美国国家公共电台 NPR Trump's Budget Slashes Climate Change Funding

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

President Trump¹'s budget includes cuts in federal funding. And his budget director, Mick Mulvaney, says the many cuts include funding to fight climate change.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MICK MULVANEY: Regarding the question as to climate change, I think the president was fairly straightforward² - is that we're not spending money on that anymore. We consider that to be a waste of your money.

INSKEEP: NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce reports on what the president's budget would do.

NELL GREENFIELDBOYCE, BYLINE³: Until last May, Andrew Light was at the State Department focusing on climate issues. Now he's a senior fellow at the World Resources Institute. He's dismayed by the Trump administration's proposed budget.

ANDREW LIGHT: It's terrible from the perspective of having any concern at all about climate change.

GREENFIELDBOYCE: The programs he ran at the State Department to work cooperatively with countries like India - they'd all be gone. And the U.S. wouldn't make any contributions to the Green Climate Fund. That's the United Nations' effort to help developing countries adapt to climate change and adopt clean energy. The U.S. had promised to give it 3 billion bucks⁴. Light says none of this is good.

LIGHT: Whether or not we think that climate change is real, you've got to recognize that the rest of the world does.

GREENFIELDBOYCE: And other countries see it as a threat.

LIGHT: So now we're saying - well, we don't agree with you. You shouldn't actually be worried about that. That's just something that they're not going to buy. That's going to diminish our influence. That's going to make us less safe.

GREENFIELDBOYCE: Across the government, this budget has it in for climate. The Environmental Protection Agency would lose its Clean Power Plan. That's the Obama administration's effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions⁵ from power plants.

And then there's NASA - it's developing a trio of new satellites that could track carbon dioxide and make other measurements related to climate change. Under the proposed budget, they'd all be canceled. Ken⁶ Caldeira is a climate researcher at the Carnegie Institution for Science. He says a lot of time and effort has been invested into these missions. Scientists spend years carefully planning every detail.

KEN CALDEIRA: And to have thousands of person-years' worth of effort scuttled⁷ due to a capricious decision is really upsetting to the scientific community.

GREENFIELDBOYCE: Now, surveys show that the majority of Trump supporters don't think there's solid evidence that humans are causing climate change. And others say there are just too many drawbacks to trying to shift away from fossil fuels. William Yeatman is a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

WILLIAM YEATMAN: The fact is that there are costs to completely overhauling⁸ the way that energy is produced. And remember, energy is a fundamental input⁹ into every single act of economic production.

GREENFIELDBOYCE: That's why he feels good about how this budget handles climate - at least so far. The administration has promised a more detailed¹⁰ plan.

YEATMAN: This is the skinny budget. It is just, I guess, a taste, an outline of the real deal, which comes in May.

GREENFIELDBOYCE: Some science groups, meanwhile, are gearing up to fight.

CHRIS MCENTEE: They can cut the funding, but climate change is real. And we're going to have to deal with it.

GREENFIELDBOYCE: Chris McEntee is head of the American Geophysical Union, a scientific organization dedicated¹¹ to research on Earth and space.

MCENTEE: Slashing¹² this kind of funding is not going to assist in building the resiliency to climate and the impacts of climate change that this country needs.

GREENFIELDBOYCE: That's why groups like hers will be reaching out to lawmakers in Congress. They, not the president, have the final word on the budget.

Nell Greenfieldboyce, NPR News.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

3 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。

4 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 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。

6 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

7 scuttled   

v.使船沉没( scuttle的过去式和过去分词 )；快跑，急走

参考例句：

• She scuttled off when she heard the sound of his voice. 听到他的说话声，她赶紧跑开了。
• The thief scuttled off when he saw the policeman. 小偷看见警察来了便急忙跑掉。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 overhauling   

n.大修；拆修；卸修；翻修v.彻底检查( overhaul的现在分词 )；大修；赶上；超越

参考例句：

• I had no chance of overhauling him. 我没有赶上他的可能。 来自辞典例句
• Some sites need little alterations but some need total overhauling. 有些网站需要做出细微修改，而有些网站就需要整体改版。 来自互联网

9 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

10 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

11 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

12 slashing   

adj.尖锐的；苛刻的；鲜明的；乱砍的v.挥砍( slash的现在分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Slashing is the first process in which liquid treatment is involved. 浆纱是液处理的第一过程。 来自辞典例句
• He stopped slashing his horse. 他住了手，不去鞭打他的马了。 来自辞典例句