VOA标准英语2010年-Small Changes Help US Families Jumpsta

Small lifestyle changes make big difference for planet

Rosanne Skirble | Washington, DC 16 February 2010

The Stokes from Falls Church, Virginia, say what they are doing is right for the planet and the pocketbook.

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Swedish Embassy
Climate Pilot Program
Climate Pilot Program in Kalmar, Sweden
World Resources Institute

"I don't feel like we are sacrificing in any way. I think that if people were more aware of the easy things they could do to reduce their carbon footprint, I think they'd do them."

A few years ago some residents of the Swedish town of Kalmar on the Baltic Sea made a pledge to address the negative impact their energy use was having on the global environment. Within a year, the 12 participating families had reduced their climate-changing carbon emissions¹ - its carbon footprint - by one-third.

Their jurisdiction² had already made a commitment to completely shun³ fossil fuels and derive⁴ all of its energy from renewable sources by 2030. 

Kalmar's green-energy eco-initiative is documented in an exhibition at the Swedish Embassy in Washington. It is also serving as a model for a Swedish-government sponsored program to engage average Americans - among the world's most extravagant⁵ energy users - in a similar effort.

Nolan and Kathy Stokes heard about the Climate Pilot program last July and decided⁶ to take on the challenge to use energy more efficiently⁷ in their Falls Church, Virginia home.

The geothermal heat pump is a major investment, costing over $30,000, but the Stokes say government tax credits and lower heating and cooling bills will pay for the system in the long run.

Small Changes, Big Impact

On this cold winter day the Stokes have engaged two work crews. One is replacing windows with double pane⁸ glass. The other has parked its huge drilling rig on the front lawn to dig a 200-meter hole for a geothermal heat pump.

The ground source heat pump is the most ambitious investment so far, says Kathy Stokes, a lawyer who like her husband, a financial planner, works at home. "We were recycling and changing light bulbs to more efficient ones, but we kept thinking and saying, 'There's got to be more to reducing our carbon footprint.'"

 

Lars Roth, the Swedish Embassy's First Environment Secretary, says the Climate Pilot program builds on the idea that in tackling the global environment crisis, individual actions can make a positive difference. "You can have laws. You can have economic stimulus⁹ packages to green your economy, but in the end it comes down to consumer choices, what each one of us decides to do in our daily lives."

Forty years ago, Sweden - like the United States - was largely dependent on imported fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas. The burning of these fuels releases large amounts of heat-trapping carbon dioxide into the earth's atmosphere.

Each person on the Kalmar Climate Pilot team calculated carbon emissions from products and services purchased before and after the eco-experiment and then served as coaches for American families in the Swedish Embassy program.

Taking Action

But in the 1970s, after oil supply interruptions and fuel-price shocks, Sweden began to make the switch from petroleum¹⁰ imports to renewables and nuclear energy with considerable success. Roth says 43 percent of total energy production is based on renewable sources. "Almost 80 percent of our electricity production is based on either renewable or nuclear. It's almost fossil [fuel] free."

Sweden's per capita carbon emissions fell, too. Today, each person in the country generates 7.4 metric tons of carbon every year. The average American, on the other hand, produces 23.5 metric tons of carbon annually¹¹, according to Tim Herzog, a climate policy analyst¹² with the World Resources Institute, a private Washington-based research group. "The major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions at a national level is energy consumption. The primary drivers of that are electricity and where a country gets its electricity. The United States gets about half of its electricity from coal."

The Climate Pilot program identifies four areas where Americans can start reducing their carbon footprint: energy use, food consumption, leisure time and transportation - activities, things that Americans aren't used to questioning, says Nolan Stokes. "We got a little training from the Swedes and some encouragement to actually critically start looking at what we were doing." This led the Stokes to check kilowatt¹³ output, plug leaks, install insulation¹⁴, switch to more energy-efficient appliances, carpool more and cut down on meat consumption. 

Kathy Stokes says the goal, consistent with that of their Swedish climate coaches, is to change simple habits. "I don't feel like we are sacrificing in any way. I think that if people were more aware of the easy things they could do to reduce their carbon footprint, I think they'd do them." 

Nolan Stokes agrees. "You need early adopters, to not just adopt these behaviors, but to be proponents¹⁵ for adoption¹⁶ of these behaviors. Somebody's got to make noise about doing it, and we're willing to do that."

The Stokes are also teaching energy-saving habits to their children, 9-year-old Ryker and 8-year-old Lee.

A Family Affair

The Stokes are also teaching energy-saving habits to their children, 9-year-old Ryker and 8-year-old Lee. "[The kids] walk around the house and make sure that all the computer monitors are off. They are turning lights off as they leave the room," Kathy says. "They are fine with not eating much beef and changing their eating habits."

Ryker and Lee, Nolan says, are taking showers instead of baths because showers take less time and use less hot water. "[The children] are just totally on board with the whole thing."

Lee says she gets the message out to her friends. "I tell them not to use so much electricity." When asked why, Ryker pipes in that he's helping¹⁷ the family "do stuff that would be better for the Earth."
   
The Stokes support legislation now pending¹⁸ in the U.S. Congress that would curb¹⁹ U.S. carbon emissions. But they also think that with or without new laws, every American can do more to emit less. They say while it took a push from Sweden to jumpstart their greener lifestyle, they hope that as Climate Pilots they can help blaze a trail for other Americans toward a more energy-efficient and Earth-friendly future.
 

1 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。

2 jurisdiction   

n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权

参考例句：

• It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。
• Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。

3 shun   

vt.避开，回避，避免

参考例句：

• Materialists face truth,whereas idealists shun it.唯物主义者面向真理，唯心主义者则逃避真理。
• This extremist organization has shunned conventional politics.这个极端主义组织有意避开了传统政治。

4 derive   

v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自

参考例句：

• We derive our sustenance from the land.我们从土地获取食物。
• We shall derive much benefit from reading good novels.我们将从优秀小说中获得很大好处。

5 extravagant   

adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的

参考例句：

• They tried to please him with fulsome compliments and extravagant gifts.他们想用溢美之词和奢华的礼品来取悦他。
• He is extravagant in behaviour.他行为放肆。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

8 pane   

n.窗格玻璃，长方块

参考例句：

• He broke this pane of glass.他打破了这块窗玻璃。
• Their breath bloomed the frosty pane.他们呼出的水气，在冰冷的窗玻璃上形成一层雾。

9 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。

10 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。

11 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

12 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

13 kilowatt   

n.千瓦

参考例句：

• They pay thirty fen per kilowatt hour.他们每度电付三角钱。
• The watt is a small unit of power so that we use the kilowatt instead.瓦特是小功率的单位，因此我们用千瓦代之。

14 insulation   

n.隔离；绝缘；隔热

参考例句：

• Please examine the insulation of the electric wires in my house.请检查一下我屋子里电线的绝缘情况。
• It is always difficult to assure good insulation between the electric leads.要保证两个电触头之间有良好的绝缘总是很困难的。

15 proponents   

n.（某事业、理论等的）支持者，拥护者( proponent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Reviewing courts were among the most active proponents of hybrid rulemaking procedures. 复审法院是最积极的混合型规则制定程序的建议者。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Proponents of such opinions were arrested as 'traitors. ' 提倡这种主张的人马上作为“卖国贼”逮捕起来。 来自辞典例句

16 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

17 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。

18 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

19 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。