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VOA标准英语2012--Obama, Romney Differ on Energy Policy

时间:2012-10-30 01:24:19

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Obama, Romney Differ on Energy Policy

President Obama has been a champion of expanding renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power, which he says hold great promise.

Mitt1 Romney is a proponent2 of raising production levels of America's own fossil fuels, including coal, which the U.S. has in abundance.

The Center for Climate and Energy solutions published a voter guide to the candidates' energy policy positions. 

"I think Governor Romney has focused more on supply, particularly of conventional fuels such as oil and coal," notes Manik Roy, vice3 president for the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. "President Obama, while I think he's also interested in supply - we saw the back and forth4 in the second debate on drilling - President Obama in addition has focused on clean energy technologies and reducing demand for oil."

The two candidates debated whose policy was more effective in reducing America's dependence5 on foreign oil. The protection and creation of jobs was another key issue, in a slow economic recovery with unemployment near eight percent.

"We've also got to look to the future," said Obama at the November 17 debate. "That's why we doubled fuel efficiency standards on cars. That means that in the middle of the next decade, any car you buy, you're going to end up going twice as far on a gallon of gas. That's why we've doubled clean energy production like wind and solar and biofuels. And all these things have contributed to us lowering our oil imports to the lowest levels in 16 years. We've got potentially 600,000 jobs and a hundred years' worth of energy right beneath our feet with natural gas. And we can do it in an environmentally sound way."

At that same debate Mitt Romney countered that while renewable energy sources are helpful, the United States needs to full exploit is full fossil energy potential.

"But what we don't need is to have the president keeping us from taking advantage of oil, coal and gas. This [president] has not been Mr. Oil or Mr. Gas or Mr. Coal. Talk to the people that are working in those industries. I was in coal country. People grabbed my arms and say, please, save my job. The head of the EPA said, you can't build a coal plant. If we do what I am planning on doing, which is getting us energy-independent - North American energy independence within eight years - you're going to see manufacturing jobs come back because our energy is low-cost."

According to the Department of Energy, the U.S. imported less than half of the petroleum6 it consumed last year, down from 60 percent 6 years ago.

Gasoline consumption has dropped to its lowest level in ten years. Production of U.S. oil rose during the Obama administration, but not as much as Governor Romney would like.

President Obama postponed7 approval of extending the Keystone pipeline8 from Canada, requiring more environmental impact studies. Governor Romney blames rising U.S. gas prices on that delay.

So what influence does any president have on production and gas prices in a global oil market?

"On the creation of energy, the drilling of oil - I think it's relatively9 limited," added Roy. "That happens largely in the private market, it happens largely in an international market. We have a small fraction of the world's energy reserves here. Even if we greatly expanded it [production], it would be a drop in the global bucket." 

In the last five years, advances in hydraulic10 fracturing technology have revealed an abundance of natural gas in the U.S. Production has surged, and costs have plummeted11.

Fracturing now produces nearly as much electricity as coal at lower cost. Both President Obama and Governor Romney support exploiting this vast resource, despite environmental risks.

The candidates differ over the portion of renewable resources should have in the United States' energy mix. President Obama has spent $90 billion in grants and loan guarantees for clean energy companies. Obama also wants Congress to extend tax credits for wind energy, while Governor Romney does not.

"The president is more activist12 in promoting future technologies," noted13 Roy. "I think the governor would love to see future technologies done as well too, but he has a more limited view of the appropriate role of the federal government, which would be to invest in research and development rather than deployment14. The president says research and development, but deployment also."

So what do people want? According to some polls, says Roy, they want it all: low prices, jobs, self-sufficiency, and respect for the environment. 


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1 mitt Znszwo     
n.棒球手套,拳击手套,无指手套;vt.铐住,握手
参考例句:
  • I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日,我送给他一只棒球手套。
  • Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。
2 proponent URjx8     
n.建议者;支持者;adj.建议的
参考例句:
  • Stapp became a strong early proponent of automobile seat belts.斯塔普是力主在汽车上采用座椅安全带的早期倡导者。
  • Halsey was identified as a leading proponent of the values of progressive education.哈尔西被认为是进步教育价值观的主要支持者。
3 vice NU0zQ     
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的
参考例句:
  • He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
  • They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。
4 forth Hzdz2     
adv.向前;向外,往外
参考例句:
  • The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
  • He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
5 dependence 3wsx9     
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。
6 petroleum WiUyi     
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。
7 postponed 9dc016075e0da542aaa70e9f01bf4ab1     
vt.& vi.延期,缓办,(使)延迟vt.把…放在次要地位;[语]把…放在后面(或句尾)vi.(疟疾等)延缓发作(或复发)
参考例句:
  • The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
  • The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。
8 pipeline aNUxN     
n.管道,管线
参考例句:
  • The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
  • A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。
9 relatively bkqzS3     
adv.比较...地,相对地
参考例句:
  • The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
  • The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。
10 hydraulic AcDzt     
adj.水力的;水压的,液压的;水力学的
参考例句:
  • The boat has no fewer than five hydraulic pumps.这艘船配有不少于5个液压泵。
  • A group of apprentics were operating the hydraulic press.一群学徒正在开动水压机。
11 plummeted 404bf193ceb01b9d9a620431e6efc540     
v.垂直落下,骤然跌落( plummet的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Share prices plummeted to an all-time low. 股票价格暴跌到历史最低点。
  • A plane plummeted to earth. 一架飞机一头栽向地面。 来自《简明英汉词典》
12 activist gyAzO     
n.活动分子,积极分子
参考例句:
  • He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
  • He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。
13 noted 5n4zXc     
adj.著名的,知名的
参考例句:
  • The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
  • Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。
14 deployment 06e5c0d0f9eabd9525e5f9dc4f6f37cf     
n. 部署,展开
参考例句:
  • He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
  • Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

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