美国国家公共电台 NPR--Yellowstone floods highlight gaps in the government's infrastructure plan

Yellowstone floods highlight gaps in the government's infrastructure¹ plan

Transcript²

Historic floods in Yellowstone National Park raise questions about long-term government efforts to fix the nation's infrastructure and curb³ climate change.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Parts of Yellowstone National Park reopened to the public this week. But major park infrastructure, like roads and bridges, will need to be replaced after historic flooding. The disaster raises new questions for the Biden administration, whose success in infrastructure spending was not matched with climate funding. NPR's Kirk Siegler reports.

KIRK SIEGLER, BYLINE⁴: Speaking at the National Interagency Fire Center in Idaho, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced $100 million from the president's infrastructure law that she says will quickly go to clearing out overgrown forests and rehabilitating⁵ lands to prevent fires. Wildfires in New Mexico, Haaland's home state, have burned record acreage this spring. But here in the Northwest, everyone's talking about flooding.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DEB HAALAND: With respect to Yellowstone, my goodness, our first national park. And it's devastating⁶ - devastating.

SIEGLER: At least 10,000 visitors and park employees had to evacuate⁷ with little notice. Up to five inches of rain fell on the Yellowstone River basin, which was already swollen⁸ with spring runoff.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

HAALAND: I think the main issue there is that the staff at Yellowstone has been able to evacuate people successfully, keep everyone safe. And that is really our main goal at this point, is just to make sure that everyone's safe and that they get out of danger.

SIEGLER: The full extent of damage in Yellowstone is still not known. Nor is there a definitive⁹ timeline for how long it will take to rebuild wiped-out roads, bridges and other infrastructure from the torrential rain, flooding and mudslides. Even before the flooding, though, there was a huge backlog¹⁰ of critical maintenance infrastructure projects at parks, including Yellowstone. And while the Biden administration is on the road promoting its trillion-dollar infrastructure law, climate experts are quick to point out what's not in the bill. That's the bigger and more expensive climate resiliency projects in the law's stalled companion, the Build Back Better Plan.

MICHAEL WARA: There's a lot that's left undone¹¹. And it's unfortunate, but that's where we are.

SIEGLER: Michael Wara studies climate resiliency at Stanford.

WARA: And I think we're going to continue to pay costs, like the costs to Montana of closing Yellowstone.

SIEGLER: Wara applauds the federal government for finally pushing for an infrastructure overhaul¹² in this country. But he says, the reality is most of our infrastructure is old and built on assumptions about weather and climate that no longer apply.

WARA: Many of the impacts of climate change in the western U.S. that were predicted for 2050 are becoming real problems today.

SIEGLER: Like the major wildfires in Arizona and New Mexico that began igniting weeks ahead of what's normal coming off another warm and dry winter. And in the north, in places like Yellowstone, all the moisture - when it does come - now seems to fall all at once. Park superintendent¹³ Cam Sholly nodded to this in the hours after the worst of the flooding and the entire 3,400-square-mile park was evacuated¹⁴. He predicts at least one highway at the northern entrance will have to be completely rerouted and built; otherwise, it'll just flood again.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

CAM SHOLLY: I've heard this is a thousand-year event, whatever that means. These days, they seem to be happening more and more frequently.

SIEGLER: The still-unfolding crisis is occurring as Yellowstone is supposed to be marking its 150th anniversary. Instead, the focus on disaster recovery is just beginning. Kirk Siegler, NPR News, Boise.

1 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 rehabilitating   

改造（罪犯等）( rehabilitate的现在分词 )； 使恢复正常生活； 使恢复原状； 修复

参考例句：

• a unit for rehabilitating drug addicts 帮助吸毒者恢复正常生活的机构
• She was more concerned about protecting the public than rehabilitating the criminal. 她比较关心保护百姓，而不大关心改造罪犯。

6 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

7 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

8 swollen   

adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀

参考例句：

• Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
• A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。

9 definitive   

adj.确切的，权威性的；最后的，决定性的

参考例句：

• This book is the definitive guide to world cuisine.这本书是世界美食的权威指南。
• No one has come up with a definitive answer as to why this should be so.至于为什么该这样，还没有人给出明确的答复。

10 backlog   

n.积压未办之事

参考例句：

• It will take a month to clear the backlog of work.要花一个月的时间才能清理完积压的工作。
• Investment is needed to reduce the backlog of repairs.需要投资来減轻积压的维修工作。

11 undone   

a.未做完的，未完成的

参考例句：

• He left nothing undone that needed attention.所有需要注意的事他都注意到了。

12 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

13 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

14 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。