地图制图学与地理信息工程

Taxing Sodas for a Healthier Economy?

征税苏打饮料更健康经济吗?

The average American drinks a gallon of soda a week，which delivers roughly 1，000 calories and no nutrition．The average American is also overweight or obese．Could changing one of those things help change the other?

美国人平均每周要饮用一加仑的汽水，大约含有l 000卡路里的热量，却完全没有营养可言；美国人的平均体重超标或肥胖。改变这两件事情中的一件能否给另外一件事情带来改善呢?

A growing number of officials think so，which accounts for a spate of proposed new taxes on soda as a way to discourage consumption while at the same time raising money to fund other obesity—fighting initiatives．Some 20 states and cities，from New Mexico to Baltimore，contemplated soda taxes this spring．

越来越多的官员都有类似想法，于是提出了向汽水征税的方法，希望能抑制汽水的消费，同时为公共健康计划筹集资金。从新墨西哥到巴尔的摩，约20个州和城市将在今年春天拟征汽水税。

The reaction against them has been swift and fierce．In March，scores of soda—company employees sporting Pepsi．Coke and 7.Up gear swarmed the Kansas state senate to fight a proposal that would have added a penny in tax for each teaspoon of sugar in a non-juice drink．That would have increased the price of a 12-OZ．soda by about 10 and

generated some $90 million in revenue a year．“I thought this is a wise choice，”says state senator John Vratil，who，like counterparts across the country，has been struggling to address both a recession—induced budget gap and rising public—heath costs stemming from obesity．Instead，he got an earful about how a soda tax would kill jobs，burden the poor and constitute an unwelcome government intrusion into the American diet．

民众对此事的反应是迅速而激烈的。今年3月，数十家汽水公司，包括百事、可口可乐和七喜，涌入堪萨斯州的参议院，反对在汽水中对每一匙糖多征收一美分税的提案，因为这将使l2盎司重的汽水的售价上涨约10美分，从而为政府创造每年9 000万美元的收入。“我认为这是一个明智的选择。”州参议员约翰说道。与全国各地的同行一样，他一直致力于解决经济衰退引起的财政缺口和肥胖引起的日益增长的医疗消费。可是事与愿违，他听到很多的抱怨，人们担心征收汽水税会影响就业，增加穷人的负担，政府也会因插手人们的饮食而不受欢迎。

Government involvement in what Americans eat is nothing new．But why tax soda and not，say，ice cream，pizza or Oreos——0r，for that matter，the video games that discourage kids from going outside to run around?

政府介入人们的饮食在美国并不是什么新鲜事。但是为什么单单向汽水征税，而不向冰激凌、比萨饼或奥利奥征税呢?如果仅是为了解决肥胖问题，那么是不是也应该向谋杀了孩子们玩耍时间的电子游戏

征税呢?

Washington city—council member Mary Cheh says it’s because soda is where scientists have observed the clearest link to excess pounds．When Cheh set out to fund her Healthy Schools Act，which would raise food and physical—education standards at schools in D．C．-where about 40％of kids are overweight or obese—she didn’t know she’d wind up going after soda．But the data overwhelmed her：The amount of soda the typical American drinks has grown by roughly 500％over the past 60 years，and of the 250 to 300 calories a day Americans have，on average，added to their diets since the late 1970s．nearly half have come from sugared drinks．“I don’t want to prescribe taxes for all sorts of dietary choices,” says Cheh. “but if we were going to only target one thing to ma ke a material difference，soda would be it.”

华盛顿市议会成员玛丽·泽说，这是因为科学家已经证实，汽水与体重增长之间的联系最为明显。最初，玛丽决定出资赞助她的健康学校法案，以提高学校的食品和体育锻炼标准(在华盛顿的学校里约有40％的孩子超重或肥胖)，她并没想过自己的法案会和汽水扯上什么关系，但数据说服了她：在过去的60年里，美国人最常饮用的汽水消费量增加了约500％，美国人平均每天摄入的卡路里为250到300。70年代后期以来，他们饮食里的热量有将近一半来自糖分饮料。“我并不打算对所有的食品征税，”李克说，“但是如果我们只选其中一样来改善现状，那必然是汽水。”