Carl Safina: The oil spill's unseen culprits, victims

譯者: Lin Su-Wei(林書暐) 審譯者: Wang-Ju Tsai

This is the ocean as I used to know it.

這是我過去認識的海洋，

And I find that since I've been in the Gulf a couple of times,

我曾經去過墨西哥灣幾次，

發生這件事情(指漏油)，

I really kind of am traumatized because whenever I look at the ocean now,

我的心真的像被劃了一刀，

現在，不論何時看著這片海洋，

no matter where I am,

不論我在何處，

even where I know that none of the oil has gone,

我知道，

飄在海面上的石油還沒被清除，

I sort of see slicks,

我都覺得好像看見浮油在眼前，

and I'm finding that I'm very much haunted by it.

這件事情在我心中，

一直揮之不去。

But what I want to talk to you about today

今天我所要告訴各位的，

是這件事情的

is a lot of things that try to put all of this in context,

來龍去脈。

not just about the oil eruption, but what it means and why it has happened.

不只是石油的外漏，

還有這件事情的意義和原因。

First, just a little bit about me.

首先，簡單介紹一下我自己。

I'm basically just a guy that likes to go fishing

我只是個喜歡釣魚的傢伙，

ever since I was a little kid, and because I did,

我小時候就愛釣魚，

也正因為我愛釣魚，

I wound up studying sea birds

我開始學習有關海鳥的知識，

to try to stay in the coastal habitats that I so loved.

我常待在我喜歡的海鳥棲息地。

And now I mainly write books about how the ocean is changing,

現在我專職寫書，

寫關於海洋如何改變的事情，

毫無疑問，我們的海洋正在劇烈轉變，

and the ocean is certainly changing very rapidly.

Now we saw this graphic earlier on, that we really live on a hard marble

讓我們先看幾張圖片。

我們都生活在地球這塊堅硬的大理石上，

that has just a slight bit of wetness to it.

這塊石頭，

有一點點濕潤，

It's like you dipped a marble in water.

像是把大理石在水裡沾一下一樣。

And the same thing with the atmosphere:

大氣層也是薄薄一層

If you took all the atmosphere and rolled it up in a ball,

若把大氣層的氣體都蒐集起來，

把它揉成一團，

you would get that little sphere of gas on the right.

你會得到像右邊那張圖那麼大的氣體小球，

So we live on the most fragile little soap bubble you can imagine,

我們是生活在

一層非常薄弱，像肥皂泡泡的大氣層底下，

非常神聖的肥皂泡泡，

a very sacred soap bubble, but one that is very, very easy to affect.

但非常容易受到外物影響，

And all the burning of oil and coal and gas, all the fossil fuels,

石油、煤炭、天然氣的燃燒，

還有石化燃料，

have changed the atmosphere greatly.

都會給大氣層帶來巨大的影響。

Carbon dioxide level has gone up and up and up.

二氧化碳的濃度一天比一天高，

We're warming the climate.

我們正在使氣候暖化，

So the blowout in the Gulf

為了維續人類當今文明，

is just a little piece of a much larger problem

墨西哥灣事件只不過是，

使用這些燃料所帶來眾多問題的

that we have with the energy that we use to run civilization.

鱗毛一角罷了。

Beyond warming,

除了地球暖化，

we have the problem of the oceans getting more acidified --

我們有海洋酸化的問題出現，

and already measurably so, and already affecting animals.

這件事情，

已經開始影響地球的其他生物。

Now in the laboratory, if you take a clam and you put it in the pH that is not 8.1,

我做了點實驗，

把蛤蜊放入較酸的海水裏，

也就是說

which is the normal pH of seawater, but 7.5,

不是弱鹼值8.1的正常海水，

而是7.5，

it dissolves in about three days.

這酸度大概只需要三天就能讓它們融化。

If you take a sea urchin larva from 8.1,

把海膽幼蟲也放入酸一點的海水，

ph值在

put it in a pH of 7.7 -- not a huge change --

7.7到8.1之間，

離正常值只差那麼一點點，

it becomes deformed and dies.

就足夠讓它們外觀變形甚至死亡。

Already, commercial oyster larvae are dying at large scales in some places.

已經有大量

人類圈養在海邊的牡蠣苗

因而死亡。

Coral reefs are growing slower in some places because of this problem.

有些區域的珊瑚礁，生長速度變慢，

也是這個原因。

So this really matters.

這是個嚴重的問題，

Now, let's take a little tour around the Gulf a little bit.

現在，讓我們稍微

到墨西哥灣去看一看。

One of the things that really impresses me about the people in the Gulf:

在那，讓我留下深刻印象的是

那些生活在水底下的生物。

They are really, really aquatic people.

And they can handle water.

牠們在水中來去自如，

They can handle a hurricane that comes and goes.

暴風雨來了牠們也怡然自得，

When the water goes down, they know what to do.

海平面下降，牠們也知道如何應對。

But when it's something other than water, and their water habitat changes,

但是當有其他外力侵襲，

使牠們的棲息地完全改變時，

牠們就完全沒有抵抗力了。

they don't have many options.

In fact, those entire communities really don't have many options.

事實上，整個海洋的生物

都沒有辦法抵抗這種外力。

They don't have another thing they can do.

他們完全束手無策，

They can't go and work in the local hotel business

牠們可沒辦法，

搬到附近的飯店避難，

because there isn't one in their community.

水底下可沒這種產業。

If you go to the Gulf and you look around, you do see a lot of oil.

各位到墨西哥灣看看，

映入眼簾的全都是浮油，

海面上全是浮油，

You see a lot of oil on the ocean.

海岸線也全都是，

You see a lot of oil on the shoreline.

If you go to the site of the blowout, it looks pretty unbelievable.

如果你前往漏油的地方看看，

眼前的事物會讓你不敢相信，

It looks like you just emptied the oil pan in your car,

那場景就像你剛剛換車子的機油，

and you just dumped it in the ocean.

然後把那堆廢油丟到大海一樣。

And one of the really most incredible things, I think,

最令我感到難以置信的是，

is that there's nobody out there trying to collect it

在這油汙最密集的地方，

沒有任何人

at the site where it is densest.

在清理現場。

Parts of the ocean there look just absolutely apocalyptic.

這片海域的大部分，

看起來就像世界末日一樣。

You go in along the shore, you can find it everywhere.

你沿著周圍的海岸行走，

油汙在每個角落都看的到，

實在是太可怕了。

It's really messy.

If you go to the places where it's just arriving,

如果你到油污剛抵達的海岸，

like the eastern part of the Gulf, in Alabama,

像是阿拉巴馬州的墨西哥灣東岸，

there's still people using the beach

雖然有人在清理海岸，

while there are people cleaning up the beach.

但還是有很多民眾在這片海岸上娛樂，

And they have a very strange way of cleaning up the beach.

他們用非常奇怪的方法清理海岸，

They're not allowed to put more than 10 pounds of sand

他們用50加崙的塑膠袋裝（約200公升）

in a 50-gallon plastic bag.

裏面不得裝超過10磅的污泥沙

They have thousands and thousands of plastic bags.

他們使用了成千上萬這樣的塑膠袋，

I don't know what they'll do with all that stuff.

我不知道以後他們要怎樣處理這些東西，

同時間，還是有很多人在海邊娛樂，

Meanwhile, there are still people trying to use the beach.

這些民眾都沒看那小小的指示牌，

They don't see the sign that says: "Stay out of the water."

上頭寫著：請勿下水

Their kids are in the water;

當孩子們在水中嬉戲的時候，

they're getting tar all over their clothes and their sandals--

衣服和脫鞋上就已經沾染上了焦油。非常糟糕。

It's a mess.

你要是被汙染久一點的地方瞧一瞧，

If you go to where the oil has been for a while, it's an even bigger mess.

情況更糟糕。

And there's basically nobody there anymore,

這片沙灘基本上已經沒有遊客。

a few people trying to keep using it.

只有少數民眾，

在這附近走動，

You see people who are really shell-shocked.

還是有人會對周圍的現象感到驚慌，

They are very hardworking people.

這些人就是在當地辛苦工作的居民。

All they know about life is they get up in the morning,

他們的日常生活就是起個大早，

發動船引擎，然後就上工了。

and if their engine starts, they go to work.

They always felt that they could rely on the assurances

這些人總認為，

他們可以依賴

that nature brought them through the ecosystem of the Gulf.

那墨西哥灣的生態系統所帶來的天然資源。

They're finding that their world is really collapsing.

而現在他們賴以為生的世界已經倒塌了。

And so you can see, literally, signs of their shock ...

你真的可以看到，

他們臉上的震驚，

signs of their outrage ...

他們的憤慨，

signs of their anger ...

他們的憤怒，

and signs of their grief.

和他們的哀痛。

這些是表面上看得到的。

These are the things that you can see.

There's a lot you can't see, also, underwater.

但是，各位看不到的是，

在水底下的情形。

What's going on underwater?

水底下發生什麼事了？

Well, some people say there are oil plumes.

嗯，有些人認為，

石油羽状物已經出現了（懸浮在水下的石油）

Some people say there are not oil plumes.

也有人認為羽狀物並未出現。

國會議員馬凱就質疑：

And Congressman Markey asks, you know,

"Is it going to take a submarine ride to see if there are really oil plumes?"

"為什麼不坐潛水艇，

下去看看水底是否真的有浮油？"（註：BP認為水底沒有浮油，因此阻止水底探勘）

But I couldn't take a submarine ride --

在來此演講前

especially between the time I knew I was coming here and today --

我沒機會坐到潛水艇下去看，

所以我自己，

so I had to do a little experiment myself

就做了一點小實驗，

to see if there was oil in the Gulf of Mexico.

看看墨西哥灣是不是真的有浮油。

So this is the Gulf of Mexico ...

假設這杯水就是墨西哥灣，

sparkling place full of fish.

發亮的部份就是魚，

And I created a little oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

然後我在這杯墨西哥灣裡，

製造了一點漏油情形，

And I learned, in fact, I confirmed the hypothesis

明顯的我證實了

that oil and water don't mix ...

油不溶於水的原理，

然後我加入擴散劑（註：部分專家認為擴散劑能加速石油揮發、分解）

until you add a dispersant ...

and then ...

結果，

they start mixing.

油水居然開始混合了，

And you add a little energy from the wind and the waves,

這時候如果海面上來一點點動力，

像是大風，或是海浪，

and you get a big mess,

你會得到非常混濁的結果，

這混濁的程度，

a big mess that you can't possibly clean,

根本沒辦法清理了。

you can't touch, you can't extract

而你再也摸不到，你也無法萃取浮油，

and, I think most importantly -- this is what I think --

而我認為最重要的是，

you can't see it.

你就再也看不到浮油了。

I think it's being hidden on purpose.

我想真相是故意被隱藏的。

Now this is such a catastrophe and such a mess

這是一場大災難，一場非常混亂的災難，

that lots of stuff is leaking out on the edges of the information stream.

有一大堆媒體管道散播一大堆訊息。

But as many people have said,

但有人認為，

there's a large attempt to suppress what's going on.

這背後有一個很大的力量，在壓抑真相的爆發。

Personally, I think that the dispersants are a major strategy to hide the body,

就我個人的想法，

擴散劑的使用，

是掩藏事實的主要策略。

because we put the murderer in charge of the crime scene.

因為我們讓兇手

負責清理事故現場。

But you can see it.

你是可以看到浮油。

You can see where the oil is concentrated at the surface,

你是可以看到

海上的浮油集中在表面的地方，

and then it is attacked,

但他們已經動了手腳。

because they don't want the evidence, in my opinion.

我的看法是，他們根本不想要留下任何證據

OK.

嗯

We heard that bacteria eat oil?

我們都聽說過細菌可以吞噬石油，

So do sea turtles.

但是海龜也會。

When it breaks up,

在噬油細菌出現之前，

it has a long way to go before it gets down to bacteria.

原油要自行分解

需要很長一段時間，

Turtles eat it. It gets in the gills of fish.

而這段期間海龜就會誤食浮油，而且浮油也會被魚吸入魚鰓，

These guys have to swim around through it.

這些海洋生物會在這片海域來來去去。

I heard the most incredible story today when I was on the train coming here.

我今天聽到一則非常驚人的故事，

當我在前往這裡的火車上時，

A writer named Ted Williams called me,

一位叫泰德威廉斯的作家打電話給我，

and he was asking me a couple of questions about what I saw,

他問了我幾個問題，

想知道我的看法，

because he's writing an article for Audubon magazine.

他正在幫奧杜邦雜誌專寫文章（註：某環保團體的出版品）

He said that he had been in the Gulf a little while ago; like about a week ago,

他說，他有聽到一些關於墨西哥灣的事情--

就在幾週前，

and a guy who had been a recreational fishing guide

一位曾是導覽民眾休憩釣魚的嚮導，

took him out to show him what's going on.

來找泰德，並陳述目前墨西哥灣的情形。

That guide's entire calendar year is canceled bookings.

這位嚮導整年度的預定導覽行程，

全部都被取消了，

He has no bookings left.

一個都不剩，

Everybody wanted their deposit back, everybody is fleeing.

遊客要求退還定金，大家都不想來了

That's the story of thousands of people.

這是和數千人息息相關的故事。

But he told Ted that on the last day he went out,

他告訴泰德，

在他最後一天的嚮導行程時，

a bottlenose dolphin suddenly appeared next to the boat,

有一隻瓶鼻海豚，

突然從船邊冒了出來，

and it was splattering oil out its blowhole.

從牠頭頂的氣孔中，

不斷地冒出黑色的石油，

And he moved away because it was his last fishing trip,

這位嚮導緩緩的離開，

因為這趟，

是他的最後一次釣魚旅程，

and he knew that the dolphins scare fish.

而海豚的出現會把魚群嚇跑，

So he moved away from it, turned around a few minutes later,

所以他把船駛離海豚，

過沒幾分鐘，

it was right next to the side of the boat again.

這海豚又出現在船旁邊了，

He said that in 30 years of fishing he had never seen a dolphin do that.

他釣了30年的魚，

從沒看過海豚會這麼做，

And he felt that --

他覺得...

(Sigh)

he felt that it was coming to ask for help.

他覺得海豚是要...

尋求幫助。抱歉。

Sorry.

Now, in the Exxon Valdez spill,

Exxon Valdez號油船漏油事件（註：發生於1989年）

about 30 percent of the killer whales died in the first few months.

短短的幾個月，

就殺死了約30％的鯨魚，

Their numbers have never recovered.

這些失去的數量沒有補回來過，

So the recovery rate of all this stuff is going to be variable.

這種生物數量的回復速率，

是不穩定的上下波動。

It's going to take longer for some things.

有的會耗費比較長的時間，

And some things, I think, will probably come back a little faster.

而我想，有的

回復的速率會比較快。

The other thing about the Gulf that is important

另一件有關墨西哥灣的是，

is that there are a lot of animals that concentrate in the Gulf

有許多的生物，

在每年的特定時刻，

at certain parts of the year.

會聚集在墨西哥灣。

So the Gulf is a really important piece of water --

所以這海灣是非常重要的海域。

more important than a similar volume of water in the open Atlantic Ocean.

重要性可能比

大西洋中其他的海灣還要大，

These tuna swim the entire ocean.

金槍魚在大西洋的每個角落都能看到，

They get in the Gulf Stream, they go all the way to Europe.

牠們會順著墨西哥洋流游走，然後繞行整個歐洲，

到了產卵時期，才會回到墨西哥灣，

When it comes time to spawn, they come inside,

我們追蹤2條金槍魚的蹤跡，

and these two tuna that were tagged,

you can see them on the spawning grounds

你可以發現牠們產卵的地點，

very much right in the area of the slick.

幾乎就是在污油出現的地區，

They're probably having, at the very least,

至少在今年，

a catastrophic spawning season this year.

這污油事件對牠們的產卵季是個大災難。

I'm hoping that maybe the adults are avoiding that dirty water.

我希望這些能繁殖的成魚，

能避開受污染的水域，

They don't usually like to go into water that is very cloudy anyway.

一般來說，

牠們不太喜歡接近太過混濁的水域，

But these are really high-performance athletic animals.

但牠們速度很快，

是好動性的魚類，

I don't know what this kind of stuff will do in their gills.

我無法得知什麼會被吸進魚鰓裡，

I don't know if it'll affect the adults.

我也不知道成年魚會不會被影響，

If it's not, it's certainly affecting their eggs and larvae,

即使都不會，我想

魚卵跟幼魚一定會被影響的。

I would certainly think.

But if you look at that graph that goes down and down and down,

但是請看這張圖表，它顯示金槍魚的數量是一直在下降，

that's what we've done to this species through overfishing over many decades.

這是數十年來，

我們濫捕後的成果。

So while the oil spill, the leak, the eruption, is a catastrophe,

當油輪漏油，

油管外洩、噴發，

就是一場大災難。

I think it's important to keep in mind

我認為應該要牢記在心的，

that we've done a lot to affect what's in the ocean, for a very long time.

就是我們已經對海洋造成許多影響，

而且已經有很長、很長的一段時間，

It's not like we're starting with something that's been OK.

而這些影響

都是不好的。

We're starting with something that's had a lot of stresses

我們給海洋帶來了很多的壓力，

and a lot of problems to begin with.

和很多的問題。

If you look around at the birds, there are a lot of birds in the Gulf

抬頭看看天空的鳥群，

有許多鳥類在每年的特定時刻，

that concentrate in the Gulf at certain times of the year,

就會聚集在墨西哥灣的上空覓食，

but then leave.

然後就離開，

And they populate much larger areas.

牠們居住的地點非常分散，

舉例來說，

For instance, most of the birds in this picture are migratory birds.

在畫面中的大多是屬於候鳥類型，

They were all on the Gulf in May,

牠們會在每年的5月聚集在墨西哥灣，

while oil was starting to come ashore in certain places.

而這時候也剛好是浮油漂上岸的時候，

Down on the lower left there are ruddy turnstones and sanderlings.

畫面下方的這2種鳥類，

分別是翻石鷸和三趾濱鷸，

They breed in the High Arctic,

牠們的棲息地主要在高緯北極一帶，

and they winter down in southern South America.

冬天的時候牠們會遷徙到南美洲的南方，

But they concentrate in the Gulf and then fan out all across the Arctic.

牠們會在墨西哥灣做停留，

然後再飛回北極各地，

I saw birds that breed in Greenland, in the Gulf.

所以在格陵蘭長大的鳥類，

你在墨西哥灣也看的到。

So this is a hemispheric issue.

這是個牽涉到南北半球的議題。

The economic effects go at least nationally in many ways.

經濟成長或衰退，

可能會影響到國家的許多層面，

The biological effects are certainly hemispheric.

但是生態的影響範圍是跨到整個半球，

我想這是我能想象的，

I think that this is one of the most absolutely mind-boggling examples

最讓人心驚的

完全沒有一點預防措施的

of total unpreparedness that I can even think of.

大災難之一。

Even when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor,

就算日本人偷襲珍珠港時，

至少還有一點反擊。

at least they shot back.

And we just seem to be unable to figure out what to do.

但是我們現在看起來，

是完全的束手無策。

There was nothing ready,

對這種情形完全沒有任何準備。

and, you know, as we can see by what they're doing.

你可以從他們的措施裏

看得出來。

Mainly what they're doing is booms and dispersants.

石油公司目前正使用漂浮柵欄和擴散劑來處理漏油，

The booms are absolutely not made for open water.

漂浮柵欄在這麼開放性的海域上幾乎沒用。

石油公司的清潔隊，

They don't even attempt to corral the oil where it is most concentrated.

也沒有試著去集中海面上的油汙。

They get near shore -- Look at these two boats.

就這樣讓油汙漸漸往海岸靠近。看畫面中的這二艘船。

That one on the right is called Fishing Fool.

右邊這艘是"魚痴號"。

And I think, you know, that's a great name

現在仍有

for boats that think that they're going to do anything

數十萬平方英哩的油汙

to make a dent in this, by dragging a boom between them

漂浮在海灣上。

when there are literally hundreds of thousands of square miles

這二艘名字讓人啼笑皆非的船，

拖曳著它們之間的漂浮柵欄，

in the Gulf right now with oil at the surface.

來阻斷油汙往海岸的路線，

The dispersants make the oil go right under the booms.

然後再倒入分散劑分解浮油，

The booms are only about 13 inches in diameter.

一個漂浮柵欄的長度，

大概只有13英吋，

So it's just absolutely crazy.

用這個東西去包圍海岸這種方法一定是瘋了。

Here are shrimp boats employed.

他們雇用補蝦的漁船，

There are hundreds of shrimp boats employed to drag booms instead of nets.

上百艘的補蝦船不去補蝦反而是去放置柵欄。

Here they are working.

這是他們在作業的情形，

You can see easily

各位可以看得出來，

that all the oily water just goes over the back of the boom.

油膩膩的海水會被這些柵欄推來推去，

All they're doing is stirring it.

柵欄反而像是攪拌棒把油水拌勻，

It's just ridiculous.

這真的很荒謬。

就這樣，所有的海岸線上都撲滿了漂浮柵欄，

Also, for all the shoreline that has booms --

hundreds and hundreds of miles of shoreline --

數百英哩長的海岸線，

all of the shoreline that has booms,

全都佈滿了柵欄。

there's adjacent shoreline that doesn't have any booms.

應該要被放柵欄的地方沒放，

There is ample opportunity for oil and dirty water to get in behind them.

這些又油又髒的海水，

很有機會往那邊流，

And that lower photo, that's a bird colony that has been boomed.

畫面下方的圖片，這個鳥類棲息地已經被柵欄所包圍。

很多人試著

Everybody's trying to protect the bird colonies there.

去保護這些鳥類棲息地。

Well, as an ornithologist, I can tell you that birds fly, and that --

嗯，身為一個鳥類學家，我可以告訴你：

鳥是會飛的。

(Laughter)

（笑）

and that booming a bird colony doesn't do it; it doesn't do it.

把這些鳥類棲息地用柵欄圍起來，

這一點幫助都沒有，

These birds make a living by diving into the water.

因為這些鳥類為了生存，必須潛到水下覓食，

In fact ...

事實上，

really what I think they should do, if anything --

我認為正在清理油汙的這些人，

they're trying so hard to protect those nests --

他們可能以為這樣做是保護鳥巢，

actually, if they destroyed every single nest,

事實上他們應該破壞鳥巢，

some of the birds would leave,

這樣鳥類就會離開棲息地，

and that would be better for them this year.

這對今年要生活在墨西哥灣的鳥類來說比較好。

As far as cleaning them ...

至於在清理油汙這件事情上，

I don't mean to cast any aspersion on people cleaning birds.

我並不是要中傷

這些辛苦清理的人。

It's really, really important that we express our compassion.

重點是，

我們表現出了同情心，

I think that's the most important thing that people have, is compassion.

還有許多人

願意關心、同情其他生物。

It's really important to get those images and to show it.

有這種心態並願意付諸行動，

我覺得是很重要的。

But really, where are those birds going to get released to?

回到剛剛的問題上，那我們應該要把這些鳥放到哪裡去呢？

It's like taking somebody out of a burning building,

這就好像剛把一個困在火災現場的人救出來後，

治療好他的嗆傷後，

treating them for smoke inhalation

and sending them back into the building, because the oil is still gushing.

然後再把他丟回火場。

I refuse to acknowledge this as anything like an accident.

我拒絕承認漏油這件事情

只是個意外，

I think that this is the result of gross negligence.

我認為這是人為的嚴重疏忽。

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Not just BP.

不只是BP這間公司的疏忽而已。

BP operated very sloppily and very recklessly because they could.

BP對漏油事件的處理，

非常魯莽和草率，

因為他們有本事這麼做

And they were allowed to do so

甚至被允許這麼做

because of the absolute failure of oversight of the government

因為那個我們所支持政府、應該保護我們的政府，

並沒有負起

that is supposed to be our government, protecting us.

確實監督的責任。

It turns out that --

結果變成--

you see this sign on every commercial vessel in the United States --

你可以在美國任何一艘商船上看到這塊牌子。

you know, if you spilled a couple of gallons of oil,

這牌子主要是說，只要在美國的海域上灑1加崙的石油，

you would be in big trouble.

就會受到嚴厲的民事與刑事懲罰。

And you have to really wonder who are the laws made for,

而各位應該要想一想，

這法條是為誰而定?

and who has gotten above the laws.

還有誰視法律如無物?

And there are things that we can do in the future.

未來我們還可以做很多事情，

我們應該好好想想真的需要哪些東西，

We could have the kinds of equipment that we would really need.

其實這並不難預見，

It would not take an awful lot to anticipate

為了尋找石油

that after making 30,000 holes

在墨西哥灣底部的海床

in the sea floor of the Gulf of Mexico looking for oil,

打了30000個洞，

oil might start coming out of one of them.

石油總有一天會外漏的。

And you'd have some idea of what to do.

這必須要想想辦法解決，

而我們最起碼能做到的。

That's certainly one of the things we need to do.

But I think we have to understand where this leak really started from.

我認為，我們都應該去了解這次漏油事件的

起始爲何。

It really started from the destruction of the idea that the government is there

這件事情起始於

政府功能的瓦解。

because it's our government,

因為我們的政府，

meant to protect the larger public interest.

必須要保護大眾利益。

So I think that the oil blowout, the bank bailout,

所以我認為石油危機，

銀行紓困方案，

the mortgage crisis and all these things are absolutely symptoms of the same cause.

房貸危機等這類事件，

都是起始於同一原因的

的表面徵兆。

We still seem to understand that at least,

我們似乎仍同意這種觀念：

警察是在保護我們，

we need the police to protect us from a few bad people.

不受少數的壞蛋的傷害。

And even though the police can be a little annoying at times --

雖然我們有時候會很討厭警察，

giving us tickets and stuff like that --

尤其是在開罰單的時候，

nobody says that we should just get rid of them.

但是沒有人認為應該把警察制度廢除。

But in the entire rest of government right now

但是在許多的政府部門，

and for the last at least 30 years,

至少在過去的30年裡，

there has been a culture of deregulation

已經出現了一種放寬管制的文化，

that is caused directly by the people who we need to be protected from,

這種文化起因於

那些少數的壞蛋

該與我們隔離的壞蛋

buying the government out from under us.

把政府收買了。

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Now this has been a problem for a very, very long time.

這問題已經出現了一段很久的時間

You can see that corporations were illegal at the founding of America,

各位都知道，

企業結構在美國剛建立時是違法的，

and even Thomas Jefferson complained

湯瑪斯-傑弗遜當時就抱怨過（註：美國第三任總統）

that they were already bidding defiance to the laws of our country.

"這些企業試著要

鑽我國法律的漏洞。"

OK, people who say they're conservative,

或許有人會自認為，

自己是保守派的。

if they really wanted to be really conservative and patriotic,

如果他們真的想做到

如此保守也夠愛國，

they would tell these corporations to go to hell.

他們會對企業講：

"下地獄去吧"

That's what it would really mean to be conservative.

這樣才稱得上是保守派的人

So what we really need to do is regain the idea

我們現在需要作的，

是重新讓政府意識到，

that it's our government safeguarding our interests,

他們必須要

保護人民的利益，

and regain a sense of unity and common cause in our country

還有重新喚起國内團結的意識，

共同攜手合作，

that really has been lost.

這是已經失去很久的事物。

I think there are signs of hope.

我想希望還是有的。

We seem to be waking up a little bit.

我們似乎已經漸漸看清事實。

The Glass-Steagall Act -- which was really to protect us

格拉斯-史蒂格法條（註：美國的金融機構管制法）

這法條的目的是保護我們，

from the kind of thing that caused the recession to happen,

不被引起大蕭條時期的原因所影響：

and the bank meltdown and all that stuff that required the bailouts --

像是銀行的崩潰等等，

這類需要政府救濟的事件，

that was put in effect in 1933, was systematically destroyed.

這法條在1933年實施，

然後有系統性地被廢止。（1999年底廢止）

Now there's a mood to put some of that stuff back in place,

現在開始漸漸有共識

要把這條法規再回復。

but the lobbyists are already there trying to weaken the regulations

但是在新環保法規剛通過之後，

又有許多政治說客出現，

after the legislation has just passed.

想要試圖削弱這些法條的規定。

So it's a continued fight.

這是一場持續不斷的戰爭。

It's a historic moment right now.

現在是歷史性的一刻，

We're either going to have an absolutely unmitigated catastrophe

我們要嘛會一再遭遇

像這次墨西哥灣漏油的

of this oil leak in the Gulf,

重大悲劇；或是-

or we will make the moment we need out of this,

像這次的很多人一樣，

as many people have noted today.

人們會記取這次的教訓。

There's certainly a common theme

我們需要一個共識，

about needing to make the moment out of this.

來創造這樣的一刻。

We've been through this before with other ways of offshore drilling.

在過去其他的'海上鑽井平台'出現之前，

我們也經歷過同樣類似的經驗

The first offshore wells were called whales.

人類的第一個海上油井，叫作鯨魚；

The first offshore drills were called harpoons.

而人類的第一個海上鑽井工具叫魚叉；

We emptied the ocean of the whales at that time.

在那個時期，我們把鯨魚幾乎殺光了，

Now are we stuck with this?

那現在我們也陷入同樣的困境了嗎？

Ever since we lived in caves, every time we wanted any energy,

從我們住洞穴的原始生活開始，

我們需要能源的時候

we lit something on fire, and that is still what we're doing.

我們便燃燒物體來取得火，到了現代我們還是這麼做，

當我們需要能源的時候，

We're still lighting something on fire every time we want energy.

我們還是燃燒某些物體。

And people say we can't have clean energy

有人會說，

我們沒辦法使用潔淨的能源，

because it's too expensive.

因為它們實在太貴了。

Who says it's too expensive?

是誰說太貴的？

People who sell us fossil fuels.

就是那些賣石油燃料給我們的人。

We've been here before with energy,

在沒有石油燃料以前，人類就已經存在了

and people saying the economy cannot withstand a switch,

這些人認為，

人類經濟將沒辦法承受這種轉變，

because the cheapest energy was slavery.

因為最便宜的能源來源就是奴隸制度。（若不用石油，只能用人力）

Energy is always a moral issue.

能源一直都是道德問題的一環，

It's an issue that is moral right now.

這個問題現在也使我們得到了教訓：

It's a matter of right and wrong.

這是一個涉及大對與大錯的問題，

謝謝各位。

Thank you very much.

(Applause)