美国国家公共电台 NPR Gov. Jay Inslee Says Washington State Is A 'Template For Success' For The U.S.

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Governor Jay Inslee of Washington state says combating climate change is the defining challenge of our time - so much so that he is framing his entire presidential campaign around it. I spoke¹ with the governor as part of our Opening Arguments series with 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, and I asked Inslee why he believes combating climate change can get him all the way to the White House.

JAY INSLEE: People are increasingly sympathetic because they're understanding. They're watching Paradise, Calif., burn to the ground. They're watching the Midwest be inundated² by floods. They're watching Miami Beach having to spend taxpayer³ money building up the roads because of inundation⁴. And it is the reality and the science that is convincing people rather than just rhetoric⁵ or ideology⁶. And that is moving very, very dramatically. And this is the existential threat, and it does call for a president to make this job one because if it is not job one, it won't get done. We have to understand, if we don't solve the climate crisis, it will prevent us from dealing⁷ with all of our other hopes and challenges.

MARTIN: You point to your experience as the governor of Washington as evidence that you can make this happen, that you can push policies to combat climate change - big ones. But that has been a hard slog for you in the state. You have had a recent victory, but in 2018, you tried to pass a carbon tax, and you didn't even get unanimous support from Democrats⁸. What did you learn from that 2018 loss?

INSLEE: I learned that the most important renewable fuel in America is the power of perseverance⁹. And we persevered¹⁰, and we now have won. What I've also learned - and this is very important - is that a pricing system on carbon is not the only game in town. There are multiple tools in the tool box. There are many policies that we can adopt. We've seen them work in other jurisdictions¹¹ and other nations, and now we've put them in place in the state of Washington.

And my state, I believe, is a template for success for the United States in our climate policies, as well as all the other progressive things we have done. And we have shown that we have developed the best economy in the United States with the fastest GDP growth and the fastest wage growth not despite the fact that we're embracing clean energy but because we are embracing clean energy. But we're not done yet. There's more to do.

MARTIN: So let's talk about what you would do as the occupant of the Oval Office. Your current proposal focuses on changes in the future - so new emission¹² standards for cars and buildings, for example. But do you have a plan to deal with all the vehicles that are currently on the road that are currently contributing to America's gross emissions¹³?

INSLEE: Yes. Those cars are going to be replaced by vehicles that don't use fossil fuels, largely electric. In our buildings, we're doing what I have already done in Washington, which is retrofitting existing commercial buildings, and that starts in 2030. In my plan...

MARTIN: So all this takes a while. It does - it's going to take a while.

INSLEE: Of course, of course. I mean, we're not going to shut down the U.S. economy tomorrow at noon. We're going to have a rational transition, and the pace is driven by science. Now we've got a president who says that wind turbines cause cancer. He's wrong. They cause jobs. And I've had a vision for this that now is coming to pass, and we know that because clean energy jobs today are growing twice as fast as the U.S. economy. And these are not jobs for physicists¹⁴ necessarily. They're jobs for carpenters and laborers¹⁵ and machinists.

MARTIN: Are they jobs for coal miners?

INSLEE: Not in the decades to come. We have to realize that we're going to have to wean ourself off of coal, and we have to have a transition plan for the very dedicated¹⁶, hardworking people who have been in the mines for generations.

MARTIN: What is that? I mean, everyone talks about retraining, but what does that actually mean? How much does it cost?

INSLEE: I'll give you a real-world example. And so in Centralia, Wash., we have the last coal-fired plant. We have reached a community agreement to close it in the next few years. In doing so, we've created a $55 million fund that will help with the families and retraining education. It will also help build jobs because training is not enough. You have to have a job.

MARTIN: Where's the money going to come from?

INSLEE: It will come in the form of a combination of investment - and we know these investments grow jobs over time and will minimize the economic loss that will otherwise be associated with the climate crisis.

MARTIN: I just want to complete that thought. You said, it's going to be a combination of private investment and higher taxes?

INSLEE: Not necessarily because we have something that I think we need to do in any event, which is to remove the giant subsidies¹⁷ from the oil and gas companies. We need to repeal¹⁸ the majority of the Trump¹⁹ tax cuts, which went to the upper, you know, income brackets - rather than working people - and did not produce jobs. So simply having some reform like that is what makes sense.

MARTIN: There are people who would say, yes, let's do this, and I will do my part. But there are Republicans and some Democrats who would not be so keen on having to pay any kind of higher tax in order to offset²⁰ the costs of these climate proposals. Can you tell us now that you would absolutely not ask the American taxpayer to pay some of the burden here?

INSLEE: Well, of course not. Nobody who is going to run for office can make any statement about the future like that, and they're responsible if they do. But what I can say is that the majority of the investment will be private, in part because it will be required. Much of our plan does not involve public investment directly. It is a requirement that the public utilities get off fossil fuels. It is a requirement that the auto²¹ industry provide cars for us that don't pollute anymore.

By the way, this is a health issue, too. This is just not an economic issue - 10,000 to 15,000 more people die of pollution from automobiles²² today than in car crashes. This is a national security issue. People say this is a single issue. This is all of these issues. And so these are investments that the vast majority are going to come from the private sector²³ and private companies, not from the government. But the government does have a role, as it did when we went to the moon, as it did when we defeated fascism. And we're calling for an appropriate public investment to do that.

Now, you mentioned Republicans. The sad fact is, at the moment, that we're going to have to find a way to get this done without them because right now, we still have not seen the spirit of Teddy Roosevelt. We're seeing the spirit of Mitch McConnell, who will kill any climate change bill in its cradle if he has a chance. And that means we have to get rid of the filibuster²⁴. We have to prevent Mitch McConnell from stopping climate change. We have to let majority vote - one person, one vote - be the Democratic rule in the U.S. Senate. I'm the first candidate to say that. I hope others will follow so that we can get progress in this.

MARTIN: Is that a unifying²⁵ message, though, in these divisive times?

INSLEE: Yes, it is unifying because everyone - Republicans and Democrats - have an interest in not letting America catch fire. So everyone is going to benefit from this.

MARTIN: Jay Inslee is the governor of Washington and the latest Democratic presidential contender to give us his opening argument.

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 inundated   

v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付

参考例句：

• We have been inundated with offers of help. 主动援助多得使我们应接不暇。
• We have been inundated with every bit of information imaginable. 凡是想得到的各种各样的信息潮水般地向我们涌来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

4 inundation   

n.the act or fact of overflowing

参考例句：

• Otherwise, inundation would ensue to our dismay. 若不疏导，只能眼巴巴看着它泛滥。
• Therefore this psychology preceded the inundation of Caudillo politics after independence. 在独立后，这一心态助长了考迪罗主义的泛滥。

5 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

6 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

7 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

8 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》

9 perseverance   

n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠

参考例句：

• It may take some perseverance to find the right people.要找到合适的人也许需要有点锲而不舍的精神。
• Perseverance leads to success.有恒心就能胜利。

10 persevered   

v.坚忍，坚持( persevere的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She persevered with her violin lessons. 她孜孜不倦地学习小提琴。
• Hard as the conditions were, he persevered in his studies. 虽然条件艰苦，但他仍坚持学习。 来自辞典例句

11 jurisdictions   

司法权( jurisdiction的名词复数 )； 裁判权； 管辖区域； 管辖范围

参考例句：

• Butler entreated him to remember the act abolishing the heritable jurisdictions. 巴特勒提醒他注意废除世袭审判权的国会法令。
• James I personally adjudicated between the two jurisdictions. 詹姆士一世亲自裁定双方纠纷。

12 emission   

n.发出物，散发物；发出，散发

参考例句：

• Rigorous measures will be taken to reduce the total pollutant emission.采取严格有力措施，降低污染物排放总量。
• Finally,the way to effectively control particulate emission is pointed out.最后，指出有效降低颗粒排放的方向。

13 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。

14 physicists   

物理学家( physicist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• For many particle physicists, however, it was a year of frustration. 对于许多粒子物理学家来说，这是受挫折的一年。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技
• Physicists seek rules or patterns to provide a framework. 物理学家寻求用法则或图式来构成一个框架。

15 laborers   

n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工

参考例句：

• Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

16 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。

17 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

19 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。

20 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

21 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

22 automobiles   

n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• When automobiles become popular,the use of the horse and buggy passed away. 汽车普及后，就不再使用马和马车了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Automobiles speed in an endless stream along the boulevard. 宽阔的林荫道上，汽车川流不息。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

23 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。

24 filibuster   

n.妨碍议事，阻挠；v.阻挠

参考例句：

• A senator dragged the subject in as a filibuster.一个参议员硬把这个题目拉扯进来，作为一种阻碍议事的手法。
• The democrats organized a filibuster in the senate.民主党党员在参议院上组织了阻挠议事。

25 unifying   

使联合( unify的现在分词 )； 使相同； 使一致； 统一

参考例句：

• In addition, there were certain religious bonds of a unifying kind. 此外，他们还有某种具有一种统一性质的宗教上的结合。
• There is a unifying theme, and that is the theme of information flow within biological systems. 我们可以用一个总的命题，把生物学系统内的信息流来作为这一研究主题。