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GOP North Dakota senator says he wants to tackle climate change

时间:2022-08-12 07:58来源:互联网 提供网友:nan   字体: [ ]
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GOP North Dakota senator says he wants to tackle climate change

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota about climate change. Unlike some Republicans, Cramer says he's willing to combat the problem by reducing carbon emissions1.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Two facts make it hard for the Senate to pass much of President Biden's domestic agenda. One is that Democrats2 do not all agree on the giant measure. The other is that Republicans have been unanimously opposed. We're going to explore why that might be by focusing on one of the big issues addressed in the bill, climate change. We talked with a Republican senator who has worked with Democrats on other bills, like a big infrastructure3 bill. Kevin Cramer represents North Dakota, one of the nation's leading producers of oil and gas.

How much do you think of your state's oil workers when you think about your positions on these issues? And how much should you?

KEVIN CRAMER: Yeah. I think about them a lot. And you should because we are a representative republic.

INSKEEP: Unlike some Republicans, Senator Cramer says he is willing to address climate change by reducing carbon emissions. But he always keeps fossil fuels in mind.

CRAMER: The vast majority of people that we work for, that would be our constituents4, believe that there is climate change, that it is going the wrong direction in terms of the temperature of the Earth and that they want us to do something about it. My starting point is that it's not near the crisis that the alarmists have made it out to be. But at the same time, nobody is going to solve the problem except humans. Other than God Himself, we're the only ones in a position to contribute or to lower our contribution, whatever that might be. And our constituents expect us to do that.

INSKEEP: What do you say to people who - young people, particularly, who see a dark future because of the possibility of things like the melting of the polar ice caps...

CRAMER: Yeah.

INSKEEP: ...Which would be a tremendous calamity5?

CRAMER: Sure. So what I would tell them is that the Earth has gone through cycles for as long as there's been creation. What I would also tell them is what we can't do is we can't destroy ourselves in the process of trying to save the Earth.

INSKEEP: Before we go on, just to establish where you're at - I think you know that a lot of scientists, the overwhelming majority of scientists, find something real going on here...

CRAMER: Yeah.

INSKEEP: ...And observe something that is a lot worse than it was just 10 or 20 years ago and is accelerating. And you said that one phrase, which makes a lot of sense - we don't want to destroy ourselves in an effort to address this problem. But I do wonder about that as a citizen. Why would we ever have to destroy ourselves just because we're getting our electricity from a different source? I don't understand why that would alter our civilization all that much.

CRAMER: Well, because, Steve, even if I adhere to that point, I reject the notion that you have to stop all fossil fuel production and fossil fuel use for electricity in the United States of America to solve climate change. Let's not be so focused on, I hate coal, and more focused on, let's reduce emissions. We need to be, I think, in a transition. And I think people feel that. What fuels should we reject as part of that transition? And I don't think we need to reject any of them if we have the technology that can clean them all up. And then secondly6, how fast does the transition have to take?

INSKEEP: When you talk about cleaning them up, of course, you're talking about carbon capture, which we could have a whole different discussion about.

CRAMER: Right.

INSKEEP: But let's focus, for a moment, on the remnants, I guess, of this Build Back Better bill.

CRAMER: Sure.

INSKEEP: Democrats are now talking of breaking this gigantic legislation into parts. And one of them would focus on climate. There would be some clean-energy incentives7, money on the table to lean toward clean energy. There would be money for electric vehicle chargers across the country. There would also be other provisions like fees on methane8 emissions, which come from natural gas. But there's not an energy source that's taken off the table. President Biden seems to be at the same place you are, that he thinks at the moment that all kinds of energy are needed, and that's fine. Is that a measure you might be able to support?

CRAMER: Well, probably not in its current form, you know? Some of the things you talked about, like paying for charging stations, I think this is more of a private sector9 issue. If the public demands more electric vehicles - and they seem to be - then the rest of it should take care of itself. I think the starting point for this chunk10 or this piece of Build Back Better really has to be a white sheet of paper. But we won't ever meet it if we don't try.

INSKEEP: The president argues that we have a chance to seize the economic future rather than drag on the economic future. The United States can and should, he would say, lead industries like better electric car batteries, which is a field that China really, really wants to dominate...

CRAMER: Sure.

INSKEEP: ...And is spending a lot of money to dominate. Why leave the field to China?

CRAMER: So I don't think we should yield to China. And this is why I think part of a geopolitical climate agenda that would be promoted by the United States of America has to include getting much of our supply chain back as possible. And that includes, certainly, things like uranium, which China also has a big chunk of - Russia and Kazakhstan more so, uranium for nuclear - as well as lithium and other mining of critical minerals for batteries. I think we are the leader already, but maintain that leadership in new innovations that will be good for climate and for cleaning up the environment. We do actually mine things like even natural gas and oil in a much cleaner way than most of our competitors around the world.

INSKEEP: I think I hear you saying that if somebody came to you with a proposal that was about electric car batteries and got into questions like sources of lithium and there needed to be some government money on the table, you'd look seriously at that.

CRAMER: I never start at no, Steve, except on a very, very few things. I just think there's a solution to be had. If we start with the things that we already have some bipartisan agreement on - and by the way, a couple of those things are in the BBB, in the Build Back Better climate package. And they include carbon capture utilization11 and storage, bringing back more of nuclear power into the United States. Yeah. I'm always going to be interested in being at the table until it gets ridiculous.

INSKEEP: Carbon capture, which of course, would be very good for the coal industry, very good for the oil industry, as you know very well, Senator, is a technology in progress. It can be very expensive. And at the same time, other sources, like solar and wind, seem to get cheaper and cheaper all the time. Would you be willing, for Americans, to pay more for energy so that the oil industry could stay in business or the coal industry could stay in business?

CRAMER: Well, let's not forget we...

INSKEEP: That might be the choice in 10 or 20 years.

CRAMER: Yeah.

INSKEEP: You don't know.

CRAMER: It may be the choice in 10 or 20 months. But the reality is that the American public has been paying for this advancement12 in solar and wind for decades. We need greater resiliency. And that, of course, includes things like a steady, reliable, 24-hour, seven-day-a-week energy source on the grid13. And there are very few of those. Coal and nuclear are what will allow the innovations to continue and what will allow the American economy to continue. And by the way, we do it pretty well in the United States.

INSKEEP: Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, it's a pleasure talking with you. Thank you, sir.

CRAMER: Steve, it's my pleasure. And thanks for helping14 me drill so deep. You almost got in over my head, I got to tell you.

INSKEEP: (Laughter) Drilling deep. That's a good metaphor15 for this. Thank you.

CRAMER: That's a good metaphor (laughter).

(SOUNDBITE OF NEIL COWLEY'S "SHE LIVES IN GOLDEN SANDS")


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 emissions 1a87f8769eb755734e056efecb5e2da9     
排放物( emission的名词复数 ); 散发物(尤指气体)
参考例句:
  • Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
  • Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。
2 democrats 655beefefdcaf76097d489a3ff245f76     
n.民主主义者,民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
  • The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 infrastructure UbBz5     
n.下部构造,下部组织,基础结构,基础设施
参考例句:
  • We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
  • We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设,发展各类群众文化。
4 constituents 63f0b2072b2db2b8525e6eff0c90b33b     
n.选民( constituent的名词复数 );成分;构成部分;要素
参考例句:
  • She has the full support of her constituents. 她得到本区选民的全力支持。
  • Hydrogen and oxygen are the constituents of water. 氢和氧是水的主要成分。 来自《简明英汉词典》
5 calamity nsizM     
n.灾害,祸患,不幸事件
参考例句:
  • Even a greater natural calamity cannot daunt us. 再大的自然灾害也压不垮我们。
  • The attack on Pearl Harbor was a crushing calamity.偷袭珍珠港(对美军来说)是一场毁灭性的灾难。
6 secondly cjazXx     
adv.第二,其次
参考例句:
  • Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二,动脑筋提出自己的见解。
  • Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次,需要确定所作用的载荷。
7 incentives 884481806a10ef3017726acf079e8fa7     
激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 ); 刺激; 诱因; 动机
参考例句:
  • tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
  • Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者,提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
8 methane t1Eyx     
n.甲烷,沼气
参考例句:
  • The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
  • Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。
9 sector yjczYn     
n.部门,部分;防御地段,防区;扇形
参考例句:
  • The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
  • The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。
10 chunk Kqwzz     
n.厚片,大块,相当大的部分(数量)
参考例句:
  • They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
  • The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。
11 utilization Of0zMC     
n.利用,效用
参考例句:
  • Computer has found an increasingly wide utilization in all fields.电子计算机已越来越广泛地在各个领域得到应用。
  • Modern forms of agricultural utilization,have completely refuted this assumption.现代农业利用形式,完全驳倒了这种想象。
12 advancement tzgziL     
n.前进,促进,提升
参考例句:
  • His new contribution to the advancement of physiology was well appreciated.他对生理学发展的新贡献获得高度赞赏。
  • The aim of a university should be the advancement of learning.大学的目标应是促进学术。
13 grid 5rPzpK     
n.高压输电线路网;地图坐标方格;格栅
参考例句:
  • In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下,要用载体把格栅密封起来。
  • Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。
14 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
15 metaphor o78zD     
n.隐喻,暗喻
参考例句:
  • Using metaphor,we say that computers have senses and a memory.打个比方,我们可以说计算机有感觉和记忆力。
  • In poetry the rose is often a metaphor for love.玫瑰在诗中通常作为爱的象征。
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