EDMONTON – Calm discussion of the environment nowadays is about as plausible as reasoned dialogue on witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts. Consider the hyperbolic debate over the Keystone XL pipeline, which would funnel oil from Canada’s Athabasca tar sands in northeastern Alberta to refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast.
埃德蒙顿——就好比马塞诸塞殖民地民众不可能理性地探讨巫术一样，今天的人们也不可能平心静气地探讨环境问题。从加拿大东北部阿尔伯塔省阿塔巴斯卡油砂公司向得州海湾炼油厂运送石油的拱心石XL输油管道计划引发的夸张争论就是实例。