2006年VOA标准英语-Demand for Alternative Energy Poses Many C

By John Shields
Washington, DC
28 February 2006
 
watch Food vs Fuel report
 
  
  
With the world's oil supply increasingly at risk of terrorist attacks and other disruptions, there is an international rush to develop alternative energy sources to power the growing number of cars around the world.  In his recent push to develop alternative energy sources, President Bush has stressed the need for intermediate solutions such as ethanol and hydrogen.

----------------------------------------------------

At a time when 60 percent of the crude oil used by U.S. refineries¹ comes from outside the country, President Bush says creating alternative sources of energy to replace fossil fuels is an economic and national security issue.

In a series of recent speeches promoting his Advanced Energy Initiative, first unveiled at the State of the Union in January, Mr. Bush said it is time to address the world's dwindling² supply of fossil fuels.
 

George W. Bush  
  
"We got a real problem.  America is addicted³ to oil.  But I meant it, because it's a true fact, and we've got to do something about it now."

To promote his energy initiative, Mr. Bush toured a factory that produces batteries for electric cars as well as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the western U.S. state of Colorado -- a federally-funded research laboratory working on alternative energy sources like hydrogen to power the automobile⁴ of the future.

Mr. Bush adds, "If we can change the way we drive our cars and our trucks, we can change our addiction⁵ to oil.  I mean, all of a sudden the whole equation about energy production begins to shift dramatically."

Mr. Bush's plan to reduce America's dependency on foreign oil includes increased investment in the development of alternative fuels like ethanol made from corn, and in battery technology to power hybrid⁶ vehicles that run on both fuel and electricity.

Philip Clapp  
  
But Philip Clapp, President of the National Environmental Trust in Washington, says Mr. Bush's plan is too little, and too late. 

He says since the 1973 Arab oil embargo⁷ nearly paralyzed America's transportation network, administrations since President Nixon's have been promising⁸ unrealistic solutions to deal with the nation's reliance on foreign oil sources. "President Nixon, in response to the first oil shock, launched Project Independence, which he promised would make the United States independent of foreign oil imports by 1980.  30 years later, after Richard Nixon's statement, if we'd been consistent, we actually could have capped our oil imports at maybe 30 to 40 percent, and be producing the majority of energy at home."

 
John Felmy 
  
John Felmy, the Chief Economist¹⁰ for the American Petroleum¹¹ Institute, takes Clapp's point a step further. "The reason we didn't achieve an improvement in energy independence was bad energy policy.  We went the wrong way.  We had windfall profit taxes and a lot of other bad energy policies that put us into the slide of the amount of dependence⁹ we are right now."

In any case, environmentalists and the energy industry agree it will take decades to convert the nation's infrastructure¹² to handle alternative energy sources for automobiles¹³. 

This need for patience was underscored during Mr. Bush's visit to the national research lab. Mr. Bush acknowledges it will take time. "Our fleet is not going to change overnight.  It takes a while.  When you get new technologies available for people to buy -- hybrid vehicles or flex-fuel vehicles -- it takes a while to change a 220 million car fleet to a modern fleet."

Harvesting corn to make alternative fuel -- or food?  
  
But transforming food sources like corn or -- in the case of Brazil, sugar -- into fuel to power more vehicles could create an even larger problem.  Philip Clapp says a choice will have to be made.

"There is actually going to be an issue: how much is devoted¹⁴ to autos, how much is devoted to fuel production and how much is devoted to food production."

Felmy of the American Petroleum Institute agrees, saying the world is already seeing the effects of increased use of ethanol. "Well, there is no question that if you were to dramatically increase the use of ethanol, it could have a significant impact on the food market, and in fact we're already seeing some of that.  We're seeing the price, for example, of sugar going up as result of some of the demands for ethanol."

Experts say how the world meets its increasing appetite for energy will be one of the most important issues of the 21st century. 

1 refineries   

精炼厂( refinery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The efforts on closedown and suspension of small sugar refineries, small saccharin refineries and small paper mills are also being carried out in steps. 关停小糖厂、小糖精厂、小造纸厂的工作也已逐步展开。
• Hence the sitting of refineries is at a distance from population centres. 所以，炼油厂的厂址总在远离人口集中的地方。

2 dwindling   

adj.逐渐减少的v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The number of wild animals on the earth is dwindling. 地球上野生动物的数量正日渐减少。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority. 他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。 来自辞典例句

3 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

4 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

5 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

6 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

7 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。

8 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

9 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。

10 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

11 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。

12 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

13 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》

14 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。