2007年VOA标准英语-President and Congress Push Alternative Fuels

By Jim Fry
Washington, D.C.
26 February 2007
 
watch Energy report

President Bush is looking for new ways to encourage the use of alternative energy, and Democratic Party leaders who control Congress appear to be only too ready to comply.  That leaves the big oil companies urging government to slow down -- a message delivered this week by the industry's trade association in Washington.  VOA's Jim Fry reports.

 
President Bush gets a look under the hood¹ of a hybrid² car on display with others at the White House Friday, February 23
President Bush inspected a couple of alternative-energy vehicles at he White House -- one a gasoline-electric powered hybrid with an extra-strength battery.

He displays the cars at the White House, he says, to demonstrate that his goal of cutting gasoline usage dramatically is realistic. "I know it is a necessary goal.  It is necessary for national-security purposes.  It is necessary for economic-security purposes.  And it is necessary in order to be good stewards³ of the environment."

Environmental advocate Deron Lovaas, who works for the Natural Resources Defense⁴ Council, says it is urgent that Congress act quickly. "If the president is serious about his goal of a 20 percent reduction in gasoline production in 10 years, it is very serious.  We need this policy, this Congress."

Energy conservationists say the U.S. Congress must require new cars to get much higher gas mileage⁵, and the government must encourage automakers to produce more alternative-fuel vehicles.

They say tax cuts are needed to encourage more production of ethanol.  The fuel is mostly made from corn in the U.S., but the president wants researchers to study how to use other crops to make ethanol.

The alternative fuel is rarely seen in many parts of the country now, but advocates want the government to require gas stations nationwide to sell ethanol.  The president of the American Petroleum⁶ Institute, Red Cavaney, speaking in Washington, said it would be a mistake to use tax incentives⁷ for these purposes. "Government policies should be performance based, and they should provide a level playing field for all alternative fuels, and not pick winners and losers."

The oil industry enjoyed billions of dollars in tax breaks enacted⁸ in 2005 to encourage exploration and production of oil.  Many argued that was inequitable. Lovaas says, "It seems to me by adopting big tax breaks, you are picking winners and losers."

Environmentalists may have an ally in the new Democrat-ruled Congress.  The House of Representatives voted last month to scale back industry tax cuts by $14 billion.

Yet the industry claims tax breaks are crucial for exploration -- and for more discoveries like the 15-billion-barrel pool of oil found deep under the Gulf⁹ of Mexico last year, the largest find in a generation.

The petroleum companies want Congress to slow down the campaign for alternative fuels:

"We are not trying to stall here,” says Cavaney. “What we want to do is make sure that every stakeholder has a chance to come up and present their case, [to] look at it before we head down that path, because it is going to influence billions of dollars of investments."

But high prices at U.S. pumps and record oil-company profits have combined to make the oil industry unpopular. 

Lovaas says big oil cannot stall. "They need to come to the table very quickly, because if they are not at the table, they could be on the menu."

As President Bush pushes new fuels, and the new Congress attacks old oil, the petroleum giants find new risk not in the oil fields, but in the halls of government.

1 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

2 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。

3 stewards   

（轮船、飞机等的）乘务员( steward的名词复数 )； （俱乐部、旅馆、工会等的）管理员； （大型活动的）组织者； （私人家中的）管家

参考例句：

• The stewards all wore armbands. 乘务员都戴了臂章。
• The stewards will inspect the course to see if racing is possible. 那些干事将检视赛马场看是否适宜比赛。

4 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

5 mileage   

n.里程，英里数；好处，利润

参考例句：

• He doesn't think there's any mileage in that type of advertising.他认为做那种广告毫无效益。
• What mileage has your car done?你的汽车跑了多少英里？

6 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。

7 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

8 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

9 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。