Hi, everybody. Earlier this week, I spent some time with the hardworking men and women of the American auto 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 brink of failure. If we had let this great American industry collapse – 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 retool 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. Ford 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 spikes in gas prices every year. There’s no shortcut 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 dependence on foreign oil has decreased every single year. In fact, in 2010, for the first time in thirteen years, less than half the petroleum 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 corporate welfare. Congress should end this taxpayer 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。 |