Name: 致未來世代：對不起 (Dear Future Generations: Sorry)
Uploaded: 2021-05-18T21:01:30.000Z
Duration: 6 min 3 s

I think I speak for the rest of us when I say, "Sorry."

當我說「對不起」，我是替我們這個世代向你們道歉。

過去簡單式

Sorry we left you with our mess of a planet.

很抱歉我們留給你們這麼糟的地球。

Sorry that we were too caught up in our own doings to do something.

抱歉我們太專注於自我而無所作為。

Sorry we listened to people who made excuses to do nothing.

很抱歉我們聽信了滿嘴藉口卻無所作為的人。

We just didn't realize how special the earth was.

我們只是不了解地球有多珍貴。

Like a marriage gone wrong, we didn't know what we had until it was... gone.

這就像婚姻出了問題，我們等到一無所有後才恍然大悟。

For example, I'm guessing you probably know what is the Amazon Desert, right?

舉例來說，你們應該知道亞馬遜沙漠吧？

Well, believe it or not, it was once called the Amazon Rainforest, and there were billions of trees there, all of them gorgeous, and...

信不信由你，但它曾被稱為亞馬遜熱帶雨林，那裡有數十億棵樹，它們美麗極了，而且…

你們對樹木的瞭解不多，對吧？

Well, let me tell you, trees are amazing.

那就讓我來告訴你，樹木棒極了。

I mean, we literally breathe the air they are creating.

我的意思是，我們呼吸的空氣是由樹木產生的。

樹木可以淨化污染還有我們排放的碳。

They store and purify water, give us medicine that cures our diseases, food that feeds us.

樹木儲存並淨化水質，提供治療疾病的藥和果腹的食物。

Which is why I'm so sorry to tell you that we burned them down. Cut them down with brutal machines, horrific, at a rate of 40 football fields every minute,

所以我很抱歉地告訴你們，我們把樹木燃燒殆盡了，我們用機器殘暴地大肆砍伐樹木，很可怕，每分鐘砍伐的樹木面積相當於四十座足球場。

that's 50% of all the trees in the world gone in the last hundred years.

過去一百多以來，世界上有 50% 的樹木消失了。

And that wouldn't make me so sad, if it weren't so many pictures of leaves on it.

如果鈔票上沒有這麼多樹葉圖片的話，我可能還不會這麼難過。

You know when I was a child, I read how the Native Americans had such consideration for the planet that they felt responsible for how they left the land for the next 7 generations, which brings me great sorrow, because most of us today don't even care about tomorrow.

你們知道嗎？我小時候曾讀過，美國原住民對地球細心地呵護，因為他們覺得自己對未來七個世代可享有的土地有責任，這令我悲慟，因為現代大多數人甚至不在乎明天的事情。

I'm sorry that we put profit above people, greed above need, the rule of gold above the golden rule.

很抱歉我們將利益置於人民之上，將貪婪置於需求之上，將生財法則置於黃金法則之上。

I'm sorry we use nature as a credit card with no spending limit, overdrafting animals to extinction, stealing your chance to ever see their uniqueness, or become friends with them.

對不起，我們把大自然當作無限額的信用卡，將其透支，使許多動物滅絕，剝奪你們了解他們獨特之處的機會而無法與之共處。

Sorry we poison the ocean so much that you can't even swim in them.

對不起，我們嚴重汙染海洋，讓你們無法在海裡游泳。

But most of all, I'm sorry about our mindset, 'cause we had the nerve to call this destruction "progress".

最重要的是，我對我們的思維感到抱歉，因為我們竟然有臉將這些破壞稱為「進步」。

If you don't think climate change is a threat, I dare you to interview the thousands of homeless people in Bangladesh.

如果你們不認為氣候變遷是種威脅，你們肯定不敢去採訪孟加拉數千名流離失所的人。

See, while... while you were in your penthouse nestled, their homes were literally washed away beneath their feet due to rising sea levels.

親眼看看當你… 在豪宅裡享受時，他們家園卻因為海平面上升而硬生生地被沖走。

And Sarah Palin, you said that you love the smell of fossil fuels.

還有，Sarah Palin，妳說妳喜歡汽油的味道。

Well, I urge you to talk to the kids of Beijing, who are forced to wear pollution masks just to go to school.

那我強烈建議你和北京的小朋友們聊聊，他們被迫要戴著防汙口罩才能去上學。

See, you can ignore this, but the thing about truth is... it can be denied, not avoided.

你大可以忽略這些事實，但真相可以被否認卻無法避免。

所以，對於未來世代，我很抱歉。

I'm sorry that our footprint became a sinkhole and not a garden.

我很抱歉我們的碳足跡造就了巨大的坑洞而不是花園。

I'm sorry that we paid so much attention to ISIS and very little to how fast the ice is melting in the Arctic.

非常抱歉，我們只關心「伊斯蘭國」，而沒發現北極的冰融化得這麼快。

and I'm sorry we couldn't find another planet in time to move to.

很抱歉我們沒辦法及時找到可以移居的星球。

because an error does not become a mistake until you refuse to correct it.

因為只有拒絕改正錯誤才會釀成悲劇。

Let me suggest that if a farmer sees a tree that is unhealthy, they don't look at the branches to diagnose it, they look at the root.

我建議的做法是，如果農夫看到樹病了，他們不會從樹枝找病因，他們會從根部診斷。

So, like that farmer, we must look at the root, and not to the branches of government, not to the politician run by corporations.

因此，就像農夫，我們必須回歸根本，而非如同枝節的政府，也不是被企業操縱的政客們。

This generation, it is up to us to take care of this planet.

照顧地球是我們這個世代的責任。

We must globally warm our hearts and change the climate of our souls, and realize that we are not apart from nature, we are a part of nature, and to betray nature is to betray us, to save nature is to save us.

我們必須溫暖全世界人的心，改變我們的心態，了解我們無法脫離自然環境，我們是自然的一部分，所以背叛自然就等於背叛自己，拯救自然就是拯救自己。

Because whatever you're fighting for, racism or poverty, feminism, gay rights or any type of equality, it won't matter in the least.

無論你們正在為什麼而戰，種族歧視或貧窮、女性主義、同志權力或任何形式的平等，都不重要。

Because if we don't all work together to save the environment, we will be equally extinct.

因為如果我們不共同努力拯救環境，我們會一起滅絕。

For the past several weeks, I've been here in Africa, the heart of Africa, witnessing the horrific destruction of the rainforest, which inspired me to write this piece.

過去幾周我都在非洲，非洲的中心，親眼看到雨林被嚴重破壞，因此深受啟發而寫下這篇文章。

Why are forests being destroyed at such an enormous rate?

為什麼森林正以如此驚人的速度被破壞？

Today we live in a world where destroying trees makes you money.

如今，我們處在砍樹可以賺錢的時代。

So, what can we, normal people, do about it?

那身為一般人的我們可以做什麼？

One way to directly fight the destruction is to Stand for Trees.

有個方法可以直接抵制破壞，就是「為樹發聲」。

By standing for trees, not only can you save the lives of trees, help forest communities, and protect the rights of animals to live in their homes, but you will also balance the amount of pollution that you yourself give off with your everyday activities, making you a part of the solution, not the problem.

藉由「為樹發聲」，你不只可以可以拯救樹木、幫助森林裡的部落、保護動物們居住在棲息地的權利，你更可以平衡自己在日常生活的污染排放量，使自己成為解決方法的一部分，而非製造問題。

This is the option that I chose, but whatever way that you choose to stand for trees, do it.

這是我選擇的方式，但不管你選擇用什麼方式為樹發聲，就去做吧！

Because a wise man once said, "When the rivers are all dried up and the trees cut down, man will then realize that he will not be able to eat money."

因為有一位智者曾說過：「當河川乾涸、林地盡成荒野，人們終將了解，他們無法靠金錢維生。」