奥巴马宣布清洁能源项目

Obama Announces Clean Power Program 奥巴马宣布清洁能源项目

President Barack Obama announced the final version of his “Clean Power Plan” this week. Mr. Obama says the plan will reduce carbon pollution from power stations by one-third over the next 15 years. He said this is the single most important step the United States has ever taken in the fight against climate change.

But his political opponents say they will fight the rules in Congress. They even plan to ask courts to stop them. Congressional Republicans say the president’s plan will hurt states where coal is mined. They also say it will be costly¹ to put in place and will raise electricity rates.

Yet the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is happy about the plan. Gina McCarthy says it will give her agency more power to limit carbon pollution from existing power plants. She says gases linked to climate change will be reduced at a faster rate than would have been possible under an earlier version of the rules.

The new plan cuts about nine percent more of those gases than the earlier proposal. This has angered many officials in coal-mining states, including members of Mr. Obama’s party.

At the White House on Monday, the president said the EPA must act now because the effects of climate change are already being felt. In his words, “we are the first generation to feel the impact of climate change (and) we’re the last generation that can do something about it.”

“There is such a thing as being too late when it comes to climate change.”

The president said: “We only get one home. We only get one planet. There is no Plan B.”

Mr. Obama said he believes the changing climate is the greatest challenge to future generations. He said the United States must reduce the amount of electricity it produces with coal, and increase the amount it creates with renewable energy, such as wind power. The president said power plants create about a third of the carbon pollution in the country’s air. That is more than automobiles², homes and airplanes combined, he said.

The United States and China are among the world’s biggest polluters. Coal supplies more than a third of the electricity used in the U.S. Only five percent of the country’s power comes from wind and solar energy.

One of the president’s strongest critics is Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. He sharply criticized the new rules during a speech this week in the Senate. He said they would hurt states that depend on coal, like his home state of Kentucky. It has lost thousands of coal mining jobs in recent years. Senator McConnell says the new rules would cost many more.

“And in Kentucky, these regulations would likely mean fewer jobs, shuttered power plants (and) higher electricity costs for families and businesses. So I’m not gonna sit by while the White House takes aims at the lifeblood of our state’s economy.”

Many power companies and other businesses are expected to oppose the Clean Power Plan. And about 25 states are expected to fight the plan in court. Experts say the Supreme³ Court will probably have to decide if the federal government has the power to put the new rules into effect.

Senator McConnell has called on governors to refuse to accept the plan. It requires states to write their own rules and put them in place by 2022. That is two years later than the rules announced earlier this year.

Senator John Barasso is a Republican from the western state of Wyoming.

“Governors know that this is going to be bad in terms of reliability⁴ of energy in their states, bad for jobs and bad for their economy, and it's going to cost people in their states more for energy.”

Missouri Senator Roy Blunt is also a Republican.

“And it’ll have (a) disproportionate impact on poor families and working families and middle-class families that can barely pay their utility bill now.”

Mr. Obama said opponents of his plan should consider the effects of pollution on people in their states.

“So if you care about low-income and minority communities, start protecting the air they breathe and stop trying to rob them of their health care.”

The president said his plan would reduce the number of early deaths from power plant pollution by 90 percent. And he said it would reduce the number of pollutants⁵ than can cause asthma⁶ attacks by 70 percent.

Mr. Obama noted⁷ that Pope Francis, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, has said fighting climate change is a moral obligation. The president said he will talk to the pope about the issue when Francis visits Washington next month.

Words in This Story

impact – n. a powerful or major influence or effect

Plan B – n. idiomatic⁸ phrase. a plan in case something bad happens; an alternative plan

challenge – n. a difficult task or problem; something that is hard to do

solar – adj. produced by or using the sun's light or heat

shutter(ed) – v. to close (a business or store) for a period of time or forever

lifeblood – n. the most important part of something; the part of something that provides its strength and energy

disproportionate – adj. having or showing a difference that is not fair, reasonable or expected; too large or too small in relation to something

barely – adv. hardly or scarcely; used to say that something was almost not possible or almost did not happen

income – n. money that is earned from work, investments or business

moral obligation – n. an obligation arising out of considerations of right and wrong; the social force that binds you to the courses of action demanded by that force

1 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。

2 automobiles   

n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• When automobiles become popular,the use of the horse and buggy passed away. 汽车普及后，就不再使用马和马车了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Automobiles speed in an endless stream along the boulevard. 宽阔的林荫道上，汽车川流不息。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

4 reliability   

n.可靠性，确实性

参考例句：

• We mustn't presume too much upon the reliability of such sources.我们不应过分指望这类消息来源的可靠性。
• I can assure you of the reliability of the information.我向你保证这消息可靠。

5 pollutants   

污染物质（尤指工业废物）( pollutant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Pollutants are constantly being released into the atmosphere. 污染物质正在不断地被排放到大气中去。
• The 1987 Amendments limit 301(g) discharges to a few well-studied nonconventional pollutants. 1987年的修正案把第301条（g）的普通排放限制施加在一些认真研究过的几种非常规污染物上。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

6 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 idiomatic   

adj.成语的，符合语言习惯的

参考例句：

• In our reading we should always be alert for idiomatic expressions.我们在阅读过程中应经常注意惯用法。
• In his lecture,he bore down on the importance of idiomatic usage in a language.他在演讲中着重强调了语言中习惯用法的重要性。