VOA新闻杂志2022 New Zealand to Help Pay for Cleaner Cars

New Zealand to Help Pay for Cleaner Cars

New Zealand's government recently announced it will help pay for poorer families to replace their old cars with cleaner hybrid¹ or electric vehicles.

The government said it plans to spend $357 million on the test program.

The move is part of a wider plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions². Greenhouse gases are believed to cause warming temperatures in the Earth's atmosphere.

New Zealand plans to provide aid for businesses to reduce emissions and have buses that run on environmentally safe fuel by 2035. The government also plans to provide food-waste collection for most homes by 2030.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a statement, "We've all seen the recent reports on sea level rise and its impact right here in New Zealand. We cannot leave the issue of climate change until it's too late to fix."

The plan is a step toward New Zealand's stated goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Reaching net-zero emissions means not creating more carbon in the atmosphere than oceans and forests can remove.

Ardern said that reducing dependence³ on fossil⁴ fuels would help protect families from extreme price increases.

The plan also sets a goal of reducing total car travel by 20 percent over the next 13 years.

The programs will be paid for from a $2.8 billion climate emergency response fund. Officials said that over time, money collected from polluters would pay for the programs rather than taxes from families.

Some critics of the plan say it continued to be less restrictive on New Zealand's huge agriculture industry. Agriculture creates about half of the nation's total greenhouse gas emissions. But the industry is also important to the economy as the nation's biggest export earner.

David Seymour is the leader of New Zealand's ACT political party. He said that some of the announced programs are proven to be ineffective "and have been tried and failed overseas."

Seymour added that people should be able to choose how they reduce emissions through the market-based emissions trading plan.

Words in This Story

hybrid – adj. related to something that has two different types of components⁵ performing essentially⁶ the same function

emissions – n. something that is given off

impact – n. a strong effect

fund – n. a sum of money for a special purpose

overseas – n. beyond or across the sea

1 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

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 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。

4 fossil   

n.化石，食古不化的人，老顽固

参考例句：

• At this distance of time it is difficult to date the fossil.时间隔得这么久了，很难确定这化石的年代。
• The man is a fossil.那人是个老顽固。

5 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

6 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。