布什会见美国能源组织代表讲话(2008-08-12)

President Bush Meets with Coalition¹ for Affordable² American Energy

THE PRESIDENT: I want to thank members of the Coalition for Affordable American Energy for joining me today. We just had a very interesting and informative³ discussion. I heard from businesses, large and small. They -- these folks are representing a lot of workers, people who are really concerned about the energy situation here in America, a lot of people wondering why their government is not doing something about the supply of crude oil.

One of the things that came out in this discussion was there's a lot of folks in our country who understand we could be doing something about the high price of gasoline and we're not. Obviously we need to be wise about conservation, but we've got to be wise about increasing the supply of oil here in America. If you're concerned about the price of gasoline, one way to affect that price of gasoline is to increase oil supplies.

And one of the things the workers know that I fully⁴ understand, as well, I'd rather our consumers be buying gasoline made from oil here in America than gasoline from oil being made overseas. We want our dollars, to the extent possible, to be here at home, staying here at home.

And so we discussed a variety of strategies about how to affect the supply of oil, and one way that we can affect the supply of oil is to increase access to offshore⁵ exploration on the Outer Continental⁶ Shelf.

Congress has restricted access to key parts of the Outer Continental Shelf since the early 1980s. Experts believe that these restricted areas could eventually produce nearly 10 years' worth of America's current oil production. People have analyzed⁷ what's possible there, and they believe that it's -- we can find a lot of oil, American-produced oil, oil that will mean our dollars are staying here and not going overseas. Advances in technology have made it possible to conduct oil exploration in the Outer Continental Shelf that is out of sight, that protects coral reefs and protects against oil spills.

Last month I acted and I lifted an executive branch restriction⁸ on offshore oil exploration. And then I called on Congress to join me and to lift the legislative⁹ ban -- to end the legislative ban. Unfortunately, the Democratic leadership in Congress decided¹⁰ to go on a five-week vacation, a recess¹¹, rather than act on behalf of the American consumer, the American small business owner.

Members have now had an opportunity to hear from their constituents¹², and if they listen carefully I think they'll hear what I heard today, and that is a lot of Americans from all walks of life wonder why we can't come together and get legislation necessary to end the ban on offshore drilling. And so today I join House Republicans in urging the Speaker of the House to schedule a vote on offshore oil exploration as soon as possible.

Now, the way ahead is this: The moratorium¹³ on offshore drilling is included in the provisions of the Interior appropriations¹⁴ bill. When Congress returns, they should immediately bring this bill to the House floor and schedule an up or down vote on whether to lift the moratorium on offshore drilling. Our goal should be to enact¹⁵ a law that reflects the will of the overwhelming majority of Americans who want to open up oil resources on the Outer Continental Shelf.

And so the Democratic leadership should bring up a clean bill, give the members a chance to vote up or down on whether or not we should proceed with offshore drilling, and not insert any legislative poison pills. Those would be provisions that they know will never be enacted¹⁶ and are added only for the purpose of killing¹⁷ the effort to open up the off -- the Outer Continental Shelf to drilling.

Congress can do some more. Once they solve this problem, they can allow us to drill in northern Alaska, which we can do in environmentally friendly ways. They should allow us to tap into the extraordinary potential of oil shale¹⁸. And we need to expand our refining capacity here in America. These are all steps that the Congress can take to show the American people that we can move forward in a positive way to affect the price of gasoline. And there's a lot of members of Congress who want a up or down vote. And the Democratic leadership has got to listen to the people on this issue.

Now, this is part of a comprehensive strategy. Everybody in this room understands that expanding oil and gas production is a part of a comprehensive strategy. Obviously we need to expand conservation measures. We need to develop alternative energy technologies such as advanced batteries, plug-in hybrids¹⁹, hydrogen fuel cells. We need to expand clean, safe, nuclear power; clean coal technology; solar and wind power. There's not a single answer to our energy problems. But a part of solving the dilemma²⁰ that our consumers are facing, that the hardworking Americans face, and that is high price of gasoline, we need to get after exploration here in America. And we can do it in a way that protects the environment.

So when Congress comes back, they need to act. And they don't need to gimmick²¹ up the legislation; they need to allow there to be an up or down vote, and let the members express the will of their constituents.

I appreciate the -- your work on this issue. I appreciate you represent a lot of hardworking people, people who simply want to put food on the table and be able to make it to work; people who are concerned about the price of gasoline; people who have told you to tell me that they want to see more oil drilled, more exploration on the Outer Continental Shelf; people who told you to tell me they want to see us drilling in Alaska; people who told you to tell me they want a common-sense energy policy right here in Washington, D.C. And I agree with them.

Thank you for your time. Thank you for our conversation. Appreciate it. Thank you. (Applause.)

1 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

2 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

3 informative   

adj.提供资料的，增进知识的

参考例句：

• The adverts are not very informative.这些广告并没有包含太多有用信息。
• This intriguing book is both thoughtful and informative.这本引人入胜的书既有思想性又富知识性。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

6 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

7 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 restriction   

n.限制，约束

参考例句：

• The park is open to the public without restriction.这个公园对公众开放，没有任何限制。
• The 30 mph speed restriction applies in all built-up areas.每小时限速30英里适用于所有建筑物聚集区。

9 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

10 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

11 recess   

n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处）

参考例句：

• The chairman of the meeting announced a ten-minute recess.会议主席宣布休会10分钟。
• Parliament was hastily recalled from recess.休会的议员被匆匆召回开会。

12 constituents   

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》

13 moratorium   

n.(行动、活动的)暂停(期)，延期偿付

参考例句：

• The government has called for a moratorium on weapons testing.政府已要求暂停武器试验。
• We recommended a moratorium on two particular kinds of experiments.我们建议暂禁两种特殊的实验。

14 appropriations   

n.挪用（appropriation的复数形式）

参考例句：

• More commonly, funding controls are imposed in the annual appropriations process. 更普遍的作法是，拨款控制被规定在年度拨款手续中。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Should the president veto the appropriations bill, it goes back to Congress. 假如总统否决了这项拨款提案，就把它退还给国会。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

15 enact   

vt.制定(法律)；上演，扮演

参考例句：

• The U.S. Congress has exclusive authority to enact federal legislation.美国国会是唯一有权颁布联邦法律的。
• For example,a country can enact laws and economic policies to attract foreign investment fairly quickly.例如一个国家可以很快颁布吸引外资的法令和经济政策。

16 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

17 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

18 shale   

n.页岩，泥板岩

参考例句：

• We can extract oil from shale.我们可以从页岩中提取石油。
• Most of the rock in this mountain is shale.这座山上大部分的岩石都是页岩。

19 hybrids   

n.杂交生成的生物体( hybrid的名词复数 )；杂交植物（或动物）；杂种；（不同事物的）混合物

参考例句：

• All these brightly coloured hybrids are so lovely in the garden. 花园里所有这些色彩鲜艳的杂交花真美丽。 来自辞典例句
• The notion that interspecific hybrids are rare is ill-founded. 有一种看法认为种间杂种是罕见的，这种看法是无根据的。 来自辞典例句

20 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

21 gimmick   

n.(为引人注意而搞的)小革新，小发明

参考例句：

• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。
• It is just a public relations gimmick.这只不过是一种公关伎俩。