VOA标准英语2008年-Australia Considers Economic Costs of Fighting

Australia's top climate adviser¹ has unveiled the likely costs of an emissions² trading program. Professor Ross Garnaut has proposed cautious targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and recommends that Australia's total emissions should to be cut by between 10 and 25 percent by 2020. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.

The Australian government commissioned economist³ Ross Garnaut to look at ways to address climate change and to ensure that Australia does its fair share to support international efforts to tackle pollution.

The government has promised to introduce a carbon trading program within two years. It would be designed to give a financial incentive⁴ to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, which many scientists believe contribute to a warming climate.

Garnaut has put a price on pollution. He suggests that companies be charged $16 for producing a ton of carbon dioxide. He estimates that would be close to the international price if a global free market in carbon-trading emerges from a United Nations climate conference in Denmark next year.

Delegates at the Copenhagen summit will look to set new international greenhouse gas targets after the Kyoto Protocol⁵ ends in 2012.

Garnaut says that striking a comprehensive global deal will not be easy.

"The process of international cooperation is perhaps the most formidable of international relations challenges, more formidable that the multilateral trade negotiations⁶ which have recently fallen onto hard times," he said. "The development of domestic policies consistent with ultimate international agreement is immensely difficult in every country."

Garnaut recommends that Australia cuts its overall emissions by between 10 and 25 percent by 2020. Doing so, however, could reduce Australia's gross domestic product of more than one percent by 2020.

The government has yet to respond to Garnaut's report. Some environmentalists think the proposed emissions cuts are too low, while business groups have broadly welcome the recommendations.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd hopes to unveil his government's final blueprint⁷ for a domestic carbon trading program in December and introduce legislation early next year.

Australia is one of the world's worst carbon dioxide polluters per capita because of its heavy reliance on its abundant reserves of coal.

This arid⁸ continent is also considered by many experts to be particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

1 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

2 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。

3 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

4 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

5 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。

6 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

7 blueprint   

n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划

参考例句：

• All the machine parts on a blueprint must answer each other.设计图上所有的机器部件都应互相配合。
• The documents contain a blueprint for a nuclear device.文件内附有一张核装置的设计蓝图。

8 arid   

adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的

参考例句：

• These trees will shield off arid winds and protect the fields.这些树能挡住旱风,保护农田。
• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。