[ti:Small Nevada Toad Listed as Endangered Due to Power Project]
[by:www.21voa.com]
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[00:00.04]A power center that will create electricity
[00:04.04]by pumping hot water from the earth
[00:06.64]sounds like a good idea.
[00:09.92]The company that hopes to build the power center
[00:13.96]in a part of western Nevada
[00:16.84]says it will create electricity
[00:19.80]without creating very much pollution.
[00:22.96]But the U.S. government's Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)
[00:29.28]says the project will greatly change the area
[00:33.92]where a very small toad lives.
[00:37.68]A toad is a small animal that looks like a frog
[00:41.92]but has dry skin and lives on land.
[00:47.40]The Dixie Valley toad lives in a small area
[00:51.60]about 160 kilometers from Reno, Nevada.
[00:55.96]It is the only place it is known to exist on Earth.
[01:02.32]Because of the power center plans,
[01:05.40]the FWS in April temporarily moved the toad
[01:11.36]from its "threatened" list to its "endangered list."
[01:17.68]Animals on the endangered list
[01:19.84]are at a much higher risk of going extinct, or no longer existing.
[01:26.28]Last week, the FWS finalized that temporary move.
[01:31.60]It officially declared the Dixie Valley toad an endangered species.
[01:38.48]In its final ruling, the FWS said it was concerned
[01:44.40]that the power center will take the hot water from the ground
[01:48.80]before it can reach the surface naturally.
[01:52.04]The place where hot water comes up through the ground is a hot spring.
[01:57.76]The toads can only live on land that stays warm and wet
[02:03.52]because of the water from the ground.
[02:07.40]FWS experts do not believe the toad will be able to adapt,
[02:13.56]or get used to, to the new environment.
[02:17.52]"These conditions could result in the species
[02:20.68]no longer persisting," or living, the FWS wrote.
[02:27.08]The FWS also noted that the power project
[02:31.56]will change the conditions too quickly
[02:34.92]to give the toad a chance to adapt.
[02:39.40]An environmental advocacy group
[02:41.92]called the Center for Biological Diversity
[02:45.60]said it was pleased with the FWS decision to protect the toad.
[02:52.32]Patrick Donnelly is the group's director
[02:55.68]for the area that includes Nevada.
[02:58.32]He called the decision an "essential step
[03:02.00]to prevent the extinction" of a special animal.
[03:06.92]Donnelly agreed that clean energy is important
[03:10.48]in fighting the climate crisis.
[03:13.68]"But," he said, "it can't come at the cost of extinction."
[03:20.16]The power company behind the project is called Ormat Technology.
[03:25.28]Its original plan called for building two power plants
[03:29.80]that would produce 60 megawatts of electricity.
[03:34.20]Environmental activists took legal action
[03:37.88]to block the building of the power plant late last year.
[03:42.24]A Reno judge is still considering the case.
[03:47.72]In October, Ormat asked the judge to put the case on hold
[03:53.16]while it developed a new plan to build just one plant
[03:57.84]that would produce only 12 megawatts of power.
[04:03.00]Ormat's Vice President is Paul Thomsen.
[04:07.12]He said the company's plan to create the power center
[04:11.80]will "support the fight against climate change"
[04:15.52]and is in line with U.S. President Joe Biden's plans to create clean energy.
[04:23.56]Thomsen said the FWS ruling was not surprising,
[04:28.04]considering the emergency move to protect the toad last April.
[04:33.48]He also said the ruling does not change what Ormat is already doing
[04:39.96]to reduce and avoid possible harmful effects on the toad.
[04:45.56]I'm Dan Friedell. 更多听力请访问21VOA.COM