奥巴马总统每周电台演讲:掌控我们的能源未来

Hi, everybody.  Earlier this week, I spent some time with the hardworking men and women of the American auto¹ industry, who are busy writing a new chapter in America’s story.

Just a few years ago, their industry was shedding hundreds of thousands of jobs.  Two of the Big Three – GM and Chrysler – were on the brink² of failure.  If we had let this great American industry collapse³ – if we had let Detroit go bankrupt – more than one million Americans would have lost their jobs in the middle of the worst recession since the Great Depression.

I refused to let that happen.  These jobs are worth more than just a paycheck – they’re a source of pride and a ticket to the middle class.  These companies are worth more than just the cars they build – they’re a symbol of American innovation and a source of our manufacturing might.

So in exchange for help, we demanded responsibility.  We got the companies to retool⁴ and restructure.  Everyone sacrificed.  And three years later, the American auto industry is back.

Today, GM is the number one automaker in the world.  Chrysler is growing faster in America than any other car company.  Ford⁵ is investing billions in American plants and factories, and plans to bring thousands of jobs back home.  All told, the entire industry has added more than 200,000 new jobs over the past two and a half years.

And they’re not just building cars again – they’re building better cars.  Thanks to new fuel efficiency standards we put in place, they’re building cars that will average nearly 55 miles per gallon by the middle of the next decade.  That’s almost double what they get today.  That means folks will be able to fill up every two weeks instead of every week, saving the typical family more than $8,000 at the pump over time.  That’s a big deal, especially as families are yet again feeling the pinch from rising gas prices.

So what’s happening in Detroit will make a difference.  But it won’t solve everything.  There’s no silver bullet for avoiding spikes⁶ in gas prices every year.  There’s no shortcut⁷ to taking control of our energy future.  We have to pursue an all-of-the-above strategy that helps develop every source of American energy.  And we have to do it now.

The good news is, we’ve been making progress.  Take a look at this chart.  Six years ago, 60% of the oil we used was imported.  Since I took office, America’s dependence⁸ on foreign oil has decreased every single year.  In fact, in 2010, for the first time in thirteen years, less than half the petroleum⁹ we consumed was imported.  Part of that is because we’re producing more oil here at home than at any time in the last eight years.

But we can’t just drill our way out of this problem.   While we consume 20 percent of the world’s oil, we only have 2 percent of the world’s oil reserves.  We’ve got to develop new technology that will help us use new forms of energy.  That’s been a priority of mine as President.  And because of the investments we’ve made, our use of clean, renewable energy has nearly doubled – and thousands of Americans have jobs because of it.

Now we need to keep at it.  And to do that, we need to make the right choices.

Here’s one we can make right now.  Every year, $4 billion of your tax dollars go to subsidizing the oil industry.  These are the same companies making record profits – tens of billions of dollars a year.  I don’t think oil companies need more corporate¹⁰ welfare.  Congress should end this taxpayer¹¹ giveaway.  If you agree with me, I’m asking you to e-mail, call, or Tweet your representative.  Tell them to stop fighting for oil companies.  Tell them to start fighting for working families.  Tell them to fight for the clean energy future that’s within our reach.  Because the sooner we all get started, the sooner we’ll get there together.  Thanks and have a great weekend.

大家好。本周早些时候，我与美国汽车业界辛勤劳作的工人们进行了交谈，他们正在忙碌着书写美国传奇的新篇章。

就在几年前，这一产业的工作岗位流失数万。三大巨头中的两家：通用和克莱斯勒濒临破产。如果我们当时让这一伟大的美国产业坍塌，如果我们让底特律破产，那么就会有100多万人在大萧条后的这场最为严重的经济衰退中失去工作。

我拒绝这种情形发生。这些工作的价值远超过其工资本身，它们代表这一份尊严，代表着通往中产阶级的船票。这些公司的价值也远超它们制造的汽车，它们是美国创新的标志，是美国制造业的源泉。

因此，作为援助条件，我们要求它们负起责任。这些公司在我们的要求下开始重组改革。每个人都付出了牺牲。三年后的今天，美国汽车产业复兴了。

今天，通用是全球最大的汽车制造商。克莱斯勒在国内的增长速度比其它任何一家汽车厂商都快。福特投资数十亿美元在美国建厂，这些工厂为国内带回数千个工作岗位。总之，整个产业在过去两年半里新增20万个就业岗位。

而且它们不仅仅是在重新开始生产汽车——而是在生产更好的汽车。由于新燃油效率标准的实施，它们生产的汽车将在未来5年内实现每加仑燃油行驶55英里（约合23公里/升，百公里油耗4.28升）的目标。这几乎是当前行驶里程的一倍。这也意味着人们可以每两周加一次油而不用每周都去，随着时间推移为一般家庭在油费上节约8000美元。这是很大的成就，尤其是在人们再次受到油价上涨的刺痛的时候。

因此，底特律的成就将带来改变。但并不能解决所有问题。避免油价每年的起伏并没有速效良方。在掌控我们的能源未来上也没有捷径。我们必须寻求最高的能源战略帮助我们发展所有的能源来源。而且现在就要动手。

好消息是，我们已经取得了一些进展。看下这张图标。六年前，我们使用的石油60%是进口的。自我主政以来，美国对海外石油的依赖度每年都在下降。在2010年，我们13年来首次实现进口石油占我们消耗石油总量的一半以下。部分原因也是我们国内石油产量比过去八年里任何时候都多。

但我们不能仅依靠这种方式摆脱困境。我们消费了全球20%的石油，而我们的石油储量却只有全球储量的2%。我们必须发展新技术来帮助我们开发使用新形式的能源。这是我作为总统优先考虑的事情。由于我们已经做出的投资，我们对清洁可再生能源的使用接近翻倍——同时也有数千人因此得到了工作。

现在我们需要保持这一良好势头。为实现这一目标，我们需要做出正确选择。

有一件事我们现在就可以做到。每年，40亿美元的税金作为补贴提供给了石油业。而正是这些公司却在攫取每年数百亿美元的巨额利润。我认为石油公司并不需要这样的企业福利。国会应该终结用纳税人的钱对它们的补助。如果你同意我的观点，那么我请求你通过电子邮件、电话或者推特告诉你们的议员们。告诉他们为工薪家庭考虑。告诉他们为我们可实现的清洁能源未来而奋斗。因为我们行动越迅速，我们的目标也实现的越快。谢谢大家，周末愉快。

1 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。

2 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

3 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

4 retool   

v.改组，重新装备

参考例句：

• Each time the product changes,the machines have to be retooled.每次更换产品，就得重新装备机器。
• In the computer industry,engineers have to retool frequently.在电脑业中，工程师必须经常以新知识充实装备自己。

5 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。

6 spikes   

n.穗( spike的名词复数 )；跑鞋；（防滑）鞋钉；尖状物v.加烈酒于( spike的第三人称单数 )；偷偷地给某人的饮料加入（更多）酒精（ 或药物）；把尖状物钉入；打乱某人的计划

参考例句：

• a row of iron spikes on a wall 墙头的一排尖铁
• There is a row of spikes on top of the prison wall to prevent the prisoners escaping. 监狱墙头装有一排尖钉，以防犯人逃跑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 shortcut   

n.近路，捷径

参考例句：

• He was always looking for a shortcut to fame and fortune.他总是在找成名发财的捷径。
• If you take the shortcut,it will be two li closer.走抄道去要近2里路。

8 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

9 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

10 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

11 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。