VOA常速英语2007年-Bush Signs Energy Bill

By Scott Stearns
White House
19 December 2007

The United States is boosting fuel efficiency standards in automobiles¹ for the first time in 32 years.  VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports, President Bush signed the new standards into law.

The new energy policy requires cars and light trucks sold in the United States to average 15 kilometers per liter by 2020.  That is nearly five more kilometers per liter of fuel than American motor vehicles currently average.

It sets tougher efficiency requirements for refrigerators, freezers, and dishwashers, and requires a 70 percent increase in the efficiency of light bulbs.

President Bush says the measures address one of the most serious long-term challenges facing the nation: dependence² on foreign oil.

"Because this dependence harms us economically through high and volatile³ prices at the gas pump," the president explained.  "The dependence creates pollution and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions⁴.  It threatens our national security by making us vulnerable to hostile regimes in unstable⁵ regions of the world.  It makes us vulnerable to terrorists who might attack oil infrastructure⁶."

The law does not go as far as the president's goal of cutting American gasoline use by 20 percent in 10 years, but it does have much of the funding for ethanol that Mr. Bush requested.

The law requires the annual production of more than 136 billion liters of renewable fuels by 2022.  Of that total, more than half of the ethanol must come from sources other than corn, such as wood chips or switch grass.

The law also sets tougher efficiency standards for the construction of new commercial properties and improvements in federal buildings.

The bill passed Congress only after Democrats⁷ agreed to cut billions of dollars in new taxes on oil companies that were to be used to subsidize wind, solar, and geothermal production.  President Bush threatened to veto the measure if it included those higher costs and a requirement for utilities to produce more electric power from renewable sources of energy.

1 automobiles   

n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• When automobiles become popular,the use of the horse and buggy passed away. 汽车普及后，就不再使用马和马车了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Automobiles speed in an endless stream along the boulevard. 宽阔的林荫道上，汽车川流不息。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 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。

3 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

4 emissions   

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。

5 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

6 infrastructure   

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。

7 democrats   

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》