纽约时报 拜登为降低油价--只剩最糟的选择(2)（在线收听）

    “A president has to try,” said Bill Richardson, an energy secretary in the Clinton administration.

    克林顿政府的能源部长比尔·理查森说：“总统必须尝试。

    “Unfortunately, there are only bad options. And any alternative options are probably worse than asking the Saudis to increase production.”

    不幸的是，只有糟糕的选择。而且任何替代选项都可能比要求沙特增产更糟糕。”

    Two other oil-producing countries that could increase production — Iran and Venezuela — are U.S. adversaries that Western sanctions have largely cut out of the global market.

    另外两个可能增加产量的产油国——伊朗和委内瑞拉——是美国的对手，西方的制裁基本上把它们赶出了全球市场。

    Striking any deal with their leaders without securing major concessions on issues like nuclear enrichment and democratic reforms would be politically perilous for Mr. Biden.

    对拜登来说，在没有在核浓缩和民主改革等问题上取得重大让步的情况下，与两国领导人达成任何协议都将面临政治风险。

    Energy experts said even Saudi Arabia, which is widely considered to have the most spare production capacity ready to be put to use, could not bring down prices quickly on its own.

    能源专家表示，即使是被普遍认为拥有最多闲置产能可以投入使用的沙特阿拉伯，也无法单靠自己迅速压低油价。

    That’s because Russian output is sliding and could fall much further as European countries reduce their purchases from the country.

    这是因为俄罗斯的产量正在下滑，而且随着欧洲国家减少从俄罗斯的采购，俄罗斯的产量可能会进一步下降。

    “Presidents may be the most powerful figure in the American government, but they cannot control the price of oil at the pump,” said Chase Untermeyer, U.S. ambassador to Qatar in the George W. Bush administration.

    乔治·布什政府时期的美国驻卡塔尔大使蔡斯·昂特迈尔说：“总统可能是美国政府中最有权势的人物，但他们无法控制加油站的油价。”

    “Even if prices do go down for reasons out of his control, President Biden probably won’t get much credit for it, either.”

    “即使价格真的因为超出他控制的原因而下跌，拜登总统也很可能不会为此得到太多赞誉。”

    Some Republican lawmakers and oil executives have argued that Mr. Biden could do more to increase domestic oil and gas production by opening up more federal lands and waters to oil drilling in places like Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico.

    一些共和党议员和石油业高管认为，拜登可以通过开放更多的联邦土地和水域，允许在阿拉斯加和墨西哥湾等地进行石油钻探，从而在增加国内石油和天然气产量方面做出更多努力。

    He could also ease regulations on pipeline construction so Canadian producers could send more oil south.

    他还可以放松对管道建设的监管，这样加拿大生产商就可以向南输送更多石油。

    But even those initiatives — which environmentalists and many Democrats oppose because they would retard efforts to combat climate change — would have little immediate impact because it takes months for new oil wells to start producing and pipelines can take years to build.

    但即便是这些举措也不会产生立竿见影的效果，因为新油井需要几个月的时间才能投产，而管道可能需要数年时间才能建成。而环保人士和许多民主党人反对这些举措，因为它们会阻碍应对气候变化的努力。

    “Were the administration to accede to every aspect of the industry’s wish list, that would have a modest impact on today’s prices because it would mostly be about production in the future,”

    “如果美国政府在各个方面都满足石油行业的要求，对目前的价格影响也不大，因为这主要是关乎未来的生产。”

    said Jason Bordoff, who is director of Columbia University’s Center for Global Energy Policy and was an adviser to President Barack Obama.

    哥伦比亚大学全球能源政策中心主任、美国总统奥巴马的顾问杰森·博尔多夫说。

    “And it would come with substantial downsides politically, socially and environmentally.”

    “这将在政治、社会和环境方面带来巨大的负面影响。”