[一對美國夫婦的樸素環(huán)境觀] 環(huán)境樸素而又

　　2009年歲末一個風(fēng)和日麗的下午,在山東大學(xué)西校區(qū)一個普通職工樓宿舍里,溫暖的陽光從窗外照進(jìn)客廳,灑落滿地,房間里的空氣暖洋洋的。沒有初次見面的寒暄和拘謹(jǐn),我們對Jay Thelin和Dana Thelin的采訪,在輕松愉快的漫談中開始。
　　Jay和Dana夫婦來自美國的猶他州,現(xiàn)在山東大學(xué)任教,在中國已經(jīng)待了1年零4個月了。從當(dāng)初在地圖上想象中國到現(xiàn)在居住在中國,他們一直細(xì)細(xì)地品味著這個與美國不同卻又熱情、親切的國家。
　　退休之前,Jay在美國楊百翰大學(xué)(Brigham Young University)工作,負(fù)責(zé)學(xué)生宿舍管理。那是一個天藍(lán)水清的美麗之地,他們的房屋就掩映在蒼茂的綠樹之下。
　　Dana幸福地描述自己美國的家。每當(dāng)他們開車去工作,汽車在綠樹中穿行,他們就會為“miles and miles”(數(shù)英里)的綠樹陶醉。她反復(fù)強(qiáng)調(diào)著“miles and miles”,想讓我感受到廣袤的天地間,人穿梭于綠樹叢中,那種“綠野仙蹤”的奇妙。
　　Jay和Dana告訴我們,美國雖然汽車很多,但是,汽車對環(huán)境造成的污染并不像我們通常想像得那么大。因?yàn)閺?0多年前開始,美國政府就強(qiáng)制要求每輛汽車上都要安裝三元催化轉(zhuǎn)換器。這是一個在汽車發(fā)動機(jī)的排氣系統(tǒng)中的專門催化裝置,能夠?qū)⑴艢庵械奶細(xì)浠�合�?HC)和一氧化碳(CO)氧化,同時也能夠?qū)⑴艢庵械牡�氧化�?NOx)還原成無害的氮?dú)夂脱鯕�。而且每輛車每年都要接受尾氣檢測,尾氣排放一旦超出規(guī)定標(biāo)準(zhǔn),汽車牌照就有被吊銷的危險。在中國,只有部分車輛上安裝了三元催化器。在這方面,中國是應(yīng)該向美國學(xué)習(xí)的。
　　Jay極其推崇豐田生產(chǎn)的油電混合動力車普銳斯(Toyota Prius Hybrid Car)。普銳斯于1997年10月底問世,是世界上最早實(shí)現(xiàn)批量生產(chǎn)的混合動力汽車。普銳斯在僅利用電動機(jī)驅(qū)動時對環(huán)境沒有任何污染;而且在減速、制動和下坡時還能回收能量以供再利用;特別是當(dāng)遇到紅燈停駛時,發(fā)動機(jī)會自動停止工作,這將沒有任何燃油的消耗。因此,油耗和尾氣排放都得到了有效改善。
　　Jay還是一個不折不扣的“太陽能擁護(hù)者”。他認(rèn)為地球的地下能源,諸如石油、煤炭、天然氣等的儲量是有限的,總有一天會被開發(fā)枯竭。太陽能源卻是無限的,因此,在未來能源利用方面,開發(fā)太陽能資源是最可行最有效的方法。他設(shè)想,太陽能除了可以用來發(fā)電、取暖、照明外,還可以在日常生活中找到很多用途。例如,可以生產(chǎn)用太陽能驅(qū)動的手表、玩具等,這樣一來,既省錢又環(huán)保。
　　Jay甚至設(shè)想:“應(yīng)該研究一種太陽能自行車,可以儲蓄陽光,直接轉(zhuǎn)化成動力,既環(huán)保又方便�！�
　　可能受到父親的影響,Jay的兒子也非常熱衷于太陽能。他建議Jay和Dana在他們房屋頂上安裝一個太陽能發(fā)電裝置。這種裝置可以取暖,也可以轉(zhuǎn)換成電能,如果電能有剩余,還可以賣給電力公司,兩全其美。
　　相對于Jay的樂觀,Dana顯得更為理性。以前,她很討厭美國媒體動輒大篇幅的負(fù)面新聞報道,難道就沒有好事情發(fā)生?現(xiàn)在她改變這種想法了。因?yàn)榫铜h(huán)境保護(hù)而言,通過對負(fù)面事件的報道,媒體可以將政府不知道或知道了也為了某種利益不去改變的事情呈現(xiàn)給民眾,這樣可以促使政府更好地去履行責(zé)任。因此,在Dana看來,某種程度上,有時候媒體的作用甚至比政府都大。
　　Dana最討厭吸煙者制造的毒氣。當(dāng)在公共場所看到有人吸煙,Dana就會毫不猶豫地大聲咳嗽,直到那個人覺得不好意思掐掉煙頭。她一邊說還一邊用肢體語言給我們表演。
　　這也算是抵制“毒氣”倡導(dǎo)環(huán)保的一種方式吧。
　　談起中國的環(huán)境問題,Jay和Dana對中國目前的環(huán)境問題感到擔(dān)憂。Jay說,濟(jì)南的空氣污染讓他感到呼吸非常不舒服,氣管里總覺得被東西堵著,時�？人浴５�是,更讓他感到嚴(yán)重的是,城市之外的地區(qū)的大氣也被污染了。他乘飛機(jī)從濟(jì)南到北京,飛機(jī)飛離濟(jì)南,穿越無人居住的廣袤山區(qū)上空后,他竟然發(fā)現(xiàn)在山脈的上空漂浮著大量被污染了的大氣層。這著實(shí)令他大吃一驚。不但我們,而且連Dana都認(rèn)為他可能是把云層看成了污染大氣。但是,Jay肯定地說,他沒有看錯,那確實(shí)是被污染了的大氣層。他一邊說著,一邊隨手用手抹了一下窗臺的水泥板,把蹭在手上的灰塵在我們面前一晃,半開玩笑地說:“看,就是這種城市里漂浮的這種粉塵!”
　　指出問題的同時,對中國的環(huán)境問題,Jay和Dana表示了理解和寬容。在他們看來,中國改善環(huán)境固然非常重要。但是,中國確有自己特殊的國情,人口多,所以首先要解決吃飯問題,然后才能考慮生存的環(huán)境。況且,現(xiàn)在中國的環(huán)境正在改善,這就是一個好的兆頭。
　　剛來濟(jì)南時,Jay和Dana覺得濟(jì)南環(huán)境很差,很像以前的猶他州�？墒窃谶@居住的一年多時間里,他們發(fā)現(xiàn)濟(jì)南每天都在變化,以前隨意往河里排放廢水的現(xiàn)象不存在了,現(xiàn)在都是用統(tǒng)一的管道及其他方法進(jìn)行解決。
　　他們也越來越喜歡濟(jì)南這個城市了。在我們結(jié)束交談時,Jay和Dana還熱烈地表示:“We love Jinan!”
　　
　　Jay & Dana Thelin are a couple from Utah in the USA. Before retiring, they worked at Brigham Young University. Nowadays they have been teaching English in Shandong University for one year and four months. Before coming to Jinan, they had almost no knowledge about China. All they could do then was to find China on the map and imagine everything about the country, the cities, the scenes and the people.
　　Talking about their hometown in the United States, Jay and Dana felt very happy and proud. Dana said that driving their car on the highways, they could see miles and miles of green trees and the vast land, which intoxicated them wit its beauty.
　　On the question of pollution caused by autos, Jay and Dana told us that despite there being a large number of cars in the United States, 20 years ago, the American government had already passed a law to require catalytic converters be installed on all vehicles to reduce the toxicity of emissions from internal combustion engines. Moreover, every auto must undergo a tail gas emission test ever year. If the tail gas emission could not hit the required standard, the auto license would be cancelled. In China, only some vehicles have catalytic converters. So the Chinese government should do something to improve this.
　　Jay and Dana are energetic supporters of solar energy utilization. Jay is of the opinion that more research should be done to explore the utilization of solar energy. He thinks solar energy has many kinds of applications. For instance, solar energy can be used for generating electric power, lighting and heating. He even imagines that if solar energy could be applied to drive bicycles, it would be both convenient and environment-friendly. In the United States, their son had even suggested that they should install solar energy equipment on the roof of their house to generate electric power. Besides supplying power for their house, they could sell the electric power to the power companies to earn money.
　　Talking about China’s environment, Jay and Dana praised the efforts the Chinese government had made to improve the environment though there was still pollution in the cities. For instance, in Jinan, they found that the river near the campus they live in is not as dirty as one year ago when they came to Jinan.
　　From the beginning of our interview to the end of our conversation, Jay and Dana repeatedly told us: “We love Jinan. We love the Chinese people,” which made us feel their sincere and friendly attitude to China and the Chinese people.

相關(guān)熱詞搜索：美國 樸素 夫婦 一對美國夫婦的樸素環(huán)境觀 美國對一帶一路的態(tài)度 電影對生活的意義