迴應弗林特水污染危機 奧巴馬總統以身試水

Sipping filtered city water to show it's again drinkable, President Barack Obama promised last Wednesday to ride herd on leaders at all levels of government until every drop of water flowing into homes in Flint, Michigan, is safe to use.

上週三，美國總統貝拉克·奧巴馬在喝了過濾的自來水、以證明其安全性之後，當衆承諾，會監督各級政府領導，保證密歇根州弗林特市每一滴流入家庭中的水都可以安全使用。

He also promised that the aging pipes that contaminated the water with lead will be replaced, but cautioned that the project will take time. Obama said he wanted to use the crisis to make long-term improvements to the city, where more than 40 percent of residents live in poverty.

此外，奧巴馬總統還承諾，將會換掉那些導致鉛滲入水中的老化管道，但這個工程需要花費一些時間。在弗林特市，40%的居民生活窘迫。奧巴馬錶示，他想借此次水污染危機，改善這裏居民的生活條件。

"It's not going to happen overnight, but we have to get started," Obama told hundreds of people gathered in a high school gymnasium.

“這件事不可能一個晚上就完成，但是我們必須立刻採取行動，”奧巴馬總統對聚集在一所高中的體育館的成千上百位居民這樣說道。

"I've got your back," Obama said. "I will not rest and I'm going to make sure that the leaders at every level of government don't rest until every drop of water that flows to your homes is safe to drink and safe to cook with and safe to bathe in." He called providing safe drinking water a basic responsibility of government.

奧巴馬總統說：“我會全力支持你們。我不會有任何鬆懈，也確信各級政府領導不會有一絲鬆懈，直到確保每一滴家庭用水都是安全的，保證人們可以放心飲用、做飯和洗澡。”他還表示，保證飲用水的安全是政府的基本責任。

After coughing several times during his remarks, Obama asked for and drank from a glass of water. He also drank city water after getting a lengthy briefing on the crisis, which forced residents to spend months drinking, cooking and bathing with bottled water.

奧巴馬總統在講話中咳嗽了幾次，隨後要了一杯水喝。在完成關於水污染危機的冗長講話之後，他還喝了一杯自來水。幾個月以來，弗林特居民飲用、做飯和洗澡使用的都是瓶裝水。

Obama declared a state of emergency in Flint in mid-January and ordered federal aid to supplement the state and local response. By then, however, the crisis was in full bloom.

在今年一月份中旬，奧巴馬總統宣佈弗林特市進入緊急狀態，下令聯邦給予密歇根州和地方政府援助。不過在那時，水污染危機就已經大肆蔓延了。