豆知识 2011-06-12&06-18 “总量管制和交易”的故事

 Devils one and two, cap and giveaway and offsetting², make the system unfair and ineffective. But the last devil which I called distraction³ makes it downright dangerous.

 

 

 

You see there are real solutions out there, but cap and trade with its loopholes and promises of riches have made many people forget all about them. We’re not even close to a global agreement on a carbon cap to begin with. And duh, that is the whole point of cap and trade. But instead of hammering out a fair and strong deal, we are putting the cart before the horse and rushing off to trade schemes and offsets⁴. 

 

 

 

With all the bogus offset¹ projects, huge giveaways to polluters and the failure to address injustices⁵ of climate change, do you think the Third World will get on board with the global cap? I doubt it. If a cap and trade proposal is stopping us from actually capping carbon, it’s a dangerous distraction.  

 

 

 

We don’t need to let these guys design the solution. We, us, our governments, we can make laws and do it ourselves. In my country we already have a law, the Clean Air Act that confirms carbon is a pollutant⁶ which our environmental agency is allowed to cap. So, what are we waiting for? Go, EPA, go, cap that carbon! Instead, a US cap and trade law proposed in 2009 guts⁷ the Clean Air Act, leaving it to the market to fix the problem. If a cap and trade proposal weakens our ability to make strong laws, it’s a distraction.

 

 

 

Concerned citizens around world need to speak out and demand that we redesign our economies away from fossil fuels. The cap and trade makes citizen think everything will be ok if we just drive a little less, change our light bulbs and let these guys do the rest. If cap and trade creates a false sense of progress, it’s a dangerous distraction.

 

 

 

These cap and trade proposals are mostly about protecting business as usual. Right now, the US subsidizes fossil fuels at more than twice the rate of renewables. What? We shouldn’t be subsidizing fossil fuels at all. These guys don’t seem to realize the simplest way to keep carbon out of the atmosphere is to leave it safely in the ground.

 

 

 

US congressman⁸ Rick Boucher, a well-known friend of the coal industry, voted for cap and trade. He said it “strengthens the case for utilities to continue to use coal.”

 

No law that encourages coal use can stop climate change, period. 

 

 

 

Solid caps, strong laws, citizen action and carbon fees to pay off ecological⁹ debt and create a clean energy economy, that’s how we can save our future. 

 

 

 

And next time someone tells you the cap and trade is the best we’re gonna get, don’t believe them. Better yet, talk to them. They probably want a future safe from climate change too. Maybe they’ve just forgotten you can only compromise to a point before a solution isn’t really a solution.

 

 

 

Look, I know we’d love to sacrifice nothing, save the planet and get rich doing it. But get real. This is the biggest crisis humanity has ever faced. We can’t solve it with the mindset, their mindset, that got us into this mess. We need something new. It won’t be easy, but it’s time we dream bigger. It’s time to design a climate solution that will really work.

1 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。

2 offsetting   

n.偏置法v.抵消( offset的现在分词 )；补偿；（为了比较的目的而）把…并列（或并置）；为（管道等）装支管

参考例句：

• Dealers, having concluded a forward contract, should always hedge with an offsetting contract. 外汇经营商在签订了一项远期合同之后总是应进行套头交易签订一项相抵合同。 来自辞典例句
• Where does Germany think offsetting shifts into greater external deficits might occur? 在德国看来，这么大的外部赤字应该转移到哪里？ 来自互联网

3 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

4 offsets   

n.开端( offset的名词复数 )；出发v.抵消( offset的第三人称单数 )；补偿；（为了比较的目的而）把…并列（或并置）；为（管道等）装支管

参考例句：

• The following paragraphs deal with intra-source offsets and the so-called \"bubble\" concept. 下面讨论污染源内部的补偿和所谓的“泡泡”概念。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• The preceding paragraphs were concerned with inter-source offsets. 前文牵涉到污染源之间的补偿。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

5 injustices   

不公平( injustice的名词复数 )； 非正义； 待…不公正； 冤枉

参考例句：

• One who committed many injustices is doomed to failure. 多行不义必自毙。
• He felt confident that his injustices would be righted. 他相信他的冤屈会受到昭雪的。

6 pollutant   

n.污染物质，散布污染物质者

参考例句：

• Coal itself is a heavy pollutant.煤本身就是一种严重的污染物。
• Carbon dioxide may not be a typical air pollutant.二氧化碳可能不是一种典型的污染物。

7 guts   

v.狼吞虎咽，贪婪地吃，飞碟游戏（比赛双方每组5人，相距15码，互相掷接飞碟）；毁坏（建筑物等）的内部( gut的第三人称单数 )；取出…的内脏n.勇气( gut的名词复数 )；内脏；消化道的下段；肠

参考例句：

• I'll only cook fish if the guts have been removed. 鱼若已收拾干净，我只需烧一下即可。
• Barbara hasn't got the guts to leave her mother. 巴巴拉没有勇气离开她妈妈。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

9 ecological   

adj.生态的，生态学的

参考例句：

• The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
• Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.