PBS高端访谈:北极近海钻探是否破坏了奥巴马对气候保护的努力?

 　　For more on the president's trip and some of the issues following him to the Arctic, we turn to Robert Bryce. He's a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, and he has written widely on oil and gas and other energy industries. And Michael Brune, executive director of The Sierra Club, an environmental group.

　　Michael Brune, I want to start with you and ask you what overall you see as the significance of the president's visit to the Arctic.

　　MICHAEL BRUNE, Executive Director, Sierra Club: Well, it's very significant. The president has made climate change a top priority of his administration in both terms.

　　And going to the Arctic is a great place to showcase the threats that climate change has, both on the economy, as well as the environment, because there is no place that is warming faster than the Arctic anywhere else around the world.

　　GWEN IFILL: Robert Bryce, what's your take on that?

　　ROBERT BRYCE, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute: Well, I can't argue temperature issues.

　　I think what's interesting, though, is that the president has given the green light to Shell to drill in Alaskan waters, and I think it's a pragmatic move. While he is talking about climate change, there is a conflict between some of those climate change discussions and what he said Saturday in his radio address. He said, our economy still has to rely on oil and gas. As long as that's the case, I believe we should rely more on domestic production than on foreign imports.

　　And I think that that's a positive move, and clearly the oil and gas sector¹ has been one of the true bright spots in an otherwise lackluster economy during his presidency².

　　GWEN IFILL: Michael Brune, is it fair to the president, to the White House to judge his environmental record by this decision on drilling, or is that actually a dark spot on another — on a record in which he's reducing greenhouse gas emissions³ and taking other actions?

　　MICHAEL BRUNE: I think it's fair to say that the president has done a lot on climate, and it's also fair to say that his record is far from perfect.

　　One of the things that the president has done has been able to help us to curb⁴ our oil consumption by making our cars and trucks and all vehicles more fuel-efficient. He's also begun to lead us away from coal in the production of electricity and natural gas and to shift more towards clean renewable energy.

　　But drilling in the Arctic is just the wrong way to go, and it threatens to undermine a lot of the progress that the president has made.

　　GWEN IFILL: Let me ask Robert Bryce about that, because you see it as an unalloyed good.

　　But we did a story not too long ago on this program about the oil glut⁵, about the increase in shale⁶ production.

　　ROBERT BRYCE: Sure.

　　GWEN IFILL: Why is there a need for additional offshore⁷ oil drilling in Alaska?

　　ROBERT BRYCE: Well, I will make a quick point.

　　And one is that Alaskan energy has been a strategic issue for the U.S. now for close to a century. Remember, it was 1923 when President Harding designated the Naval⁸ Petroleum⁹ Reserve in Alaska. So, this idea of Arctic drilling is hardly new. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge of course has been a flash point now for decades, but we have been drilling in Alaska for decades, for the most part very safely.

　　But as far as the broader gain here I think that the president is looking toward as well is the enormous amounts of recoverable energy resources in the Arctic. The Department of Energy estimates them at something on the order of 400 billion barrels of oil equivalent in natural gas and oil. That's four times the crude oil reserves of Kuwait.

　　So for the U.S. to just forgo¹⁰ the Arctic resource at this time, I think it would be a big mistake.

　　GWEN IFILL: Let me let Michael Brune respond to that.

　　MICHAEL BRUNE: Yes, thanks.

　　So, drilling in the Arctic might have been a good idea back in 1923, but it's 2015. The world has changed, and we should change with it. Scrambling¹¹ with Russia to race to see who can drill in the Arctic first is like racing¹² to see who can light the fuse on a time bomb.

　　You know, supremacy¹³ in the Arctic shouldn't be defined by who gets to destroy it first.

　　GWEN IFILL: Go ahead. Go ahead.

　　MICHAEL BRUNE: Well, I was going to say, we have an ability right now to rebuild our economy in the 21st century and do it in a way that doesn't poison our air, doesn't poison our water, doesn't put our entire climate at risk.

　　And that is by investing in clean energy, which I will say to Robert is growing at a much faster rate than the rest of the economy, particularly the oil and gas industry.

　　MICHAEL BRUNE: Sorry. Go ahead.

　　GWEN IFILL: Well, I was just curious. I want to ask you both this.

　　ROBERT BRYCE: Sure.

　　GWEN IFILL: Is there a reason why those two things can't coexist; that is, increased drilling and increased clean energy and reducing emissions and reducing dependence¹⁴ on coal? Why isn't that — why can't that all work together for good?

　　I will start with you.

　　ROBERT BRYCE: Well, I will make two points.

　　One is that natural gas has been a critical part in the U.S. reducing CO2 emissions. The Sierra Club is anti-fracking. Natural gas displacing coal in the domestic electric generation sector has been a key factor in the fact that the U.S. has reduced its CO2 emissions by 500 million tons over the last decade alone. It's more than any other country in the world, including Germany.

　　Further, if we're serious about clean energy and serious about climate change, we should be serious about nuclear energy. The Sierra Club is adamantly¹⁵ opposed, has been adamantly opposed…

　　GWEN IFILL: Well, let me let The Sierra Club respond to that.

　　ROBERT BRYCE: … since 1970, even though nuclear is reducing CO2 emissions more than any other form of energy.

　　GWEN IFILL: Mr. Bryce

　　MICHAEL BRUNE: Sure.

　　Well, how about I state the Sierra Club's policy? We look at all energy sources with a few different criteria¹⁶. What's the cheapest, what's the cleanest, and what can come online the quickest?

　　And what we know is that nuclear power actually ranks dead last in all of those categories. What we also know is that clean energy is dropping in cost as it increases in installations. The more clean energy that gets installed, the lower the costs get, whereas fossil fuels are becoming more and more expensive, with the current exception of oil right now.

　　What are seeing across the United States is that, increasingly, communities are moving past coal, beyond natural gas and, in some cases, beyond nuclear power. Investing in energy efficiency, investing in solar and wind, they are cutting costs, they are saving rate-payers money, and they're helping¹⁷ to stabilize¹⁸ the climate and reduce air and water pollution.

　　What is not to like about that? We can build an economy on clean energy. We shouldn't be investing in dirty oil, particularly from the Arctic.

　　GWEN IFILL: Do I see an agreement coming from the other side there?

　　ROBERT BRYCE: Well, look, there is no question I'm adamantly in favor of natural gas.

　　As I said, it's been a key factor in the U.S. reducing CO2 emissions. But the hard reality is what the president said. We need oil and gas. Globally, there are one billion automobiles¹⁹. We have roughly 400,000 airplanes, tens of thousands of boats. All of them run on oil. The idea that we're just going to quit using oil is simply not true.

　　The Sierra Club has been spinning this idea that we can just run the world on renewables. It's simply not true. It hasn't been true, won't be true. We need oil and gas.

　　GWEN IFILL: Well, I don't think that's necessarily what the president is saying, which is what we are talking about today.

　　But we're going to leave it there for now.

　　Robert Bryce of the Manhattan Institute and Michael Brune of The Sierra Club, thank you both very much.

　　ROBERT BRYCE: Thank you.

　　MICHAEL BRUNE: Thanks for having us on.

1 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。

2 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

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 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

5 glut   

n.存货过多，供过于求；v.狼吞虎咽

参考例句：

• The glut of coffee led to a sharp drop in prices.咖啡供过于求道致价格急剧下跌。
• There's a glut of agricultural products in Western Europe.西欧的农产品供过于求。

6 shale   

n.页岩，泥板岩

参考例句：

• We can extract oil from shale.我们可以从页岩中提取石油。
• Most of the rock in this mountain is shale.这座山上大部分的岩石都是页岩。

7 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

8 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

9 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

10 forgo   

v.放弃，抛弃

参考例句：

• Time to prepare was a luxuary he would have to forgo.因为时间不够，他不得不放弃做准备工作。
• She would willingly forgo a birthday treat if only her warring parents would declare a truce.只要她的父母停止争吵，她愿意放弃生日宴请。

11 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

13 supremacy   

n.至上；至高权力

参考例句：

• No one could challenge her supremacy in gymnastics.她是最优秀的体操运动员，无人能胜过她。
• Theoretically,she holds supremacy as the head of the state.从理论上说，她作为国家的最高元首拥有至高无上的权力。

14 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。

15 adamantly   

adv.坚决地，坚定不移地，坚强不屈地

参考例句：

• "Come over here,"he told her adamantly. “到这边来，”他对她坚定地说。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His family were adamantly opposed to the marriage. 他的家人坚决反对这门亲事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

17 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

18 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

19 automobiles   

n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• When automobiles become popular,the use of the horse and buggy passed away. 汽车普及后，就不再使用马和马车了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Automobiles speed in an endless stream along the boulevard. 宽阔的林荫道上，汽车川流不息。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》