VOA标准英语2009年-Obama Unveils $3.4B Plan to Update US Ener

By Kent Klein
White House
27 October 2009

 
President Barack Obama speaks during his tour of the DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center in Arcadia, Florida, 27 Oct 2009
 
U.S. President Barack Obama says the government will spend $3.4 billion to update the nation's energy infrastructure¹ with new technologies. The president made the announcement Tuesday at a solar power facility in Florida.

President Obama stood in front of a sea of solar power collectors and said his administration is funding a massive update of the U.S. energy distribution network.

"We are making the largest-ever investment in a smarter, stronger and more secure electric grid²," he said.

The $3.4 billion expenditure³ is part of the $787-billion economic stimulus⁴ plan Congress passed and Mr. Obama signed early this year. The money will be matched by industry and will pay for 100 projects to modernize⁵ the power system.

The president was speaking at the DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center in Arcadia, Florida. He said the plant will produce enough power to serve the entire town of about 7,000 people.

Mr. Obama compared the initiative to update the power grid with the development of the U.S. Interstate highway system in the 1950's.

"It is time to make the same kind of investment in the way our energy travels, to build a clean-energy superhighway that can take the renewable power generated in places like DeSoto and deliver it directly to the American people in the most affordable⁶ and efficient way possible," he said.

The president said the projects include installing so-called smart electric meters in homes, as well as supporting efforts to use more alternative energy.

"We can imagine the day when you will be able to charge the battery on your plug-in hybrid⁷ car at night, because your smart meter reminded you that nighttime electricity is cheapest," said Mr. Obama.

Some of those plug-in hybrid cars are expected to be produced at a former General Motors assembly plant in Delaware. Vice⁸ President Joe Biden visited the plant, in his home state, which the small luxury car company Fisker Automotive has bought.

"The batteries for these vehicles-the electric muscle-is going to come from companies based in the United States of America, because this administration is investing billions of dollars in battery technology, right here in the United States of America," he said.

Fisker recently received approval for more than $528 million in government loans to develop the electric cars. Production is expected to start in 2012.

1 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。

2 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

3 expenditure   

n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出；使用，消耗

参考例句：

• The entry of all expenditure is necessary.有必要把一切开支入账。
• The monthly expenditure of our family is four hundred dollars altogether.我们一家的开销每月共计四百元。

4 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

5 modernize   

vt.使现代化，使适应现代的需要

参考例句：

• It was their manifest failure to modernize the country's industries.他们使国家进行工业现代化，明显失败了。
• There is a pressing need to modernise our electoral system.我们的选举制度迫切需要现代化。

6 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

7 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。

8 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。