VOA慢速英语2012 Economics Report - Energy As an Issue in America’s Presidential Campaign

Economics Report - Energy As an Issue in America’s Presidential Campaign

经济报道 - 能源问题成为美国总统竞选重要议题

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语经济报道。

Energy has become an important issue in the American presidential campaign. And gasoline prices, costs that affect almost all Americans, have risen sharply in recent months.

能源已经成为美国总统竞选的一个重要议题。最近几个月里，影响几乎所有美国人的汽油价格和费用急剧上涨。

This week, former Massachusetts governor Mitt¹ Romney criticized President Obama’s energy policy. In a newspaper commentary, he said the president has let prices rise while placing too many requirements on the energy industry.

本周，前马萨诸塞州州长米特·罗姆尼（Mitt Romney）批评了奥巴马总统的能源政策。他在报纸评论中表示，奥巴马对能源产业要求过多，已经使得价格上涨。

One issue in the political debate is a project proposed by the Canadian company Transcanada. Its Keystone XL pipeline² would stretch more than three thousand kilometers from Alberta, Canada to several oil processing centers in the United States. If completed, the project would cost about thirteen billion dollars and transport over one million barrels of oil a day.

政治辩论中的议题之一就是加拿大公司Transcanada提出的一个项目。该公司的大号拱心石（Keystone XL）管道将从加拿大阿尔伯塔省延伸3千多公里一直到美国的几个石油加工中心。如果管道完成，该项目将耗资近130亿美元，每天运输超过100万桶石油。

Republicans have criticized President Obama for delaying work on the oil pipeline. Last Saturday, Congressman³ Doc Hastings spoke⁴ for the Republican Party to the American people. He said the party wants to use all of the nation’s energy resources. He called it an all-of-the-above approach. That includes both the Keystone XL pipeline and oil exploration in coastal⁵ waters.

共和党人批评奥巴马总统延误了石油管道工作。上周六，众议员达克·海斯廷(Doc Hastings)代表共和党对美国民众发表讲话。他说，共和党想要使用美国全部能源资源。他称其为所有途经原则（all-of-the-above approach），其中包括大号拱心石管道和近海石油勘探两个项目。

DOC HASTINGS: “Republicans have followed through on our all-of-the-above approach and passed through the house bi-partisan reforms that break down government barriers to our natural resources. While the president has closed off new areas for off-shore drilling, the House has passed legislation that would open the most promising⁶ areas off-shore to exploration and production.”

海斯廷：“共和党人已经遵循我们的all-of-the-above approach原则，通过了众议院两党改革，打破了政府在自然资源上的壁垒。虽然奥巴马总统封锁了离岸钻探新的区域，但众议院已经通过立法，将打开最具前景地区的离案勘探和生产。”

On Wednesday, the president spoke at a Daimler Truck factory in North Carolina. He said more oil exploration is not an easy answer to the nation’s energy problems.

上周三，奥巴马总统在北卡罗莱纳州的戴姆勒卡车工厂发表讲话。他说更多石油勘探不是解决国家能源问题的办法。

BARACK OBAMA: “As a country that has two percent of the world’s oil reserves, but uses twenty percent of the world’s oil--I’m going to repeat that--we’ve got two percent of the world’s oil reserves, we use twenty percent. What that means is, as much as we’re doing to increase oil production, we’re not going to be able to drill our way out of the problem of high gas prices.”

奥巴马：“作为一个只拥有世界石油储量2%，但消耗世界石油20%的国家，我要重复一遍，我们只有世界石油储量的2%，消耗了20%。这意味着我们再怎么提升石油产量，我们也无法找到高油价问题的出路。”

Workers at the North Carolina factory build alternative fuel vehicles. Mr. Obama told them that new sources of energy mean more jobs.

北卡罗莱纳州工厂的工人生产替代燃料汽车。奥巴马先生告诉他们，新能源意味着更多的就业机会。

BARACK OBAMA: "We can't just rely on fossil fuels from the last century. We've got to continually develop new sources of energy and that's why we've made investments that have nearly doubled the use of clean, renewable energies in this country. And thousands of Americans have jobs because of it."

奥巴马：“我们不能仅仅依靠上世纪的矿物能源。我们必须不断开发新能源，这就是我们进行投资使美国清洁、可再生能源的使用几乎翻倍的原因。成千上万美国人因此而获得工作。”

The president has called for tax breaks on clean energy vehicles and urged local governments to buy them. Mister Obama has also called for cutting costs. Last week, he asked lawmakers to end four billion dollars in support for the oil and gas industries.

奥巴马总统呼吁对清洁能源汽车进行税收减免，并督促地方政府购买清洁能源汽车。奥巴马先生还呼吁削减成本。上周，他要求国会结束对石油和天然气行业40亿美元的支持。

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report. I'm Mario Ritter.

1 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

2 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

3 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

6 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。