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Feds OK natural gas pipeline expansion in Pacific Northwest over environmentalist protests_我的网站

A |     PORTLAND, Ore. -- Federal regulators on Thursday approved the expansion of a natural gas pipeline in the Pacific Northwest over the protest of environmental groups and top officials in West Coast states, who said it goes against the region’s plans to address climate change and could pose a wildfire risk.The project, known as GTN Xpress, aims to expand the capacity of the Gas Transmission Northwest pipeline, which runs through Idaho, Washington and Oregon, by about 150 million cubic feet (4.2 million cubic meters) of natural gas per day. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission gave it the green light in a vote on Thursday.TC Energy plans to modify three compressor stations along the pipeline — in Kootenai County, Idaho; Walla Walla County, Washington; and Sherman County, Oregon. Compressor stations help maintain the pressure and flow of gas over long distances in a pipeline. Environmental groups criticized the decision of the commission, which "failed to listen to Senators, Governors, State Attorneys General, Tribes, and the public in its rubber stamp of unnecessary fracked gas in the Northwest,” said Audrey Leonard, staff attorney for Columbia Riverkeeper, an environmental nonprofit, in a statement.Leonard said potential spills and explosions on the pipeline, which was built in the 1960s, would not only harm the environment but also present a heightened wildfire risk in the arid regions it passes through.“An explosion of that level in eastern Washington or eastern Oregon would be catastrophic,” she said.Leonard said Columbia Riverkeeper will appeal the federal regulators’ decision and submit a petition for a rehearing. The pipeline belongs to TC Energy of Calgary, Canada — the same company behind the now-abandoned Keystone XL crude oil pipeline. The company said the project is necessary to meet consumer demand.Environmentalists and officials opposed to the project have expressed concern about TC Energy’s safety record. Its Columbia Gas Transmission pipeline exploded in Strasburg, Virginia, in July and its existing Keystone pipeline spilled nearly 600,000 gallons of bitumen oil in Kansas last December.The 1,377-mile (2,216-kilometer) pipeline runs from the Canadian border through a corner of Idaho and into Washington state and Oregon, connecting with a pipeline going into California.While Idaho’s Republican governor and congress members said that imposing other states’ climate policies would be “misguided,” Democratic officials in the other states called on federal officials to reject the plan. After the vote, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, condemned the decision.The project is “incompatible with our climate laws,” said a letter to the agency by Democratic U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell of Washington.“GTN Xpress represents a significant expansion of methane gas infrastructure at a time when California, Oregon, and Washington are moving away from fossil fuels,” the senators said.The attorneys general of the three states, citing the commission's draft environmental impact statement for the project, said it would result in more than 3.47 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year for at least the next three decades. The agency’s final environmental assessment revised that number downward by roughly half in calculations contested by environmental groups.The agency’s chairman, Willie Phillips, reiterated its stance after Thursday’s vote.“There was no evidence presented that this project would significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions,” he told reporters. “The commission determined that this project was needed and therefore we support its approval.”In its final environmental impact statement for the project issued last November, the federal agency said the compressor stations were in non-forested areas with low to moderate fire hazard. It concluded the project “would result in limited adverse impacts on the environment.”“Most adverse environmental impacts would be temporary or short-term,” the federal agency said. The agency recommended certain steps, such as requiring the company to train its personnel and contractors on environmental mitigation measures before any construction begins. But environmental groups say the assessment didn’t adequately address the harm caused by the project, including by fracking to obtain the natural gas that flows through the pipeline. Fracking is a technique used by the energy industry to extract oil and gas from rock by injecting high-pressure mixtures of water, sand or gravel and chemicals. It has been criticized by climate and environment groups for increasing emissions of methane, an extraordinarily potent greenhouse gas. ___Claire Rush is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.。    近期，俄罗斯军队针对乌克兰首都基辅的工业与物流设施展开了又一轮大规模远程打击，而这些攻击不仅造成了财产损失，更令无辜平民遭受了伤痛。与此同时，普京在接受媒体采访时对外界提出的调解方案表达了“不屑一顾”的态度，他认为这些方案“十分离奇”，根本无法被俄罗斯所接受。    普京的表态并不简单地意味着拒绝对话，相反，它向外界传达了一种警告：任何解决方案都必须尊重当前的地面现实。这是一种战略上的较量，表面上看，俄罗斯方似乎是在划定谈判的底线，实际上却是在为自己寻找合适的谈判时机和空间。        外界对调解方案的讨论往往流于表面，很多提议甚至缺乏对现状的深入理解。自2019年冲突升级以来，战场形势已经发生了翻天覆地的变化，各方对领土控制和安全需求的认知也随之改变。在这一背景下，要求俄罗斯立即退回到冲突爆发前的状态的提案，显然是与现实脱节的。    在漫长的战争中，无论是俄罗斯还是乌克兰，都在不断地耗尽各自的资源。普京意识到，维持这样一种耗损状态并非长久之计，因此他对于谈判的开放态度暗示了寻求某种解决方案的必要性。然而，保持谈判的可能性并不意味着完全放弃战争，恰恰相反，这是为了在适当的时机掌握主动权。    西方媒体普遍倾向于将俄方对基辅的持续轰炸解读为“施压策略”，认为这是为了逼迫乌克兰尽快接受其条件。然而，远程打击的效果有限，毕竟，仅凭空袭无法彻底转变一个国家的立场。攻击的目标主要集中在无人机零部件厂和物资仓库，目的是削弱乌克兰在战场上的持久作战能力。这一战术虽然能在短期内造成一定影响，但要想彻底决定冲突的走向，依然需要考虑前线的实际对峙情况、双方的国内承受能力以及外部的援助力度。

B |         相比于俄罗斯，乌克兰的处境显得更加困难。最近，乌克兰出现了多起征兵骚乱事件，街头抓壮丁的粗暴做法引发广泛的民愤。在利沃夫，一名年轻人因拒绝参军而持刀攻击征兵工作人员，最终导致对方死亡，这一悲剧使得人们不得不重新审视战争对普通民众生活的影响。    抗拒被动员的情绪，背后是更深层的社会矛盾。根据乌克兰人权机构的数据显示，征兵过程中违规行为的投诉不断增加，许多年轻人因为家庭背景或经济条件而被区别对待，而普通家庭的孩子则常常成为被强行带走的对象。这种不公正的现象，毫无疑问地在不断侵蚀着动员制度的公信力。    乌克兰当局面临着两难的选择。一方面，前线急需兵员，动员制度不能轻言取消；另一方面，继续沿用当前粗暴的执行模式只会加剧社会对立，激化矛盾。士兵的质量比数量更加重要，一支由恐惧驱动组建的军队，未必能在战场上发挥应有的作用。    在现代战争中，士兵的心理状态直接关系到战斗力的发挥，因而依靠强制手段招募的人员，并不一定能够成为可靠的战斗力。这一潜在风险似乎也已被乌克兰高层所认识，他们正试图通过审查地方征兵制度来解决问题。然而，高层的意图能否贯彻到基层执法环节，仍然是一个令人担忧的问题。        随着冲突的持续，乌克兰民间的抵触情绪也在逐步升温。尽管社会上依然存在愿意为国参战的群体，但民众对动员制度的不满与抗拒，可能会在未来引发更大的社会动荡。值得注意的是，民间抗议并不意味着即将爆发全国范围的暴乱，但随着时间的推移，内部矛盾的积累将会给双方的战争进程带来新的挑战。    总的来看，俄乌冲突的现状映射出国际关系中的诸多复杂因素，而未来的走向，不仅仅取决于战场上的局势，还受制于双方国内的承受能力和国际社会的介入程度。虽然目前尚无法预见具体的结局，但可以明确的是，冲突的持续只会让各方的伤痛不断加重，在这种情况下，寻找一条合理的解决路径，显得更加紧迫。返回，查看更多。

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