VOA标准英语2013--Environmentalists Embrace Obama Climate Plan

 

Environmentalists Embrace Obama Climate Plan

The plan would help curb¹ carbon emissions², prepare the nation for the impact of climate change and expand the U.S. global role in fighting it. Eileen Claussen, president of Climate and Energy Solutions, an environmental policy think tank, calls it an important initiative.

“Everything is in this plan, from rules at the Environmental Protection Agency to loan guarantees from the Department of Energy, to using federal lands for renewable power, to working internationally from everything from hydro-fluorocarbons to clean energy," said Claussen.

Claussen supports a Congressional mandate³ to put a price on carbon.  However, that plan has failed to gain legislative⁴ support. She says the centerpiece of the president's plan would direct the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to write new rules to reduce power plant emissions.    

“The administration before this has really said it’s on the back burner.  We aren’t really working on it.  But you know that about a third of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions come from power plants, and so in this statement he is making it very clear that he wants EPA to move forward with the rules for both new power plants and existing power plants," she said.

Marlo Lewis is a senior fellow with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free market public policy group. He says the directive on existing plants is a step in the wrong direction, especially at a time of high unemployment and a fragile U.S. economy.

“The risk here is that we could have just a sheer dead weight loss of billions of dollars if coal-fired power plants - existing plants which have recently renovated⁵ to comply with environmental laws - have to shut down," said Lewis.

Eileen Claussen agrees that the President will face opposition⁶ as the EPA moves ahead with rules affecting the more than 6,500 existing power plants.   

“They are all different. And trying to write a rule that would move them all in the direction of clean and green is really challenging.  It’s a challenge on the complexity⁷ side. It’s a challenge on the legal side. There are many in the Congress and elsewhere who do not think this should happen at all. So there could be political challenges here too," she said.

Lewis argues that such regulations would also make electricity more costly⁸.    

“And raising energy prices is not a good way to grow the economy and not a good way to create jobs," he said.

Another provision of the plan would help prepare the nation for climate change, a move welcomed by communities already experiencing intense weather events, which will only get worse in a warmer world.

Claussen cites some examples:

“… intense flooding, record breaking heat, extensive drought, wildfires, destructive storms, and the administration is making a commitment here to pull together the tools and information necessary to help communities and businesses strengthen their infrastructure⁹ and plan for these types of impacts," she said.

Claussen joins other voices in the environmental community who say that the proposed climate plan is a good step in demonstrating U.S. commitment toward combating climate change, but that the President must vigorously press for its implementation¹⁰.

1 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

2 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。

3 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

4 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。

5 renovated   

翻新，修复，整修( renovate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He renovated his house. 他翻修了房子。
• The house has been renovated three years earlier. 这所房子三年前就已翻新。

6 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

7 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

8 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

9 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。

10 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。