VOA标准英语2013--Thousands March on White House to Protest Climate Change

 

Thousands March on White House to Protest Climate Change

Demonstrators formed a "human pipeline¹" Sunday, stretching from the National Mall to the White House, to protest an oil pipeline that would stretch across the United States, linking Canada to the Gulf² of Mexico.

They want President Obama to reject the nearly 3,000-kilometer Keystone XL Pipeline, saying its development would harm the environment and ultimately lead to greater greenhouse gas emissions³. They also want the president to order U.S. authorities to set carbon standards for power plants.

"The people are upset at what's going on and he needs to actually pay attention to what the people want and not what the corporations want," said a protester named Leslie.

Local and national environmental groups organized what they hoped would be the largest climate rally in U.S. history.

"You are the antibodies kicking in as the planet tries to fight its fever," said protest organizer Bill McKibben.

The State Department is scheduled to release a new environmental impact statement on the pipeline project after authorities changed the planned construction path to bypass ecologically sensitive areas. But the project's future remains⁴ uncertain, following the president's renewed focus on climate change.

And after a four 1/2-year-long hold on building it, critics accuse the Obama administration of unnecessarily impeding⁵ America's energy independence and preventing the creation of tens of thousands of jobs.

"I believe that the president has been overly political in catering⁶ to so-called green energy private investors⁷, as well as others, when our carbon dioxide emissions are lower now than they have been in 20 years," said Congressman⁸ Ed Whitefield.

Just like the protesters, proponents⁹ of the pipeline plan on holding their own grassroots events across the country in support of the project's approval. 

1 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。

2 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

3 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。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 impeding   

a.(尤指坏事)即将发生的，临近的

参考例句：

• Fallen rock is impeding the progress of rescue workers. 坠落的石头阻滞了救援人员的救援进程。
• Is there sufficient room for the kiosk and kiosk traffic without impeding other user traffic? 该环境下是否有足够的空间来摆放信息亭？信息亭是否会妨碍交通或者行走？ 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

6 catering   

n. 给养

参考例句：

• Most of our work now involves catering for weddings. 我们现在的工作多半是承办婚宴。
• Who did the catering for your son's wedding? 你儿子的婚宴是由谁承办的？

7 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

8 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。

9 proponents   

n.（某事业、理论等的）支持者，拥护者( proponent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Reviewing courts were among the most active proponents of hybrid rulemaking procedures. 复审法院是最积极的混合型规则制定程序的建议者。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Proponents of such opinions were arrested as 'traitors. ' 提倡这种主张的人马上作为“卖国贼”逮捕起来。 来自辞典例句