Last summer India had the largest power outage in human history affecting 600m people. So it stung when my visiting Indian mother-in-law pointed out that America’s east coast, including Washington, was “as bad as India”. Then it was a so-called derecho storm, which left 6m US homes without power for days in the searing heat. Last month it was Superstorm Sandy, which left 10m homes shivering. In late December forecasters project a heavy cold snap that is bound to cause blackouts. People are resigned to the prospect.
去年夏天，印度發(fā)生了人類歷史上最大規(guī)模的停電事故，受影響的人有6億之多。所以，當(dāng)我前來(lái)探親的印度籍岳母表示包括華盛頓在內(nèi)的美國(guó)東海岸地區(qū)“像印度一樣糟”的時(shí)候，這一評(píng)價(jià)聽(tīng)起來(lái)著實(shí)刺耳。當(dāng)時(shí)，風(fēng)暴德雷科(Derecho)正席卷美國(guó)東海岸，600萬(wàn)美國(guó)家庭因此斷電數(shù)天，在酷熱天氣中飽受煎熬。上個(gè)月，超強(qiáng)風(fēng)暴桑迪(Sandy)又讓1000萬(wàn)美國(guó)家庭陷入恐慌的境地。天氣預(yù)報(bào)機(jī)構(gòu)預(yù)期，12月底會(huì)有一股很強(qiáng)的寒流，肯定會(huì)導(dǎo)致斷電。對(duì)此，人們只能“聽(tīng)天由命”了。