奧巴馬每周電視講話總統呼吁減少碳排放
Hi, everybody.
大家好!
I'm here at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., visiting with some kids being treated here all the time for asthma and other breathing problems.
此刻,我在華盛頓特區的國家兒童醫療中心,看望在這里接受治療的哮喘和其它呼吸系統疾病的患兒。
Often, these illnesses are aggravated by air pollution-pollution from the same sources that release carbon and contribute to climate change.
通常,這些疾病都因空氣污染而惡化,這些污染同樣來源于碳排放并引起了氣候變化。
And for the sake of all our kids, we've got to do more to reduce it.
為了我們子孫后代的利益,我們必須努力減少碳排放。
Earlier this month, hundreds of scientists declared that climate change is no longer a distant threat-it “has moved firmly into the present.”
本月早些時候,數百名科學家聯合聲明,氣候變化再也不是什么遙遠的威脅,它“已經實實在在影響到當下人們的生活”。
Its costs can be measured in lost lives and livelihoods, lost homes and businesses; and higher prices for food, insurance, and rebuilding.
這一代價可以從人的死亡、失去生計、流離失所,食物價格、保險費用、重建成本高漲等現象中得以呈現。
That's why, last year, I put forward America's first climate action plan.
因此,去年,我首先提出美國氣候應對計劃。
This plan cuts carbon pollution by building a clean energy economy-using more clean energy, less dirty energy, and wasting less energy throughout our economy.
該計劃通過減少碳排放建設清潔能源經濟—更多使用清潔能源,減少使用污染能源,減少我們整個經濟活動中的能源浪費。
One of the best things we can do for our economy, our health, and our environment is to lead the world in producing cleaner, safer energy-and we're already generating more clean energy than ever before.
我們可以做的對我們的經濟、健康和環境最好的事情就是引領世界生產更清潔、更安全的能源,而且我們已經生產出了比以往更多的清潔能源。
Thanks in part to the investments we made in the Recovery Act, the electricity America generates from wind has tripled.
《經濟復蘇法案》提供的投資是一個原因,有了它,我們的風力發電增長的3倍。
And from the sun, it's increased more than tenfold.
太陽能方面,更是增長了10倍多。
In fact, every four minutes, another American home or business goes solar-and every panel is pounded into place by a worker whose job cannot be shipped overseas.
事實上,每4分鐘,就有一個美國家庭或企業用上太陽能,而且把每一塊太陽能板安裝到位的工人的工作都是不能被轉移到海外的。
We're wasting less energy, too.
我們浪費的能源也在減少。
We've doubled how far our cars and trucks will go on a gallon of gas by the middle of the next decade, saving you money at the pump-and we're helping families and businesses save billions with more efficient homes, buildings, and appliances.
我們已經將汽車使用一加侖汽油的行駛里程標準在未來5年里提高一倍,以節約大家的油費支出,我們還在幫助家庭和企業通過更節能的住宅、建筑和設施節約支出。
This strategy has created jobs, grown our economy, and helped make America more energy independent than we've been in decades-all while holding our carbon emissions to levels not seen in about 20 years.
這一策略創造了就業、促進了經濟增長,幫助美國比過去10多年取得了更大的能源自主力,所有當時遏制我們碳排放的標準在未來20年都不成問題了。
It's a good start.
這是一個很好的開始。
But for the sake of our children, we have to do more.
但為了孩子們的利益考慮,我們還需要更多努力。
This week, we will.
本周,我們就將開始。
Today, about 40% of America's carbon pollution comes from power plants.
當今,有大約40%的碳排放來自發電廠。
But right now, there are no national limits to the amount of carbon pollution that existing plants can pump into the air we breathe. None.
但現在,還沒有對現有發電廠每年可以排放到我們呼吸的空氣里的碳排放總量的全國性限制標準。一點都沒有。
We limit the amount of toxic chemicals like mercury, sulfur, and arsenic that power plants put in our air and water.
我們限制發電廠向空氣和水中排放汞、硫、砷等有毒化學物質的總量。
But they can dump unlimited amounts of carbon pollution into the air.
但他們卻可以無限制的向空氣中排放碳污染物。
It's not smart, it's not safe, and it doesn't make sense.
這不明智,也不安全,更沒有什么道理可言。
That's why, a year ago, I directed the Environmental Protection Agency to build on the efforts of many states, cities, and companies, and come up with commonsense guidelines for reducing dangerous carbon pollution from our power plants.
因此,一年前,我指示環保署在多個州、市和眾多公司努力的基礎上,制定出降低發電廠排放碳污染物的基本指導意見。
This week, we're unveiling these proposed guidelines, which will cut down on the carbon pollution, smog, and soot that threaten the health of the most vulnerable Americans, including children and the elderly.
本周,我們推出了這些指導意見,這將減少碳污染物、煙、塵的排放,降低其對美國人民尤其是孩子和老人身心健康的威脅。
In just the first year that these standards go into effect, up to 100,000 asthma attacks and 2,100 heart attacks will be avoided-and those numbers will go up from there.
在未來一年,這些標準實施后,將避免超過10萬人的哮喘病和2100人的心臟病發作,而且這一數字還將隨著時間的推移而上升。
These standards were created in an open and transparent way, with input from the business community.
這些標準的制定采取了公開透明的方式,充分融入企業和社會各界的觀點。
States and local governments weighed in, too.
各州和地方政府的意見也得到了充分考慮。
In fact, nearly a dozen states are already implementing their own market-based programs to reduce carbon pollution.
事實上,有超過12個州已經在實施各自的市場化的減少碳污染排放的計劃。
And over 1,000 mayors have signed agreements to cut their cities' carbon pollution.
有1000多名市長已經簽署意見同意減少其所在城市的碳排放。
So the idea of setting higher standards to cut pollution at our power plants is not new.
因此,為發電廠設置更高的減少碳排放標準的想法并不是新提出來的。
It's just time for Washington to catch up with the rest of the country.
只不過是華盛頓追趕其它地區步伐的體現。
Now, special interests and their allies in Congress will claim that these guidelines will kill jobs and crush the economy.
現在,國會的特殊利益集團和他們的盟友們宣布,這些指導意見將減少就業并沖擊經濟發展。
Let's face it, that's what they always say.
讓我們面對現實,這是他們一貫的理由。
But every time America has set clear rules and better standards for our air, our water, and our children's health-the warnings of the cynics have been wrong.
每當美國設定關系我們的空氣、水和兒童健康的明確規定和更好的標準時,這種所謂的警告都被證明是錯誤的。
They warned that doing something about the smog choking our cities, and acid rain poisoning our lakes, would kill business.
他們警告稱治理城市的霧霾,污染湖泊的酸雨會扼殺企業發展。
It didn't. Our air got cleaner, acid rain was cut dramatically, and our economy kept growing.
但事實并不是這樣。我們的空氣更清新,酸雨也顯著下降,而我們的經濟依然保持了增長。
These excuses for inaction somehow suggest a lack of faith in American businesses and American ingenuity.
這些不作為的借口只是對美國企業和美國的創造能力缺乏信心的表現。
The truth is, when we ask our workers and businesses to innovate, they do.
事實是,當我們要求我們的員工和企業去創新時,他們做到了。
When we raise the bar, they meet it.
當我們提高標準時,他們達到了。
When we restricted cancer-causing chemicals in plastics and leaded fuel in our cars, American chemists came up with better substitutes.
當我們嚴格控制塑料制品中引發癌癥的化學物質含量和引導汽車能效標準的時候,美國的化學家們緊跟著找到了更好的替代品。
When we phased out the gases that depleted the ozone layer, American workers built better refrigerators and air conditioners.
當我們要淘汰破壞臭氧層的氣體使用時,美國的工人制造出了更好的冰箱和空調。
The fuel standards we put in place a few years ago didn't cripple automakers;the American auto industry retooled, and today, they're selling the best cars in the world, with more hybrids, plug-in, and fuel-efficient models to choose from than ever before.
在美國,我們不能在經濟健康發展和兒童健康發展之間做選擇。老規矩說我們不能在保護環境的同時促進經濟的增長,但在美國,我們總是能利用新的技術打破這些老規矩的限制。
In America, we don't have to choose between the health of our economy and the health of our children.
在美國,我們不必在經濟健康和我們的孩子們的健康之間取舍。
The old rules may say we can't protect our environment and promote economic growth at the same time, but in America, we've always used new technology to break the old rules.
老規矩說我們無法同時保護我們的環境和發展我們的經濟,但是在美國,我們一直應用新技術打破這個框框。
As President, and as a parent, I refuse to condemn our children to a planet that's beyond fixing.
作為總統,同時作為一個父親,我不允許我們的孩子生活在一個沒有前景的星球上。
The shift to a cleaner energy economy won't happen overnight, and it will require tough choices along the way.
向清潔能源經濟轉型的過程不會一蹴而就,它需要我們一路做出艱難的選擇。
But a low-carbon, clean energy economy can be an engine of growth for decades to come.
但低碳的、清潔能源的經濟能成為未來數十年的增長引擎。
America will build that engine.
美國要著力打造這一引擎。
A future that's cleaner, more prosperous, and full of good jobs-a future where we can look our kids in the eye and tell them we did our part to leave them a safer, more stable world.
這是更清潔、更繁榮、充滿優良就業崗位的未來,是我們可以看著孩子們的眼睛告訴他們,我們努力為他們留下了一個更安全更安穩的世界的未來。
Thanks, and have a great weekend.
謝謝大家,祝你們周末愉快。
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