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At the dawn of the 16th century, the Earth was cooling down.
在16世纪的黎明，地球正在降温。
This period of global cooling was most likely caused by volcanic eruptions, shifts in oceanic currents, and orbital fluctuations.
这段全球变冷的时期很可能是由火山爆发、洋流变化和轨道波动造成的。
European rivers froze and famines struck all over Asia.
欧洲的河流结冰了，亚洲各地发生了饥荒。
But in the 1600s global temperatures dropped even further, and this time it was caused by humans.
但是在16世纪，全球气温进一步下降，而这一次是由人类造成的。
Specifically, it was driven by the settler--colonial violence that tore through the lives of millions of people indigenous to what we now call North America.
具体来说，它是由定居者——殖民主义暴力驱动的，这种暴力撕裂了我们现在称为北美的数百万原住民的生活。
The Great Dying.
大灭绝。
A genocide that killed 90% of the estimated 60.5 million indigenous peoples on the continent.
一场种族灭绝，毁灭了该大陆上约6050万原住民中的90%。
The land-grabbing pursuits of American colonists killed 56 million people, with numbers possibly even higher.
美国殖民者对土地的掠夺导致5600万人死亡，可能更高这个数字。
This genocide was so massive that it led to a decrease of global atomospheric carbon levels by 3.5 parts per million, enough to lower temperatures across the world.
这场种族灭绝的规模如此之大，导致全球原子层的碳含量减少了百万分之三点五，足以降低全世界的温度。
But this is just the start of the United States' role in changing the climate.
但这只是美国在改变气候方面的作用的开始。
The country has a long and dark legacy tied to climate change that continues to this day.
美国有一个漫长而黑暗的遗产，与气候变化联系在一起，一直持续到今天。
This is the story of how the United States caused and is still causing climate change.
这就是美国如何造成并仍在造成气候变化的故事。
When it comes to emissions, the United States is the undisputed champ.
说到排放，美国是无可争议的冠军。
America is the largest historical emitter.
美国是历史上最大的排放者。
Its cumulative emissions are almost double that of China's, a fact which often gets lost in comparisons of the two country's current emissions rates.
它的累计排放量几乎是中国的两倍，这一事实在比较这两个国家目前的排放率时经常被忽略。
Yes, China is emitting more right now, but keep in mind that a lot of Chinese industrial pollution is driven by demand from the United States.
是的，中国现在的排放量更大，但请记住，中国的很多工业污染是由美国的需求驱动的。
There are also more than 4 times as many people using energy in China than in the United States.
中国使用能源的人数也是美国的4倍多。
And because CO2 lingers in the atmosphere for up to 200 years, cumulative emissions are a much more effective tool to understand who is driving climate change, and it's undeniably the United States.
而且，由于二氧化碳在大气中停留时间长达200年，累积排放是了解谁在推动气候变化的更有效的工具，不可否认的是美国。
Not only did the U.S. nurture the oil industry into existence with tax credits, technological advancements, and ravenous capitalist consumption,
美国不仅用税收减免、技术进步和贪婪的资本主义消费培育了石油工业的存在，
but it's done so again with the natural gas industry in the early 2000s--helping lock-in a new form of fossil fuels for decades to come with extensive pipeline construction and government subsidies.
而且在21世纪初对天然气工业也是如此——通过广泛的管道建设和政府补贴，帮助锁定了未来几十年的化石燃料的新形式。
In part this was to quench America's insatiable thirst for fossil fuels and material goods.
这在一定程度上是为了满足美国对化石燃料和物质产品的不满足的渴求。
The U.S. has one of the highest CO2 emissions rates per capita in the world.
美国是世界上人均二氧化碳排放率最高的国家之一。
A rate that is almost three times the global average.
这个比率几乎是全球平均水平的三倍。
The United States is the biggest producer and consumer of natural gas and oil, as well as home to the second largest fleet of coal factories.
美国是最大的天然气和石油生产国和消费国，同时也是第二大煤炭工厂的所在地。
In short, the United States is responsible for an overwhelming share of cumulative emissions, and is still sheltering fossil fuel industries that are at the root of the climate crisis.
简而言之，美国对累计排放量的绝大部分负有责任，并且仍然在庇护作为气候危机根源的化石燃料产业。
Yes, the United States has now committed to a 50-52% reduction of carbon emissions by 2030, which is certainly ambitious,
是的，美国现在已经承诺到2030年减少50-52%的碳排放，这当然是雄心勃勃的，
but according to Climate Action Tracker, this reduction still falls almost 11 percentage points short of the emissions cuts needed to stay below 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming.
但根据《气候行动追踪》，这一减少仍然比保持低于1.5摄氏度变暖所需的减排量少了近11个百分点。
U.S. electricity consumption and overall emissions levels are dropping, but slowly.
美国的电力消耗和整体排放水平正在下降，但速度缓慢。
It's also the second biggest country in terms of renewable capacity, and infrastructure for clean energy does seem to be growing, but again, it's still too slow.
它也是第二大可再生能源容量的国家，清洁能源的基础设施似乎确实在增长，但同样，它仍然太慢。
Considering the 40 plus years of relative inaction since expert climate scientists warned of the threat of global warming, it's hard to imagine the United States cutting their emissions in half over the next 9 years.
考虑到自从气候科学家专家警告全球变暖的威胁以来，40多年的相对不作为，很难想象美国会在未来9年内将其排放量减少一半。
Politicians like Democrat Joe Manchin, who are firmly in the pocket of Big Oil companies, "Joe Manchin, I talk to his office every week, he is the king maker".
像民主党人乔-曼钦（Joe Manchin）这样的政客，坚定地站在大石油公司的口袋里，“乔·曼钦，我每周都会和他的办公室谈话，他是关键人物。”
and the 130 members of congress who deny or doubt that the climate crisis even exists, continue to resist any of the actions necessary to reverse course,
以及130名否认或怀疑气候危机甚至存在的国会议员，继续抵制任何扭转方向的必要行动，
especially any climate action that might hinder a giant corporation's ability to make money by exploiting workers and natural resources.
特别是任何可能阻碍巨头公司通过剥削工人和自然资源赚钱的气候行动。
In short, before it even reaches its tentacles across the world, the American empire is responsible for far more than its fair share of emissions,
简而言之，在它的触角伸向世界各地之前，美帝国所造成的排放远远超过其应有的份额，
and, like its refusal to recognize its violent exploitation abroad as we will see shortly, the ruling class of the United States refuses to recognize the harm caused by our use of fossil fuels as long as burning them is "good for the economy," as in, "good for shareholders and executives at major fossil fuel corporations."
而且，正如它拒绝承认它在国外的暴力剥削一样，我们很快就会看到，美国的统治阶级拒绝承认我们使用化石燃料所造成的伤害，只要燃烧化石燃料 “对经济有利”，也就是“对主要化石燃料公司的股东和管理人员有利”。
