选 如何影响环境科学和相关政策

This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Steve Mirsky.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列，我是史蒂夫·米尔斯基。

In the last episode or our preelection podcast series, we spoke about climate.

在预选播客系列的上一期里，我们讨论了气候问题。

For this episode, I talked about other environmental issues with Scientific American senior editor Mark Fischetti, who oversees our coverage on sustainability.

在本期节目中，我与《科学美国人》资深编辑马克·菲舍蒂讨论了其他环境问题，他负责监督关于可持续发展的报道。

Mark, what are some of the big environmental issues that are at stake in this election?

马克，这次选举涉及哪些重大环境问题？

“Well, I think a lot of people focused on climate, which is certainly something to focus on.

“嗯，我认为很多人都关注气候问题，这确实是值得关注的问题。

But you know, outside of that, I think in terms of the current administration, I think a big focus really should be looking at chemical pollution.

但是你知道，除此之外，我认为就当前的政府而言，重点应该放在化学污染上。

There are things a number of regulations that have either been reversed or just struck down or overridden by the Trump administration that essentially allow more pollution to be imposed on air and water.

特朗普政府已经撤销，废除或推翻了许多法规，这些法规基本上允许对空气和水施加更多污染。

So, for a few examples, right—so there were protections that were taken down for wetlands that basically allow for dumping of pesticides and other pollutants into the waterways.

因此，举几个例子，湿地保护措施被取消了，基本上允许向水道倾倒农药和其他污染物。

“There were regulations on emissions from power plants, not just about carbon dioxide but also about heavy metals.

“有关于发电厂排放的规定，不仅涉及二氧化碳，还涉及重金属。

So there’s actually less restriction on mercury that power plants could emit.

所以实际上对发电厂排放的汞的限制较少。

I mean, mercury is a horrible toxin.

我的意思是，汞是一种可怕的毒素。

And then in the whole coal-fired arena, there’s regulations about disposal of toxic waste that have been rolled back, too, which will add levels of lead and arsenic and other contaminants like that into the environment.

然后在整个燃煤领域，关于有毒废物处理的法规也被撤销了，这将增加环境中的铅，砷和其他类似污染物的水平。

So these are long-standing toxins and other compounds that we know are bad for people and the environment.

所以这些是长期存在的毒素和其他化合物，我们知道它们对人类和环境都有害。

And those things are being rolled back as well.”

这些法规也正在被撤销。”

Well, that’s a key thing is the health aspect.

这是健康方面的关键。

Because, even if you don’t care that there will ever be another tree or another bird, human health is at stake with these things as well.

因为, 即使你不在乎是否还会有另一棵树或另一只鸟，人类的健康也会因为这些污染物而受到威胁。

“Right, the birds and the trees and the squirrels and the people all use the same water and the same air and the same soil, which we forget about as well.

“是的，鸟类、树木、松鼠和人类都使用同样的水、同样的空气和同样的土壤，而我们也忘记了这些。

There are, there are some, you know, protections for soils and what kinds of chemicals can be used in agriculture, for that matter, that have been changed as well.

你知道，土壤的一些保护措施以及农业中可以使用的化学物质，就此而言，也都发生了变化。

So that's then the question is, right, you know, would this be different under Biden?

那么问题来了，对，你知道，在拜登的领导下情况会有所不同吗?

And I think it would be because a lot of those regulations, including the ones I kind of called out specifically, most of them were put in place or made tougher during the Obama and Biden administration.

我认为会有所改变，因为很多这些法规，包括我特别提到的那些，大部分都是在奥巴马和拜登政府期间实施或变得更严格的。

So I would think that the Biden administration would want to restore that.”

所以我认为拜登政府想要恢复这些法规。”

For Scientific American's 60-second Science. I'm Steve Mirsky.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是史蒂夫·米尔斯基。