Everyone has a right to clean water, no matter what you look like, how much money you make, or which political party you favor. In America, that right is enshrined in the Clean Water Act of 1972, which defines how the EPA regulates pollutants in U.S. waters, and the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, which establishes maximum amounts of pollutants in all public water systems. Those federal laws were passed at the peak of environmental degradation in our country -- a time when smog choked our cities and rivers were so contaminated they regularly caught fire.
每個(gè)人都有權(quán)利喝干凈的水,無論長相如何、收入多少、支持哪個(gè)政黨。在美國,1972年《凈水法案》和1974年《安全飲用水法案》明確保障了這項(xiàng)權(quán)利。《凈水法案》明定美國環(huán)境保護(hù)局如何規(guī)范美國水域中的污染物,《安全飲用水法案》則制定所有公共自來水系統(tǒng)中的污染物含量上限。這兩個(gè)聯(lián)邦法都是在美國環(huán)境問題最嚴(yán)重時(shí)通過的,當(dāng)時(shí)霧霾圍堵我們的城市、河流污染嚴(yán)重導(dǎo)致經(jīng)常起火燃燒。
Those laws and many other regulations at state and city levels have made great progress toward reducing pollution and addressing public health. Some of us now don't worry about the toxicity of the air for our children's afternoon soccer games or the flammability of the local river, primarily because our environmental protections have worked. But in far too many places around the country, those basic laws are not being upheld or enforced, and people are suffering the consequences.
這兩個(gè)聯(lián)邦法加上許多州級和市級法規(guī),在減少污染和處理公衛(wèi)方面獲得巨大進(jìn)展,我們之中某些人現(xiàn)在不必?fù)?dān)心孩子在下午足球賽時(shí)受到空氣毒害,或是當(dāng)?shù)睾恿鲿鸹鹑紵?,主要就是因?yàn)槲覀兊沫h(huán)境保護(hù)法規(guī)發(fā)揮了作用。但在全美有更多地方,這些基本法都不受重視或沒有執(zhí)行,讓人民來承擔(dān)惡果。