2019年经济学人 煤炭与气候变化(3)

 

There is an economic risk, too. Public-sector zeal¹ for coal is matched only by private-sector distaste. Banks, including Asian ones, have increasingly said they will stop funding new coal plants. Wind and solar farms make coal look increasingly expensive. A study has found that private banks provided three-quarters of loans to Indian renewables projects last year; state-backed banks doled² out two-thirds of those for coal.

第二是经济风险。与公共部门对煤炭的热情相对的是私营部门对其的厌恶。包括亚洲银行在内越来越多的银行表示，将停止为新建燃煤电厂提供资金。风力发电厂和太阳能发电厂使得煤炭变得越来越昂贵。一项研究发现，去年私有银行为印度可再生能源项目提供了四分之三的贷款；其中三分之二由国有银行用于购买煤炭。

And then there is politics. Voters do not like breathing soot³. More of them are concerned about climate change, too, as they face unpredictable growing seasons, floods and droughts.

第三是政治。选民不喜欢吸入烟尘。他们中更多的人也担心气候变化，因为他们面临着无法预测的生长季节、洪水和干旱。

Promisingly⁴, more Asian politicians are voicing support for clean power. In July Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines’ president, instructed his energy minister to reduce his country’s dependence⁵ on coal. In June India’s government said it planned to have 500 gigawatts of renewable power by 2030. But to speed the transition, governments in Asia and elsewhere must do more.

更有希望的是，越来越多的亚洲政界人士表示支持清洁能源。今年7月，菲律宾总统罗德里戈?杜特尔特要求能源部长减少菲律宾对煤炭的依赖。今年6月，印度政府表示，计划到2030年实现5亿千瓦的可再生能源发电能力。但为了加快转型，亚洲和其他地区的政府必须做得更多。

Politicians should move faster to reduce state support for coal. Rich countries should find ways to help. Middle-income countries in Asia would be right to point out that wealthier counterparts used coal to fuel their own growth and that America, Britain, Germany and Japan are among those that continue to support coal, for instance through tax breaks and budgetary transfers (and imports from coal-powered Asia). Abandoning coal in Asia may require diplomacy⁶ on a scale that few governments are ready to contemplate⁷. But abandon coal they must.

政客们应该加快行动，减少国家对煤炭的支持。富裕国家应该想办法提供帮助。亚洲中等收入国家应该正确地指出，相对富裕的国家用煤炭来推动自己的经济增长，而美国、英国、德国和日本是继续支持煤炭的国家之一，例如通过减税和预算转移(以及从以煤炭为动力的亚洲进口)。在亚洲弃用煤炭可能需要外交手段，其规模之大，很少有政府愿意考虑。但他们必须放弃煤炭。

1 zeal   

n.热心，热情，热忱

参考例句：

• Revolutionary zeal caught them up,and they joined the army.革命热情激励他们，于是他们从军了。
• They worked with great zeal to finish the project.他们热情高涨地工作，以期完成这个项目。

2 doled   

救济物( dole的过去式和过去分词 )； 失业救济金

参考例句：

• The food was doled out to the poor. 食品分发给了穷人。
• Sisco briskly doled out the United States positions on the key issues. 西斯科轻快地把美国在重大问题上的立场放了出去。

3 soot   

n.煤烟，烟尘；vt.熏以煤烟

参考例句：

• Soot is the product of the imperfect combustion of fuel.煤烟是燃料不完全燃烧的产物。
• The chimney was choked with soot.烟囱被煤灰堵塞了。

4 promisingly   

（通常只是开头）给人以希望地，良好地

参考例句：

• The afternoon had begun so promisingly. 下午一开始就很顺利，就预示着成功。
• The first batch of wheat is growing promisingly! 头茬小麦的长势喜人呀！

5 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

6 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

7 contemplate   

vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视

参考例句：

• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate.战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。
• The consequences would be too ghastly to contemplate.后果不堪设想。