美国国家公共电台 NPR--As president, Jimmy Carter focused on energy conservation at a time of long gas lines

As president, Jimmy Carter focused on energy conservation at a time of long gas lines

Transcript¹

In the 70s, Jimmy Carter's priorities included energy efficiency and a shift from foreign oil reliance. His actions were criticized then, but laid the groundwork for addressing climate change.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

The announcement that former President Jimmy Carter is receiving hospice care has us looking back at his time in office. And this morning, we're examining Carter's environmental legacy². Jeff Brady from NPR's Climate Desk joins us. Jeff, President Carter came into office in the '70s, when the U.S. imported a lot of oil. Embargoes⁴ used to have my dad cursing at the long lines at gas stations. So how did Carter respond to that?

JEFF BRADY, BYLINE⁵: You know, one big thing, he focused on energy conservation. And that seems like a given today, but it wasn't really on Americans' minds after the 1950s and '60s, when it seemed like all that oil would always flow. But the Arab oil embargo³ came in 1973 over U.S. support for Israel, and energy experts started worrying that oil and natural gas might run out. So shortly after Carter took office in 1977, he delivered what has become known as the sweater speech. He sat by a fireplace, wore a cardigan sweater and addressed the country on television.

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JIMMY CARTER: All of us must learn to waste less energy. Simply by keeping our thermostats⁶, for instance, at 65 degrees in the daytime and 55 degrees at night, we could save half the current shortage of natural gas.

BRADY: You know, some people made fun of him for this. That's how unusual the idea of energy conservation was at the time. Another unusual thing Carter did - he famously put solar panels on the White House in 1979.

MART?NEZ: And we have a clip from that press event.

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CARTER: Today, in directly harnessing the power of the sun, we are taking the energy that God gave us, the most renewable energy that we will ever see, and using it to replace our dwindling⁷ supplies of fossil fuels.

MART?NEZ: So whatever happened to those solar panels?

BRADY: You know, they were removed less than a decade later during Ronald Reagan's Republican administration. Reagan beat Carter in a landslide⁸ election and came in with different policies. Since then, the country's conservation and alternative energy efforts, they've progressed in fits and starts, depending on who's president. I talked with Amy Myers Jaffe. She directs the Energy, Climate Justice and Sustainability Lab at New York University. She says Carter made the U.S. a leader on renewable energy, like wind and solar, but she says that didn't last.

AMY MYERS JAFFE: Had the United States stayed the course and we had not had volatility⁹ in our federal efforts in alternative energy, we would maybe be still the premier¹⁰ country for alternative energy.

BRADY: Instead, she says, the U.S. is playing catch-up with countries like Denmark and Spain on wind energy, and China for solar and electric vehicles.

MART?NEZ: So, Jeff, ultimately, what was the Carter administration's record on climate change?

BRADY: He actually received a memo¹¹ the summer after he took office in 1977 from an adviser¹² in his administration who warned carbon dioxide from fossil fuels could lead to, quote, "catastrophic climate change." But the next day, Carter's energy secretary downplayed that and said more research was needed before the president got involved. Carter seems to have paid attention to that. His focus was more on securing energy supplies during his administration. So overall, his environmental legacy is a mixed one. But we also see President Carter's fingerprints¹³ on the aggressive climate change policies the Biden administration is pursuing and implementing¹⁴ today.

MART?NEZ: All right. Jeff Brady from NPR's Climate Desk. Jeff, thanks.

BRADY: Thank you.

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1 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。

2 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

3 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。

4 embargoes   

贸易禁运令，禁运( embargo的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Britain, France and the United States refused to lift their embargoes. 英、法和美国都拒绝取消禁运。
• Its public position is that it abides by all UN arms embargoes. 其公开立场是，他们遵守所有联合国的武器禁运命令。

5 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。

6 thermostats   

n.恒温（调节）器( thermostat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This is the basic operating principle of many thermostats. 这是许多恒温箱的基本工作原理。 来自辞典例句
• Thermostats can be used to regulate the temperature of a room. 恒温器可用来调节室内温度。 来自辞典例句

7 dwindling   

adj.逐渐减少的v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The number of wild animals on the earth is dwindling. 地球上野生动物的数量正日渐减少。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority. 他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。 来自辞典例句

8 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

9 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。

10 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

11 memo   

n.照会，备忘录；便笺；通知书；规章

参考例句：

• Do you want me to send the memo out?您要我把这份备忘录分发出去吗？
• Can you type a memo for me?您能帮我打一份备忘录吗？

12 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

13 fingerprints   

n.指纹( fingerprint的名词复数 )v.指纹( fingerprint的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Everyone's fingerprints are unique. 每个人的指纹都是独一无二的。
• They wore gloves so as not to leave any fingerprints behind (them). 他们戴着手套，以免留下指纹。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 implementing   

v.实现( implement的现在分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• -- Implementing a comprehensive drug control strategy. ――实行综合治理的禁毒战略。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• He was in no hurry about implementing his unshakable principle. 他并不急于实行他那不可动摇的原则。 来自辞典例句