削弱<濒危物种法案>或对人类造成伤害

Weakening the Endangered Species Act could harm humans, too

削弱《濒危物种法案》或对人类造成伤害

On August 12th, the Trump Administration issued crucial changes to the Endangered Species Act, which — if implemented next month — will affect both people and wildlife. Critics of the new measures, announced by the Fish and Wildlife Service, say the changes weaken protections for many species, and potentially open up huge areas of land for oil development, even as carbon dioxide emissions continue to heat the planet.

8月12日,特朗普政府对《濒危物种法案》进行了重大修订——若修订后的法案于下月实施——将对人类和野生动物产生影响。美国鱼类及野生动植物管理局批评了这一新举措,认为这些改变削弱了对许多物种的保护,可能还会加大人类对石油的开发力度,而二氧化碳排放会加剧气候变暖。

The Endangered Species Act was created in 1973 under President Nixon with bipartisan support to help conserve wildlife at risk of extinction because of human activity. Since then, it's been credited with preventing the eradication of 99 percent of the 1,650 species it has guarded. The latest changes to the law place many species' survival at risk, conservationists contend.

《濒危物种法案》于1973年在两党的支持下由美国前总统尼克松签署,以保护因人类活动而面临灭绝的野生动物。该法案规定1650个物种受其保护,至今已保护99%的物种免遭灭绝。自然环境保护主义者认为,对法案的修订或使许多物种面临生存风险。


"The law is extremely successful and has helped in the recovery of species like the bald eagle over the last 40 years. And so we should allow it to work instead of crippling it," Kirin Kennedy, deputy legislative director for public lands and wildlife protection at Sierra Club, told The Verge.

“该法案十分成功,过去40年来已帮助秃鹰等物种重建家园。我们应继续支持该法案,而非对其进行削弱,”塞拉俱乐部公共土地和野生动植物保护所副主任麒麟·肯尼迪(Kirin Kennedy)对The Verge杂志说道。

The changes make it harder to argue that climate change poses a risk to a species' survival, which is particularly alarming given a recent United Nations report that found that up to a million species face extinction thanks to human activity including burning fossil fuels. Another change weakens protections for species listed as threatened — the step below endangered — in the future. Currently, all threatened species have most of the same protections as endangered species under the law. But soon, protections for each threatened species listed in the future could instead be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

这些改动使人们更难以判断:气候变化是否在威胁物种生存。联合国最近的一份报告令人震惊——包括燃烧化石燃料在内的人类活动已使多达100万个物种面临灭绝。这也是一项削弱受威胁物种保护的举措——加速未来濒危物种的灭绝。目前,在该法案下,人类对所有受威胁物种采取的保护措施都与濒危物种相同。但很快,相关人员将根据具体情况评估每一种受威胁物种的保护措施。

But there are also ramifications for humans and the planet if the Endangered Species Act is weakened. By making it easier to kick species off the list of officially endangered and threatened wildlife, land that was once off limits is likely to become fair game for digging up more fossil fuels that contribute to pollution and climate change.

如果《濒危物种法案》遭到削弱,人类和地球也会受到影响。若修订后的法案得以实施,将某些物种从濒危野生动物和受威胁野生动物的正式名单中剔除将变得更为容易,而曾经禁止涉足的土地也很有可能成为挖掘更多化石燃料的竞争目标,从而造成环境污染和气候变化。

来源:可可英语

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