In total, 98 out of 133 local authorities who responded to a survey said were scaling back street lighting, or were looking into doing so. [telegraph.co.uk] |
Almost three quarters of councils have already reduced street lighting in their area, or are considering doing so. The blackouts are being rolled across thousands of streets in rural areas, suburbs and city centers in almost every county in the UK, despite concerns from residents and police that the moves will lead to an increase in traffic accidents and crime. In total, 98 out of 133 local authorities who responded to a survey said were scaling back street lighting, or were looking into doing so. Every county council which took part in the survey said they were reducing lighting or planning to do so, as did local authorities in several major cities, including Cardiff, Sheffield, Edinburgh and parts of London. Conversely, those that said they had no plans to change were mostly small councils, many of which have responsibility only for lighting in off-road areas, such as parks, car parks and footpaths. The schemes to reduce street lighting involve either switching some off altogether or installing new lamps are automatically dimmed or turned off during "quiet" periods, late at night. In some schemes, technology is being installed which will allow CCTV operators monitoring streets to dim or brighten lights according to the need. Councils say the moves help cut energy bills and meet climate change targets. Britain's 7.5 million street lamps cost an estimated £500 million a year to run. One of the biggest schemes under way is in Norfolk, where 3,300 streets in Norwich as well as rural parts of the county are being be converted to "part-night lighting", meaning their lights will go off from midnight until 5am. In addition, more than 5,000 "dimmable" lights will be installed on main traffic routes, which will give off a third less light from 8pm until 5am. The Tory-run council say it will save £167,000 a year, but Steven Altman, a Green Party councillor in Norwich, criticised the scheme. He said: "The environmental and economic benefits have been overstated. There is a lot of opposition from residents who are concerned about the impact it will have on crime." (Read by Emily Cheng. Emily Cheng is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (telegraph.co.uk) |
英國近3/4的市政部門已經(jīng)或正考慮削減當(dāng)?shù)氐穆窡粽彰鳌?/p> “午夜熄燈法”正在全英幾乎每個郡的農(nóng)村、郊區(qū)和市中心的街道全面鋪開,盡管一些居民和警察擔(dān)心這會增加交通事故和犯罪數(shù)量。 在參與調(diào)查的133個地方政府中,有98個表示正減少燈光照明,或正打算這樣做。 而參與調(diào)查的所有郡議會,以及幾個大城市的地方政府都表示正減少照明,或有此打算,其中包括加的夫、謝菲爾德、愛丁堡、以及倫敦的部分地區(qū)。 相反,無此打算的大多是小型議會,其中許多只負(fù)責(zé)道路以外區(qū)域的照明,如公園、停車場、和人行道。 減少路燈照明的方案既包括完全關(guān)閉一些照明,還包括安裝能在深夜自動變暗或關(guān)閉的新照明。在一些方案中,還可以通過新技術(shù)的設(shè)置,使閉路監(jiān)控操作員可以根據(jù)需要將路燈變暗或點亮。 英國議會稱,“午夜熄燈”不僅能節(jié)省電費,還可以節(jié)能減排。英國750萬盞路燈每年大概花費5億英鎊。 目前諾福克郡正在實行最大的方案之一,諾威奇的3300條街道和農(nóng)村地區(qū)將采取“午夜熄燈”,從午夜至凌晨5點關(guān)閉照明系統(tǒng)。 此外,主要交通線路將安裝五千多盞“調(diào)光”燈,從晚上8點到凌晨5點,照明強度減少1/3。 英國保守黨議會稱,此舉每年可節(jié)省16.7萬英鎊,但諾威奇綠黨議員史蒂文·奧特曼批評了這一方案。 他說:“這一方案的環(huán)保和經(jīng)濟效益被夸大了。很多居民擔(dān)心這種做法會使犯罪增多,表示反對。” 相關(guān)閱讀 韓國政府讓公務(wù)員穿保暖內(nèi)衣“節(jié)能” (中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津 Rosy 編輯:馮明惠) |
Vocabulary: blackout: A cutoff of electrical power, especially as a result of a shortage, a mechanical failure, or overuse by consumers 燈火管制;停電 scale back: 減少,減小 off-road: 越野的;非公路用的 CCTV: Closed Circuit Television的縮寫,閉路電視/監(jiān)控系統(tǒng) |