Weekly Address: President Obama Outlines Administration Response Efforts to the BP Oil Spill from Grand Isle, LA
每周电视讲话：奥巴马总统在路易斯安那州大岛讲述当局为应对BP的石油泄漏所做的努力
WASHINGTON- In his weekly address, President Barack Obama underscored his commitment to helping the people of the Gulf Coast recover and rebuild from the BP oil spill that has threatened their livelihoods. On Friday, the President heard from local residents and small business owners about the hardships that they are facing as a result of this catastrophe. The Administration has mobilized the largest response to an environmental disaster of this kind in the history of our country to clean up the BP oil spill. Additionally, the federal government is working to ensure that BP and other companies are held accountable for damages and that aggressive new standards are put into place to avoid a disaster in the future.
华盛顿消息：在本周的讲话中，奥巴马总统再一次强调他的承诺，帮助墨西哥海湾沿岸的人们从BP石油泄漏的影响中恢复和重建家园的承诺。本周五，总统从当地居民和小企业主那里得知他们在这场灾难中正在经受的磨难。为了清理BP的石油泄漏，当局已经动员了历史上最大规模的力量来应对这场环境灾难。另外，联邦政府也正在努力让BP以及其他公司为这些损失负责，而更为严格的新标准也将实施以防止未来出现类似灾难。
I’m speaking to you from Caminada Bay in Grand Isle, Louisiana, one of the first places to feel the devastation wrought by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. While I was here, at Camerdelle’s Live Bait shop, I met with a group of local residents and small business owners.
我从路易斯安那州大岛的卡米纳达海湾向大家发表演说，这里是墨西哥海湾石油泄漏以来最先遭受蹂躏的地区之一。此时此刻，我在卡梅德拉的鱼饵店会见了很多本地居民以及小企业主。
Folks like Floyd Lasseigne, a fourth-generation oyster fisherman. This is the time of year when he ordinarily earns a lot of his income. But his oyster bed, along the north side of Grand Isle, has likely been destroyed by the spill. Terry Vegas had a similar story. He quit the 8th grade to become a shrimper with his grandfather. Ever since, he’s earned his living during shrimping season – working long, grueling days so that he could earn enough money to support himself year round. But today, the waters where he’s spent his years are closed. And every day, as the spill worsens, he loses hope that he’ll be able to return to the life he built. “You can put a price on a lost season,” he’s said. “But not a lost heritage.”
弗洛伊德·拉塞因一家四代养殖牡蛎，还有许多与他一样的渔民，正常来讲，每年的这个时候都是他们收获的季节。但今年，他位于大岛北岸的牡蛎养殖场已经被泄漏的石油完全毁坏了。特里·威格斯也遭受着同样的悲剧，他从8年级退学回家跟随爷爷一起捕虾。从那时起，他就开始在捕虾季捕虾挣钱，每天都要工作很长时间，累的精疲力竭，只有这样才能挣到足够支持一年生活的钱。但现在，他赖以生存的海域被封锁了。每一天，随着泄漏趋于严重，他也渐渐失去了重回已有生活的希望。他说：“一个季节的损失是有限的，但一辈子的就不是了。”
The effects of the spill reach beyond the shoreline. I also spoke with Patti Rigaud. For 30 years, she’s owned a small convenience store – a store opened by her father. She depends on the sales generated by tourism each summer. But this year, most of the boats that would line these docks are nowhere to be seen. Dudley Gaspard, who owns the Sand Dollar Marina and Hotel, has been hit hard as well. Normally, this time of year, rooms are filling up and tackle is flying off the shelves. But he too has been devastated by the decline in tourism and the suspension of fishing in the waters off the Louisiana Coast.
泄漏所影响的已经不仅仅是海岸沿线了。我曾与帕蒂·里歌德交谈，她经营着一家小便利店已经30年了，店是他父亲开的。每年夏天，她都靠游客挣些钱。但今年，游船在码头排成长龙的景象再也看不见了。杜里·格斯帕德，沙元港酒店（the Sand Dollar Marina and Hotel）的老板，同样遭受了重大打击。通常每年这个时候，房间都住的满满的而且渔具架上早就空空如也了。但现在他也由于游客锐减和路易斯安那海岸沿线禁止钓鱼而蒙受巨大损失。
Their stories are familiar to many in Grand Isle and throughout the Gulf region. Often families have been here for generations, earning a living, and making a life, that’s tied to the water – that’s tied to the magnificent coasts and natural bounty of this place. Here, this spill has not just damaged livelihoods. It’s upended whole communities. And the fury people feel is not just about the money they’ve lost. They’ve been through tough times before. It’s about the wrenching recognition that this time their lives may never be the same.
他们的遭遇与大岛以及海湾沿岸的其他居民是一样的。这里的人们世代居住于斯，依赖于这片水域养家糊口，这是一个美丽而富饶的海湾。但是，石油泄漏不仅毁坏了人们的日常生活，更颠覆了这个地区的社会生活。人们并不仅仅是为他们所蒙受的损失而深感愤怒，他们也曾经历过困难时期，但让人们更为愤怒的是面对可能永远再也不能回到从前的残酷现实。
These folks work hard. They meet their responsibilities. But now because of a manmade catastrophe – one that’s not their fault and that’s beyond their control – their lives have been thrown into turmoil. It’s brutally unfair. It’s wrong. And what I told these men and women – and what I have said since the beginning of this disaster – is that I’m going to stand with the people of the Gulf Coast until they are made whole.
这里的人们辛勤劳作，履行着自己的责任。但现在由于一起人为的灾难——而且还不是他们自己的错，也不由他们控制——他们的生活就乱了套了。这非常的不公平，非常的不道德。我已经告诉这里的人们，而且我从灾难一开始就这么告诉大家，我将永远与墨西哥海湾沿岸的人们站在一起，直到他们的生活重归完好。
That’s why from the beginning, we’ve mobilized on every front to contain and clean up this spill. I’ve authorized the deployment of 17,500 National Guard troops to aid in the response. More than 20,000 people are currently working around the clock to protect waters and coastlines. We’ve convened hundreds of top scientists and engineers from around the world. More than 1,900 vessels are in the Gulf assisting in the clean up. More than 4.3 million feet of boom have been deployed with another 2.9 million feet of boom available – enough to stretch over 1,300 miles. And 17 staging areas are in place across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida to rapidly defend sensitive shorelines. In short, this is the largest response to an environmental disaster of this kind in the history of our country.
这也是为什么从一开始，我们就动员各方面力量来控制和清理泄漏。我已经授权部署17500名海岸警卫队员协助应对事件处理。2万多人现在正为保护海水和海岸线而昼夜不停的工作。我们已经召集了几百名世界上顶尖的科学家和工程师。超过1900艘各类舰船在该海域协助清理泄漏石油。已经部署了1300多公里（4300万英尺）的围栏以及近900公里（2900万英尺）的备用围栏，总共将达到1300多英里。在路易斯安那州，密西西比州，阿拉巴马州以及佛罗里达州部署了17个集结区域以便快速反应来保护脆弱的海岸线。简言之，这是我国历史上为应对这种环境灾难而进行的最大规模的动员行动。
We’ve also ordered BP to pay economic injury claims, and we will make sure they pay every single dime owed to the people along the Gulf Coast. The Small Business Administration has stepped in to help businesses by approving loans and allowing deferrals of existing loan payments. And this week, the federal government sent BP a preliminary bill for $69 million to pay back American taxpayers for some of the costs of the response so far. In addition, after an emergency safety review, we’re putting in place aggressive new operating standards for offshore drilling. And I’ve appointed a bipartisan commission to look into the causes of this spill. If laws are inadequate –laws will be changed. If oversight was lacking – it will be strengthened. And if laws were broken – those responsible will be brought to justice.
我们也命令BP宣布经济损失赔偿声明，而且还将确保他们赔付墨西哥海湾沿岸居民的每一分钱的损失。小企业主利益保护局（The Small Business Administration）已经介入帮助企业申请贷款和对已有贷款的偿还进行延期。本周，联邦政府向BP发送了一份6900万美元的初步赔偿方案，来为美国纳税人在此事件中蒙受的损失作出赔偿。另外，在紧急安全调查结束后，我们将对近海石油钻探设定新的严格标准。而且我也任命了一个两党联合调查委员会对这次泄漏的原因进行调查。如果是我们的法律有漏洞，那么法律将被修改；如果是我们的监管缺失，那么监管将加强；如果是有人违法，那这些人将受到法律的惩罚。
Now, over the last few days BP has placed a cap over the well, and it appears they’re making progress in trying to pump oil to the surface to keep it from leaking into the water. But as has been the case since the beginning of this crisis, we are prepared for the worst, even as we hope that BP’s efforts bring better news than we’ve received before. We also know that regardless of the outcome of this attempt, there will still to be some spillage until the relief wells are completed. And there will continue to be a massive cleanup ahead of us.
这几天来，BP已经在油井上放置了封堵罩，并尝试将石油抽上来以避免其漏入海中，他们好像取得了些进展。但如同危机之初的情况一样，我们做好了最坏的打算，即便我们希望BP的努力能带来比之前更好的消息。我们依然知道，无论这次尝试的结果如何，在减压井完成之前，总还会有些泄漏。而且还有大量的清理工作在等着我们。
So we will continue to leverage every resource at our disposal to protect coastlines, to clean up the oil, to hold BP and other companies accountable for damages, to begin to restore the bounty and beauty of this region – and to aid the hardworking people of the Gulf as they rebuild their businesses and communities. And I want to urge all Americans to do what you can as well – including visiting this area. The vast majority of beaches are pristine and open for business.
所以，我们将继续利用一切可以利用的资源来保护我们的海岸线，清理泄漏的原油，让BP以及其他相关公司为损失负责埋单，为重建这一美丽而富饶的地区而开始努力，为海湾沿岸勤劳的居民重建企业和社区提供援助。而且我希望所有的美国人民提供力所能及的帮助——包括来这一区域旅游。这里大多数的海滩还是一如既往的美丽，而且正在营业中。
These are hard times in Louisiana and across the Gulf Coast, an area that has already seen more than its fair share of troubles. But what we have also seen these past few weeks is that – even in the face of adversity – the men and women of the Gulf have displayed incredible determination. They have met this terrible catastrophe with seemingly boundless strength and character in defense of their way of life. What we owe the people of this region is a commitment by our nation to match the resilience of all the people I’ve met along the Gulf Coast. That is our mission. And it’s one we will fulfill.
对于路易斯安那州以及墨西哥海湾沿岸的居民来说，这是一段艰难的时期，他们遇到了从未有过的困难。但过去的几周我们所见到的是，即使面对不幸，海湾沿岸的人们所表现出来的难以想象的坚强决心。面对巨大的灾难他们表现出的是为保卫家园和生活的无限力量和不屈的品质。我欠这里的居民一个承诺，一个举全国之力为所有我在墨西哥海湾见到的人们重建家园的承诺。这是我们的使命。我们将努力去完成。
Thank you.
谢谢！
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