美国国家公共电台 NPR 特朗普政府计划推翻奥巴马时代的燃油经济标准

The Trump¹ administration's deregulatory agenda continues. Today the Environmental Protection Agency finalized² a rollback of Obama-era fuel economy standards. This substantially weakens one of the country's biggest efforts to fight climate change. NPR's Nathan Rott reports.

特朗普政府的放宽管制议程仍在继续。今天，美国国家环境保护局确定推翻奥巴马时代的燃油经济标准。这会极大地削弱美国为对抗气候变化做出的最大努力之一。NPR新闻的纳山·罗特将带来详细报道。

NATHAN ROTT, BYLINE³: You wouldn't think it now with most of the country staying at home, but transportation is the largest source of climate-warming greenhouse gases in the country. That's why the Obama administration mandated⁵ that auto⁶ manufacturers continue to make more fuel-efficient cars. President Trump has taken aim at that mandate⁴, as he has most of Obama's climate policies. And now he has his replacement⁷ — a rule that significantly weakens future standards and should, the administration says, make for cheaper cars. Here's Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao during today's announcement.

纳山·罗特连线：由于大多数民众都呆在家里，所以现在看不到影响，但交通是导致美国气候变暖的温室气体的最大来源。这也是奥巴马政府要求汽车制造商继续生产更节油汽车的原因。特朗普总统猛烈抨击了这项要求，就像他对奥巴马大部分气候政策所做的那样。现在，他提出了替代方案，这一新规将大大降低未来标准，政府表示这应该会使汽车更便宜。以下是交通部长赵小兰今天在宣布声明时所说。

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ELAINE CHAO: In essence, it will make newer vehicles more affordable⁸ to consumers, safer for passengers and cleaner for the environment.

赵小兰：从本质上讲，这将使消费者更容易负担新款汽车，乘客会更加安全，而环境也会更清洁。

ROTT: Idea being that cheaper sticker prices means more people will buy newer, safer, more efficient vehicles and save money in the doing.

罗特：想法是，更便宜的定价意味着将有更多人购买更新、更安全且更节油的汽车，继而在这方面节省资金。

ANN CARLSON: The problem with that argument is that more fuel-efficient cars are cheaper for consumers over the long run.

安·卡尔森：这种观点的问题在于，从长远来看，更节油汽车对消费者来说更便宜。

ROTT: Ann Carlson is an environmental law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

罗特：安·卡尔森是加州大学洛杉矶分校的环境法教授。

CARLSON: So when you actually do the math, even if you pay a little bit more upfront, you save a lot more over the lifetime of the car.

卡尔森：因此，在你真正进行计算时就会发现，即使前期支付的费用要稍多一些，但你在汽车使用寿命上可以节省更多钱。

ROTT: That's just one of the problems with the math the administration has used to justify⁹ this change. Even the EPA's own scientific advisory¹⁰ council slammed earlier versions of the rule, saying the agency's underlying¹¹ technical analysis contained significant weaknesses. Antonio Bento, a professor of policy and economics at the University of Southern California, says that's because the administration is cherry-picking numbers to support this rollback. For example, the EPA says this change will save thousands of lives because people will be in newer, safer cars. But to reach that number, they're assuming a car will be driven for 40 years.

罗特：这只是政府用来证明这一改变的合理性时在计算方面存在的其中一个问题。就连美国环境保护局自己的科学咨询委员会也对这项规定的早期版本进行了抨击，称该机构的基本技术分析存在重大缺陷。南加州大学政治与经济学教授安东尼奥·本托表示，这是因为特朗普政府正在挑选数字来支持这种倒退。举例来说，环境保护局表示，这一改变将挽救数千条生命，因为人们将乘坐更新更安全的汽车。但为了达到这一数字，他们假设一辆车可以开40年。

ANTONIO BENTO: Which is also a not-calculation because if you think about it, vehicles don't last that long.

安东尼奥·本托：这也是一种非计算，因为如果你仔细想一下，就会发现汽车不能开那么长时间。

ROTT: In fact, in today's announcement, the EPA says the average age of vehicles on the road right now is the highest it's ever been at 12 years. Numbers like that are sure to come up in lawsuits¹² challenging the change. More immediately, Bento and others say, the announcement, which will lead to dirtier air, is tone deaf, given the country is dealing¹³ with a pandemic affecting people's lungs.

罗特：事实上，环保局在今天的声明中表示，美国现有汽车的平均使用年限达到创记录的12年。像这样的数字肯定会出现在挑战这种改变的诉讼中。本托和其他人认为，更直接的是，鉴于美国正在应对影响人们肺部的流行病，这一将导致空气污染更严重的消息令人困惑不已。

Nathan Rott, NPR News.

NPR新闻，纳山·罗特报道。

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 finalized   

vt.完成（finalize的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The draft of this article has been finalized [done]. 这篇文章已经定稿。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The draft was revised several times before it was finalized. 稿子几经删改才定下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 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。

5 mandated   

adj. 委托统治的

参考例句：

• Mandated desegregation of public schools. 命令解除公立学校中的种族隔离
• Britain was mandated to govern the former colony of German East Africa. 英国受权代管德国在东非的前殖民地。

6 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

7 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

8 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。

9 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

10 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

11 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

12 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

13 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。