美国国家公共电台 NPR It's Not Easy, But Aspen Moves Toward 100 Percent Renewable Energy

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Now that President Trump¹ has announced his intention to pull out of the Paris climate accord, more cities around the U.S. are looking to cut their own carbon emissions². Hundreds of American mayors say they're committed to supporting 100 percent renewable energy. But is that really possible? As Grace Hood³ from Colorado Public Radio reports, it's complicated.

GRACE HOOD, BYLINE⁴: In 2006, Aspen Utilities was one of the first in the country to declare a 100 percent renewable energy goal. Walking downtown, Mayor Steve Skadron points to the nearby mountain that supports the town's ski industry. As we pass designer stores like Prada and Gucci, he says behind the glitz is an environmental mission.

STEVE SKADRON: Put aside the crazy climate zealots telling everybody to sell their cars and eat tofu. It makes economic sense for us to support these values because our economy's based on the natural environment.

HOOD: Aspen had a good head start with hydroelectric plants like this one built in the 1980s. Dave Hornbacher directs Aspen Utilities.

DAVE HORNBACHER: As you can see here, it looks like a log cabin tucked into the woods.

HOOD: To get more renewable energy, the city wanted to revive another hydroplant on a different stream. It spent millions on the proposal. But some residents worried about the impact on the environment. In 2012, Aspen voters rejected the idea. Instead, Aspen signed contracts to bring in hydro, wind and biogas from other regions and states. In 2015, Mayor Skadron says that made the city utility the third in the nation to be powered completely by renewable energy.

SKADRON: It was really exciting. It was really hard.

HOOD: All that renewable power keeps the lights on downtown, but Aspen still uses natural gas to heat homes. And when you go to the ski resort or outlying homes, the power comes from a different utility that uses some fossil fuels.

JODIE VAN HORN: There are different factors that either enable or inhibit⁵ city's ease of achieving their goals.

HOOD: Jodie Van Horn directs a Sierra Club campaign that works with cities to use 100 percent renewables. Aspen wasn't part of this, but Van Horn says more than 30 places have signed on, including bigger cities like San Diego and Atlanta. The Sierra Club pushes cities to make their own renewable energy. But Van Horn says even when they buy energy from faraway places, like Aspen does, it has a wider impact.

VAN HORN: That city is helping⁶ to shift not just the electrons consumed within that community, but really helping the grid⁷ move towards cleaner sources of energy like wind and solar.

HOOD: The Sierra Club hopes all this will add up to lower carbon emissions for cities and the country. In Aspen, that's still a challenge. A decade ago, the city set out to bring down all its emissions 30 percent by 2020. Despite all its work, it's not there by a long shot. Mayor Steve Skadron has a new focus. He's talking with companies about tackling carbon emissions from cars.

SKADRON: Who's ever thinking about the transportation future, whether it's Tesla or Google or Ford⁸ Motor Company or Toyota or Apple, you know, they would bring the transportation future. And these conversations have started.

HOOD: After that, there's still airport emissions and the natural gas used to heat homes. The city hopes to issue a new climate action plan this fall. For NPR News, I'm Grace Hood in Aspen, Colo.

(SOUNDBITE OF BEASTIE BOYS' "KANGAROO RAT")

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 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。

3 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

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 inhibit   

vt.阻止，妨碍，抑制

参考例句：

• Don't let ego and greed inhibit clear thinking and hard work.不要让自我和贪婪妨碍清晰的思维和刻苦的工作。
• They passed a law to inhibit people from parking in the street.他们通过一项法令以阻止人们在街上停车。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

8 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。