密歇根新闻广播 提重需要利用杠杆原理 解决气候问题也一样

The Next Idea

Climate change presents one of the biggest problemswe have ever faced. It is literally¹ as large as ourplanet. We must take action to address it or itsconsequences will intensify², growing more costlyand increasingly affecting us all.

Fortunately, we know what to do—transition tocleaner sources of energy to reduce our dependenceon fossil fuels. Quickly.

In the electricity sector³, this means rapidly tapping into renewable energy resources like windand solar on a grand scale.

Although this shift requires big investments in our energy infrastructure⁴, it is completelyfeasible with the technology we have now.

Michigan is no exception.

The state currently gets nearly 60% of its electricity from fossil fuels and emits more than 60 million tons of carbon from its electric power plants annually⁵. Meanwhile, it is home to robustwind and solar resources that could replace most, if not all, of that fossil-fuel-fired electricity—resources that remain largely untapped.

Tackling environmental problems is typically a one-track approach. Government regulationsestablish limits for pollution based on a balance of science and economics.

The EPA's Clean Power Plan does this for carbon emissions⁶ from existing power plants, which aresome of the largest contributors to climate change. States also have minimum standards toencourage utilities to invest in renewable energy.

Michigan's standard currently requires utilities to achieve 10% renewable energy annually.

We need both of these, and they need to be stronger. But we also need more. We need large-scale, rapid, and voluntary investment by the private sector. We need the private sector tosee investments in renewable energy as wise ones. And we need the private sector's capital andingenuity to make the switch to renewable energy quick, effective, and economicallybeneficial.

So how do we leverage⁷ private investment to solve a public problem?

We make renewable energy investments profitable and low-risk—a no-brainer.

So what's the Next Idea?

The idea is to use public funds, not for direct incentives⁹ or subsidies¹⁰, but in partnership¹¹ withprivate capital, to make smart investments in renewable energy resources.

By "smart," I mean projects that are both profitable and that measurably reduce climate-changing emissions.

These types of programs are generally referred to as "green banks."

This isn't an entirely¹² new idea. Green banks are already operated on a small scale, often todrive investments in energy efficiency, in several states including Michigan. They can take avariety of forms, but share the goal of breaking down barriers to private investment in greenproducts like renewable energy while tapping into the expertise¹³ of the private investmentworld.

The Michigan Saves program—initially funded by a grant from the Michigan Public ServiceCommission —has been operating a variety of programs that are attracting private investmentin energy efficiency across the state.

Its residential¹⁴ energy efficiency program is leveraging¹⁵ private investment at a rate of 20 private dollars for every public dollar invested, driving more than $50 million in investmentssince 2010. It does this by providing a variety of services like administrative¹⁶ functions, protection against loan defaults, and the aggregation¹⁷ of smaller investments into products ona scale that attracts investors¹⁸.

But what we need now is a green bank on a much larger scale to drive investments in the largerenewable energy projects that will transition our electricity sector away from its fossil fueldependence.

I'm not talking about energy-efficient windows and insulation¹⁹ (although we need those, too).

I'm talking about power-plant-size projects—dozens of them—that will reliably supplyMichigan's electricity demand.

The United Kingdom's Green Investment Bank is a good example of how this can work on agrand scale and move green investments from the public to the private sector.

Begun in 2012, the bank has invested in 75 green infrastructure projects. Projects are assessedbased on profitability and "green impact," a measure of their ability to reduce greenhousegas emissions or avoid landfill waste.

To date, the Green Investment Bank has leveraged²⁰ 2.6 billion pounds into investments totaling 10.6 billion pounds. As a result of this success, the UK government will now shift the GreenInvestment Bank entirely into the private sector, selling off its stake to investors eager to moveinto this promising²¹ market.

The Bank is now looking to go global, investing in West African nations and India.

My organization, the Union of Concerned Scientists, started looking into this last year afterlearning about green bank programs in a few states like New York and Connecticut. And beingthe number-crunching wonks that we are, we developed a tool to estimate the potential for arobustly-funded green bank in Michigan.

Based on the performance of existing green bank programs, we estimate that Michigan couldleverage about $100 million in initial public funding into more than $3 billion in clean energyinvestment over the next 15 years. That gets us to a scale necessary to drive the transitionwe need. And the beauty of it is that because green banks don't give away the money—theyinvest it—the scale grows over time as the program becomes self-sustaining.

So maybe the idea isn't new.

What is new is the ambition to take this to the scale necessary to compliment traditionalenvironmental regulations and facilitate a fast transition to renewable energy.

As the need to address climate change becomes more urgent, we must take advantage oflessons learned and proven successes.

The consequences of not dealing²² with climate change are dire⁸. But there are also opportunitiesto drive economic growth and create a cleaner, more sustainable and affordable²³ supply ofelectricity.

As we've done time and again, we must turn challenge into opportunity, and a Michigangreen bank could do just that.

1 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

2 intensify   

vt.加强；变强；加剧

参考例句：

• We must intensify our educational work among our own troops.我们必须加强自己部队的教育工作。
• They were ordered to intensify their patrols to protect our air space.他们奉命加强巡逻，保卫我国的领空。

3 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

4 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

5 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

6 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。

7 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

8 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

9 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

10 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

12 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

13 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

14 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

15 leveraging   

促使…改变( leverage的现在分词 )； [美国英语]杠杆式投机，（使）举债经营，（使）利用贷款进行投机

参考例句：

• De-leveraging is a painful process: it has barely begun. 去杠杆化是个痛苦的过程：它才刚刚开始。
• Archimedes said, saying: Give me a fulcrum, I can leveraging the Earth. 阿基米德说过一句话：给我一个支点，我可以撬动地球。

16 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

17 aggregation   

n.聚合，组合；凝聚

参考例句：

• A high polymer is a very large aggregation of units.一个高聚物是许多单元的非常大的组合。
• Moreover,aggregation influences the outcome of chemical disinfection of viruses.此外，聚集作用还会影响化学消毒的效果。

18 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

19 insulation   

n.隔离；绝缘；隔热

参考例句：

• Please examine the insulation of the electric wires in my house.请检查一下我屋子里电线的绝缘情况。
• It is always difficult to assure good insulation between the electric leads.要保证两个电触头之间有良好的绝缘总是很困难的。

20 leveraged   

促使…改变( leverage的过去式和过去分词 )； [美国英语]杠杆式投机，（使）举债经营，（使）利用贷款进行投机

参考例句：

• Chrysler has traditionally been a highly leveraged company. 克莱斯勒一向是一家周转十分灵活的公司。
• Leveraged recaps have become popular for a number of reasons. 杠杆资本重组的大行其道有好几个原因。

21 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

22 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

23 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。