美国国家公共电台 NPR--Electricity companies throw a wrench in Biden's plans to eliminate greenhouse gases

Electricity companies throw a wrench¹ in Biden's plans to eliminate greenhouse gases

Transcript²

Energy companies continue to build fossil fuel plants that will be in use for decades, even as President Biden pledges a renewable energy future.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

The Biden administration wants to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions³ across the U.S. economy by 2050 to limit climate change. But companies that supply electricity to American homes and businesses aren't likely to stop using fossil fuels anytime soon. Michael Copley with NPR's climate desk has been following this closely. Michael, all right, you've been looking at what the power industry is doing around climate. Why'd you focus there? And what'd you find?

MICHAEL COPLEY, BYLINE⁴: Yeah. So I zeroed in on the power sector⁵ because it's going to be one of the easiest places to reduce emissions, relatively⁶ speaking. Renewables like wind and solar have gotten really inexpensive. And there's a lot of investment happening in big batteries that store energy. But what we're seeing is that companies are still building fossil fuel plants that are going to be around for decades. So companies are building enough natural gas plants to power close to 13 million homes. That's according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That means the natural gas plant that starts producing electricity next year could run into the 2060s. That's way beyond when the U.S. government and a lot of these same companies have said they'll zero out emissions.

MART?NEZ: So it sounds like companies are saying one thing, then doing something else.

COPLEY: You know, it's a complicated picture. One of the explanations that I heard is that big utility companies just don't think they have much of a choice right now. They're under pressure to retire coal plants. They're having to deal with a lot of intermittent⁷ wind and solar. And they need some way to make sure that they have energy whenever they need it. And right now, they just don't see a cleaner option to do that than natural gas. That's one explanation.

Another is that these utilities just don't face much scrutiny⁸ from their state regulators. And so they're not under pressure to change the types of investments that they're making. And they know that they can make a lot of money building natural gas plants. Andy DeVries is an analyst⁹ at CreditSights who covers the power market. He said the reality is probably somewhere in the middle.

ANDY DEVRIES: Yes, of course, these utilities want to overspend on everything. But they do have a good point. The lights do have to stay on. And when that solar goes down and when that wind's not running, you need these gas plants.

COPLEY: Now, DeVries says that as long as we're trying to retire coal, gas is probably going to still be part of the picture.

MART?NEZ: All right. So if some of these companies feel like they have to keep investing in fossil fuels, I mean, how realistic then are climate targets for them?

COPLEY: You know, the companies that I talked to said they can do both things at once. Now, what they're counting on is technology to either capture the emissions before they're released into the atmosphere or some other fuel, like hydrogen, that they can use to replace natural gas in these power plants that they're building. But that assumes those technologies are going to work and be cost effective. And that could be years away.

MART?NEZ: All right. So then what does that mean for our efforts to reign¹⁰ in climate change?

COPLEY: It's going to be harder. The Earth's going to keep getting hotter as we keep pumping out more emissions. And that worries scientists like Lisa Dilling at the University of Colorado, Boulder¹¹. She says the risk is that we hit climate tipping points. These are points of no return that could lead to permanent changes in the Earth's ecosystems¹², like melting glaciers¹³ or the widespread death of coral reefs.

LISA DILLING: If you start to get to these tipping points, our climate starts to change in ways that are possibly irreversible, possibly self-perpetuating and start to threaten the basic ways that we've organized our society.

COPLEY: Dilling says that could mean everything from how we grow food to where we live.

MART?NEZ: All right. So scientists say we have to move faster to cut emissions. What's the chance that that will ever happen?

COPLEY: Look, there's a ton of excitement around the Inflation Reduction Act that Democrats¹⁴ passed earlier this year, provides billions of dollars of incentives¹⁵ that are expected to make renewable energy a lot more competitive with fossil fuels. At the same time, analysts¹⁶ say that high natural gas prices from the war in Ukraine are starting to change how some investors¹⁷ think about the types of investments they make in energy markets. That said, changes historically happened pretty slowly in energy markets. And companies are still putting money into power plants that are going to generate new emissions.

MART?NEZ: That's Michael Copley with NPR's climate desk.

Michael, thanks.

COPLEY: Thanks, A.

1 wrench   

v.猛拧；挣脱；使扭伤；n.扳手；痛苦，难受

参考例句：

• He gave a wrench to his ankle when he jumped down.他跳下去的时候扭伤了足踝。
• It was a wrench to leave the old home.离开这个老家非常痛苦。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

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 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。

5 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。

6 relatively   

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。

7 intermittent   

adj.间歇的，断断续续的

参考例句：

• Did you hear the intermittent sound outside?你听见外面时断时续的声音了吗？
• In the daytime intermittent rains freshened all the earth.白天里，时断时续地下着雨，使整个大地都生气勃勃了。

8 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

9 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

10 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

11 boulder   

n.巨砾；卵石，圆石

参考例句：

• We all heaved together and removed the boulder.大家一齐用劲，把大石头搬开了。
• He stepped clear of the boulder.他从大石头后面走了出来。

12 ecosystems   

n.生态系统( ecosystem的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There are highly sensitive and delicately balanced ecosystems in the forest. 森林里有高度敏感、灵敏平衡的各种生态系统。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Madagascar's ecosystems range from rainforest to semi-desert. 马达加斯加生态系统类型多样，从雨林到半荒漠等不一而足。 来自辞典例句

13 glaciers   

冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Glaciers gouged out valleys from the hills. 冰川把丘陵地带冲出一条条山谷。
• It has ice and snow glaciers, rainforests and beautiful mountains. 既有冰川，又有雨林和秀丽的山峰。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）

14 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

16 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

17 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会