U.S. President George Bush wants Congress to end a federal ban on offshore oil drilling. Opposition Democrats say that would not lower gas prices.
布什总统要国会撤销禁止进行海洋石油勘探的联邦命令。反对党民主党却说，这一举措并不能降低油价。
With Americans paying record-high gasoline prices, President Bush says it is time for lawmakers to lift a 27-year ban on offshore drilling.
在美国人支付创纪录的高油价的情况下，布什总统表示，如今该是立法人员取消已施行了二十七年的海洋采油禁令的时候了。
"Congress must face a hard reality. Unless members are willing to accept gas prices at today's painful levels or even higher, our nation must produce more oil," he said. "And we must start now."
布什总统说：“国会务必面对严峻的现实。除非议员们乐意接受当今令人痛心的汽油高价位、或者甚至更高的价位，不然我国就必须生产更多的石油，而且我们务必马上就动手。”
Over time, the president says America's outer-continental shelf could produce 18 billion barrels of oil, which is enough to meet current domestic oil production for about 10 years.
布什总统说，一段时间之后， 美国的海岸大陆架外可能产油一百八十亿桶，这将能在约十年时间里满足目前的国内汽油生产需求。
Offshore drilling is currently blocked by both legislative and administrative prohibitions. Mr. Bush says he wants Congress to act first in ending its moratorium. Then he says he will lift the executive ban.
海洋钻探石油目前受到立法机构和政府机构的禁止。布什总统说，他希望国会首先采取行动结束这一禁令。他说，然后他将取消行政禁令。
Offshore drilling is one of four actions the president wants lawmakers to take to increase U.S. energy production.
近海采油是布什总统希望立法人员为提高美国能源生产而采取的四项行动之一。
Speaking to reporters in the White House Rose Garden, Mr. Bush also called for drilling in an Alaskan wildlife refugee, expanding refinery capacity, and exploiting oil shale, which is a kind of rock that produces oil when exposed to heat.
布什总统在白宫玫瑰园对记者讲话时还要求在阿拉斯加的野生动物保护区钻井采油、扩大炼油设施并开采油页岩，即加热后能产生石油的一种岩石。
Record high gas prices are a big issue in this year's presidential election. Mr. Bush spoke one day after his party's presumptive nominee called for lifting the ban on offshore drilling. The opposition party's likely candidate opposes the move.
创记录的高油价是今年总统大选中的一个大问题。布什总统发表有关谈话的前一天，预计能得到共和党总统候选人提名的麦凯恩也呼吁取消海洋采油禁令。而很可能得到反对党民主党候选人提名的奥巴马却反对这样做。
President Bush again sought to politicize the issue, saying Americans are paying the price at the pump due to obstruction by Democrats in Congress.
布什总统再次试图把这个问题政治化，他说：美国人付那么高的油价是由于国会内的民主党人阻碍取消有关禁令。布什总统说：
"I know the Democratic leaders have opposed some of these policies in the past. Now that their opposition has helped drive gas prices to record levels, I ask them to reconsider their positions," he added. "If Congressional leaders leave for their Fourth of July recess without taking action, they will need to explain why four-dollar-a-gallon gasoline is not enough incentive for them to act."
“我知道民主党领袖以前曾经反对这类政策的某一部分。既然他们的反对已把油价推上了创纪录的高度，所以我要求他们重新考虑自己的立场。如果国会领袖在七月四号假期休会前不采取行动的话，他们务必要解释，为什么油价涨到四美元一加仑，还不足以促使他们采取行动。”
West Virginia Democrat Nick Rahall chairs the House Natural Resources Committee. He says the president is wrong to link offshore drilling with lower gas prices.
西维吉尼亚州的民主党人雷哈尔是众议院自然资源委员会主席。他说，布什总统把海洋采油与降低油价联系在一起是错误的。他说：
"Bottom line, you can not drill yourself to lower gas prices," he noted. "The amount of lands that are open, the amount of permits that have been issued have all increased over recent years yet so has the price of gas. There is no correlation between opening up more pristine areas and lowering the price of gas - no correlation whatsoever."
“根本的问题是你不可能通过自己采油来降低油价。近年来，可开采区域的范围及发放的采油许可都在增加，但是油价依然高升。开放未开采区域与降低油价之间并没有任何内在联系。”
House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emmanuel says oil companies already hold leases to 68 million acres of federal land that they are not exploring.
众议院民主党核心会议主席伊曼纽尔说，石油公司已经持有六千八百万公顷联邦政府土地的契约，但是他们还没有在这些土地上进行钻探。
"We will not scare the American people into doing something that they should not do at this point, given the oil industry holds leases today to 14 years worth of energy supply that would give us the ability to wean off of foreign dependence," he said.
伊曼纽尔说：“我们不会把美国人吓得去做目前还不该做的事情，目前情况是石油工业部门持有的开采契约可以产生的石油能维持十四年的能源需求量，并能让我们摆脱对外国石油的依赖。”
Emmanuel and Rahall have introduced legislation to force oil companies to use land already under lease.
伊曼纽尔和雷哈尔已经提出议案，要强迫石油公司必须利用他们已租借的土地来进行开采。 |