2007年VOA标准英语-President Bush Commits to Development of Altern

By Mil Arcega
Washington, DC
25 January 2007
 
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Harvesting corn to make alternative fuel
President Bush says emerging technologies will help the United States reduce its dependence¹ on foreign oil and protect the environment from climate change.  To drive home his point, the president toured an alternative fuel research facility in Delaware - the day after delivering his State of the Union address.

"Tonight, I ask Congress to join me in pursuing a great goal,” he said during his speech to Congress. “Let us build on the work we have done and reduce gasoline usage in the United States by 20 percent in the next ten years."

 
President Bush visits a DuPont facility developing alternative fuels
President Bush followed up on his ambitious plan to wean the United States from its dependence on foreign oil by visiting DuPont's experimental energy facility in Delaware.   Research at the facility, which is developing new ways to convert crop waste into alternative fuels, is key to the president's efforts to sharply reduce American imports of Middle East oil. 

To do that, the president is mandating² a five-fold increase in the production of bio-fuels. "This is a government mandate³ that says we'll be using 35 billion gallons [132 billion liters] of alternate fuel by 2017. This is a firm statement," he said on the tour.

The president is also moving to reform fuel economy standards for cars, which could save an additional 30 billion liters of gasoline. 

At a meeting of business leaders in Switzerland, the head of an investment firm that specializes in clean energy projects says it's an important first step.  But James Cameron of Climate Change Capital says the president must ensure the plan moves forward. "It's clearly a good thing to set aggressive targets for reduction and to make those reductions early.  It will reduce costs ultimately, to do something today that makes a difference."

A Washington based biotechnology trade group agrees the president is on the right track.  Brent Erickson is the Chief executive of Biotechnology Industry Organization.  "This is the one issue where there is strong bipartisan support.  And it's the one issue that Congress may actually rally behind and get over the finish line this year."

Some see the administration's shift toward renewable resources as a realignment with the rest of the world.  Former Senator Timothy Wirth was one of the chief U.S. negotiators on the Kyoto agreement.  The Bush administration did not sign the 1997 accord, which asked major industrial nations to voluntarily reduce greenhouse gas emissions⁴.

"The president is understanding, finally, I think, that this is a serious issue that the U.S. has to address, the U.S. has to lead in real ways not rhetorical ways, but real ways," said Mr. Wirth.

Dozens of lawmakers from around the world will meet in Washington next month to look at ways to reduce global warming.

1 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

2 mandating   

托管（mandate的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Current requirements mandating that committees keep minutes are too general. 目前对委员会要保持详细记录的指令性要求，还是太过一般化了。
• Mandating that workers who quit without permission forfeit a month's wages. 规定工人私自离岗将受到罚没一个月工资的处罚。

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 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。