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，印度發生了人類歷史上最大規模的停電事故，受影響的人有6億之多。所以，當我前來探親的印度籍岳母表示包括華盛頓在內的美國東海岸地區「像印度一樣糟」的時候，這一評價聽起來著實刺耳。當時，風暴德雷科(Derecho)正席捲美國東海岸，600萬美國家庭因此斷電數天，在酷熱天氣中飽受煎熬。上個月，超強風暴桑迪(Sandy)又讓1000萬美國家庭陷入恐慌的境地。天氣預報機構預期，12月底會有一股很強的寒流，肯定會導致斷電。對此，人們只能「聽天由命」了。
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