VOA标准英语2009年-Tough Road Ahead in Australia For Pioneering Ca

The Australian government is facing mounting opposition¹ to its pioneering carbon trading scheme after it unveiled legislation it hopes to pass by the middle of this year. Australia is proposing what could be the most sweeping² cap-and-trade system in the world, including a commitment to cut carbon emissions³ by five percent of 2000 levels by 2020. The system would work by forcing companies to pay heavily for their pollution.

February's bushfires in the southern Australian state of Victoria, which killed more than 200 people, were, according to some researchers, a deadly glimpse into the future.

There is a warning that the Australian continent is particularly vulnerable to the effects of a shifting climate and that wildfires, drought and tropical storms will become more common and increasingly severe.

Armed with what it believes to be compelling scientific evidence, the government in Canberra earlier this month released details of a comprehensive carbon pollution reduction scheme or CPRS.

Its overall aim is to encourage big companies to produce less carbon emissions by forcing them to pay for the pollution they emit.

Richard Denniss, from the Australia Institute, which is an independent public policy research center, says the plan is ground-breaking.

"The CPRS is designed to put a price on pollution for the first time in Australian history and by limiting the amount of pollution that can be put into the atmosphere and asking polluters to buy the right to pollute, what we're trying to do is get polluters to take seriously the need to reduce their emissions," said Denniss.

The proposal will be the world's broadest carbon trading mechanism⁴, covering 75 percent of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions, which many scientific experts believe are contributing to rising temperatures.

Australia is one of the world's worst greenhouse gas polluters.

About 1,000 of Australia's biggest polluters, from transport operators and aluminium⁵ producers to gas companies and refineries⁶, will have to pay to pollute through a permit system.

The scheme has attracted widespread criticism. Conservative opposition parties and the powerful mining industry want the project delayed to soften⁷ the blow for businesses that will shoulder higher costs during a recession.

Opposition lawmaker Andrew Robb says in its current form, the draft plan is flawed.

"I don't know anybody who supports the scheme, as currently defined by the government," said Robb. "It will cost jobs, it will kill investment, and will not do anything of any consequence about CO2 emissions.'

Environmental campaigners have demonstrated against the plan, which is detailed⁸ in a proposal 490 pages long, and are demanding even tougher targets to reduce emissions.

"I think there have to be very substantial amendments," said Green Party Senator Christine Milne. "The government has said that their legislation is as big as a Canberra phone book, but what we know is it's full of wrong numbers."

For the draft carbon trading legislation to become law, Australia's left-of-center government needs in the upper house of parliament, the Senate, the support either of conservative lawmakers or the Greens and two independent senators.

Climate Change Minister Penny Wong says while critics see the scheme as imperfect, it is better than nothing.

"The question that will, I think, confront some senators is 'Do you throw away something because you'd rather have everything?'" asked Wong. "We're building a vehicle that will take us to a low-pollution future. Some people want it to be a Ferrari, but if you can't have a Ferrari would you really have no vehicle at all?'

Australia is being urged to take a decisive stand against the potential ravages⁹ of climate change by international experts.

Leading climatologist, professor Stephen Schneider of Stanford University, believes there is no time to waste.

"Well, in the last 35 years of our doing nothing, nature has cooperated with theory and we have lots of examples of melting ice, and plants and animals changing, and fires and death rates going up from heat waves," said Schneider. "So now we're finally saying well we better do it. You know if we'd started a long time ago we'd be a lot further along with the job and we could do it easier and cheaper, but if we're going to sit there and use uncertainty¹⁰ as an excuse for inaction and wait another 10 or 20 years, then what we'll have to do in the future will be really radical¹¹. So, let's get on with the job now and we can do it smart."

In Canberra, the government wants to have the carbon trading program up and running by July, 2010. With opposition parties and business groups as well as environmentalists opposed to the laws in their present form, the scheme faces an uncertain future.

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

3 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。

4 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

5 aluminium   

n.铝 (=aluminum)

参考例句：

• Aluminium looks heavy but actually it is very light.铝看起来很重，实际上却很轻。
• If necessary, we can use aluminium instead of steel.如果必要，我们可用铝代钢。

6 refineries   

精炼厂( refinery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The efforts on closedown and suspension of small sugar refineries, small saccharin refineries and small paper mills are also being carried out in steps. 关停小糖厂、小糖精厂、小造纸厂的工作也已逐步展开。
• Hence the sitting of refineries is at a distance from population centres. 所以，炼油厂的厂址总在远离人口集中的地方。

7 soften   

v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和

参考例句：

• Plastics will soften when exposed to heat.塑料适当加热就可以软化。
• This special cream will help to soften up our skin.这种特殊的护肤霜有助于使皮肤变得柔软。

8 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

9 ravages   

劫掠后的残迹，破坏的结果，毁坏后的残迹

参考例句：

• the ravages of war 战争造成的灾难
• It is hard for anyone to escape from the ravages of time. 任何人都很难逃避时间的摧残。

10 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

11 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。