氣候威脅升高 更多城市抗拒開發

Glimpsed from a kayak on West Neck Creek, this swampy piece of land, a pocket of red maple and loblolly pine tucked behind growing subdivisions, does not look like the stuff of existential debate.

美國維吉尼亞州維吉尼亞海灘市南部的「西頸河自然區」，從一隻獨木舟上看去，有片生長著紅花槭和火炬松的沼澤地隱藏在日漸擴增的住宅群後方，看來不像是一場存亡論戰的題材。

But this is where Virginia Beach, squeezed between the clamor for new housing and the relentlessness of flooding worsened by climate change, decided to draw its line in the mud.

這塊泥地卻是維吉尼亞海灘市決定劃清界線的地方。這座城市處在兩股壓力的擠壓之下，一邊是人們對新住宅的強烈需求，另一邊則是因氣候變遷而加劇的無情洪患。

The city last year became one of a small but growing number of communities willing to say no to developers — despite their political and economic clout — when it rejected a proposal to build a few dozen homes on this soggy parcel of 50 acres, arguing that those homes would be unsafe. The developers sued, accusing officials of making their project a scapegoat as voters clamored for action after disastrous flooding.

維吉尼亞海灘市去年無視於開發商的政治與經濟影響力，決定向開發商說不，加入美國為數不多、但逐漸增加的群體的行列，當時市府拒絕了在這片50英畝濕地上建造數十間住宅的提案，認為這些房子安全堪虞。開發商控告市府，在選民疾呼為災難性洪水拿出行動之際，把他們的建案當作替罪羊。

In May, a judge ruled that Virginia Beach was within its rights to stop the development. The city’s experience could become a harbinger for others nationwide.

今年五月，法官裁定維吉尼亞海灘市有權終止開發案。這座城市的經驗可能預示美國其他城市會走的路。

“It’s a confrontation with reality,” Bobby Dyer, Virginia Beach’s mayor, said in an interview in his office. “Not everybody’s going to be happy.”

維吉尼亞海灘市市長戴爾在辦公室受訪時說：「這是跟現實對抗，不是每個人都會高興。」

As the Trump administration reverses efforts to fight global warming, local officials around the country are forced to grapple with more intense flooding, hurricanes, wildfires and other disasters. That pressure is colliding with development, which provides jobs, homes and taxes but which also can increase the future risk of disaster as construction spreads into floodplains or forests that are prone to calamity.

由於川普政府取消許多對抗全球暖化的措施，美國各處地方官員不得不應付更大的洪水、颶風、野火等災害。災害帶來的壓力與開發產生了衝突，開發土地能帶來就業機會、住宅和稅收，但由於建築範圍擴展到易生災情的氾濫平原和森林，使當地未來受災的風險增高。

The outcome of that battle will shape Americans’ vulnerability to climate change for generations — and so far, development seems to be prevailing. In many coastal states, homes are going up at the fastest rate in the most flood-prone areas. The number of new houses in what experts call the wildland-urban interface, where the wildfire threat tends to be greatest, increased 41% nationwide between 1990 and 2010.

這場戰役的結果，會決定未來幾個世代美國是否容易受氣候變遷危害，到目前為止，開發似乎占上風。在許多沿海州，新房子在最容易發生洪災的地區增加最快。專家所謂荒野與都市交界地帶，往往是野火威脅最大的地方，美國這種地帶的新屋數量卻在1990年到2010年間成長了41%。

But as the financial and emotional costs of disasters increase, so does the evidence of a shifting mindset.

不過，隨著災害造成的金錢與精神損失不斷增加，人們的心態也在改變。

The Pew Charitable Trusts, a research and advocacy group, released a report describing how a few cities and states have successfully reduced flooding vulnerability. Their actions are “a recipe for success” for others, said Laura Lightbody, director of Pew’s flood-prepared communities initiative.

美國研究與遊說團體「皮尤慈善信託基金」發布報告，描述一些城市和州如何成功降低洪水來襲時的損害。皮尤基金群體防範洪災措施主任蘿拉．萊特巴迪說，這些地方採取的行動是其他地方「成功的訣竅」。

The examples include Norfolk, Virginia, which last year imposed new rules on developers, including a requirement that every new home be elevated.

成功案例包括維吉尼亞州諾福克市，去年對開發商實施新規定，其中一項是要求每間新房地基都要墊高。

矽谷死敵續任 變得更難纏

Margrethe Vestager spent the last five years developing a well-earned reputation as the world’s top tech industry watchdog. From her perch overseeing Europe’s competition rules, she fined Google more than $9 billion for breaking antitrust laws, and forced Apple to pay about $14.5 billion for dodging taxes.

瑪格麗特．維斯特格過去五年闖出她應得的名聲，成為全球最高階的科技業監督人。她掌管歐洲的競爭規則，裁處谷歌須為違反反壟斷法繳交90多億美元罰款，並迫使蘋果為逃稅繳納約145億美元罰款。

Now she says that work, which made her a hero among tech critics, did not go far enough. The biggest tech companies continue to test the limits of antitrust laws, behave unethically and push back against government intervention, she said.

這些事蹟使維斯特格成了批評科技業者眼中的英雄。現在她說，這樣還不夠，科技業最大的幾家公司仍在探測反壟斷法的底線，持續不道德的行為，並抗拒政府的介入監管。

But she said the public’s growing skepticism about technology has given her an opportunity for a tougher approach.

不過她說，大眾對科技業疑慮日深，使她得以更強硬。

“In the last five years,” Vestager said in an extended interview, “some of the darker sides of digital technologies have become visible.”

維斯特格接受為時頗長的訪問時說：「過去五年，數位科技一些陰暗面變得明顯可見。」

So Vestager, a 51-year-old former Danish lawmaker, is doubling down. She has signed on for a rare second five-year term as the head of the European Commission’s antitrust division, and assumed expanded responsibility over digital policy across the 28-nation bloc.

所以，51歲的丹麥前國會議員維斯特格加倍努力。她已展開歐盟執委會反壟斷主管罕見的第二個五年任期，並對歐盟28成員國的數位政策握有更大的權力。

With the new power, she has outlined an agenda that squarely targets the tech giants. She’s weighing whether to remove some protections that shield large internet platforms from liability for content posted by users. She is also working on policies to make companies pay more taxes in Europe and investigating how the companies use data to box out competitors.

維斯特格憑著新權力，制訂了直接針對科技巨擘的行動計畫。她在考慮是否取消一些保護措施，這些措施讓大型網路平台不必因為用戶上傳的內容而受罰。她並且正在研擬政策，要讓這些公司在歐洲繳更多稅，並調查這些公司如何利用資料阻絕競爭對手。

Vestager has pledged to create the world’s first regulations around artificial intelligence and called for giving collective bargaining rights to so-called gig economy workers like Uber drivers. The push comes on top of an investigation into Amazon’s use of data to gain an edge on competitors that had already started, and her look into accusations of unfair business practices by Facebook and Apple.

維斯特格矢志制定世界第一套針對人工智慧的規範，並要求賦予優步司機這類所謂零工經濟的勞工集體談判權。維斯特格推動這些政策之際，歐盟已經開始調查亞馬遜如何利用資料取得競爭優勢，同時維斯特格也正在調查臉書和蘋果被指控的不公平商業行為。

“She has these accomplishments, but she didn’t get as much as she wanted,” said David Balto, a former lawyer in the Justice Department’s antitrust division whose clients now include large tech companies. “Now she can be more aggressive.”

律師巴爾托曾在美國司法部反壟斷部門任職，目前的客戶就包括科技業大公司，他說：「維斯特格取得了這些成就，但並不如自己預期的多，現在她可以更強勢。」

But Vestager’s agenda amounts to a wish list. Her success will depend on support and collaboration from other European officials who are already grappling with challenges like Britain’s exit from the European Union, the rise of populism and fraying diplomatic relations with the United States.

不過，維斯特格的行動計畫只是一份願望清單，要成功有賴歐盟其他官員支持合作，而他們已為英國脫離歐盟、民粹風潮興起和與美國外交關係緊張等種種挑戰而頭痛。

It will require standing up to relentless resistance from the tech companies, too.

“One of the important things is, of course, to prioritize because otherwise you will be in the process of back and forth for a very, very long time,” Vestager said.

維斯特格要成功，還得禁得起科技公司持續不斷的強烈抵抗。

維斯特格說：「當然，很重要的一點是要排出事情的優先順序，否則你會進進退退很長、很長一段時間。」

※說文解字看新聞

標題中的biggest foe意同archenemy，就是主要敵人，在小說中，是主人公或英雄最重要且最邪惡的敵人。字根arch源於希臘文arkhos，意為「最重要的」。

Tough是指不妥協的，相關詞有tough guy（硬漢）、tough cookie（非正式用語，指意志堅強的人）。

Double down原先的意思是在玩撲克牌21點遊戲時，趁著自己手裡的牌好，加倍下注，以得到再抽一張牌的機會，後來引申為更加努力做某事，希望得到最好的結果。

Box out是籃球用語，指爭搶籃板球時「卡位」，即占據禁區有利位置、不讓對方搶籃板球，引申為阻絕（block）競爭對手。