VOA标准英语2009年-Obama's Choice For Energy Secretary Vows to Add

President-elect Barack Obama's nominee¹ for energy secretary, Nobel Prize-winning physicist² Steven Chu, said if confirmed he will pursue policies to address climate change and reduce U.S. dependence³ on foreign oil.
　

Energy Sec.-designate Steven Chu testifies on Capitol Hill, 13 Jan 2009

At a hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Steven Chu said two key challenges facing the United States are climate change and making the nation more energy independent.

"Climate change is a growing and pressing problem. It is now clear that if we continue on our current path, we run the risk of dramatic disruptive changes to our climate in the lifetimes of our children and our grandchildren. At the same time, we face immediate⁴ threats to our economy, our national security that stem from our dependence on oil," he said.

Chu said the Obama administration would work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions⁵ that contribute to global warming through a cap-and-trade system. As part of such a system power plants, oil refineries⁶ and industrial facilities that have high emissions would pay more than those that invest in technologies that curb⁷ emissions.

Chu, who currently serves as director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, also underscored the importance of energy efficient technologies, biofuels and solar energy in reducing the U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

Some senators from states with oil and gas reserves urged Chu and the incoming Obama administration to encourage greater production of domestic resources.
　

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (file photo)

Senator Lisa Murkowski is a Republican from Alaska.

"I feel very strongly that we have to enhance our domestic oil and gas production," she said.

Chu said domestic oil and gas production would be part of a comprehensive energy policy under the new administration. But he said the United States has about four or five percent of the world's oil reserves, and that a more efficient use of energy would be a bigger factor in helping⁸ the nation decrease its dependency on foreign oil.

That brought a terse⁹ response from Senator Mary Landrieu, a Democrat¹⁰ from Louisiana, a state with offshore¹¹ oil and gas reserves.

"I would urge you to be careful about the comment about four percent. It is true we have four percent of the known reserves, but there is great evidence to suggest that there are a lot of reserves that are unknown," said Landrieu.

Despite the occasional pointed¹² questioning, Chu is expected to be confirmed by the Senate as early as next week.

Chu, a former chairman of the physics department at Stanford University, shared the Nobel Prize for physics in 1997 for discovering a way to cool and trap atoms by using laser light.

1 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

2 physicist   

n.物理学家，研究物理学的人

参考例句：

• He is a physicist of the first rank.他是一流的物理学家。
• The successful physicist never puts on airs.这位卓有成就的物理学家从不摆架子。

3 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。

4 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

5 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

6 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。

7 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

9 terse   

adj.(说话，文笔)精炼的，简明的

参考例句：

• Her reply about the matter was terse.她对此事的答复简明扼要。
• The president issued a terse statement denying the charges.总统发表了一份简短的声明，否认那些指控。

10 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

11 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

12 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。