美国总统奥巴马每周电台演讲2014.06.02

Hi, everybody.  I’m here at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., visiting with some kids being treated here all the time for asthma and other breathing problems.  Often, these illnesses are aggravated by air pollution – pollution from the same sources that release carbon and contribute to climate change.  And for the sake of all our kids, we’ve got to do more to reduce it.
 

Earlier this month, hundreds of scientists declared that climate change is no longer a distant threat – it “has moved firmly into the present.” Its costs can be measured in lost lives and livelihoods, lost homes and businesses; and higher prices for food, insurance, and rebuilding.
 

大家好。我现在正在华盛顿特区的国家儿童医疗中心，看望在此接受长期治疗的患有哮喘和其它呼吸系统疾病的孩子们。通常这些疾病会因空气污染加剧--来自与气候变化相同的原因的碳污染。为了我们所有孩子们的缘故，我们必须为减少污染做得更多。
 

本月早些时候，几百位科学家宣布气候变化以及不再遥远--它正在“稳步走进现实”。它的成本可能要用生命和生计的损失，家庭和企业的损失；食品和保险的提价，以及很多重建来度量。
 

That’s why, last year, I put forward America’s first climate action plan.  This plan cuts carbon pollution by building a clean energy economy – using more clean energy, less dirty energy, and wasting less energy throughout our economy.
 

One of the best things we can do for our economy, our health, and our environment is to lead the world in producing cleaner, safer energy – and we’re already generating more clean energy than ever before.  Thanks in part to the investments we made in the Recovery Act, the electricity America generates from wind has tripled.  And from the sun, it’s increased more than tenfold. In fact, every four minutes, another American home or business goes solar – and every panel is pounded into place by a worker whose job cannot be shipped overseas.
 

这就是为什么去年我推出了美国的首个气候行动计划。这个计划通过打造新能源经济--使用更多清洁能源，更少的污染能源以及减少我们这个经济活动的能源浪费来减少碳排放。
 

我们可以为我们的经济、我们的健康和我们的环境做的最好的事之一是在生产更加清洁、更加安全的能源方面引领世界--我们已经比过去生产了更多的清洁能源。美国从风能获得的电力增加了两倍，这部分地是因为对复苏法案的投资。我们从太阳能获得的电力增加了超过十倍。事实上，每四分钟，就有另一个美国家庭或企业使用太阳能--每套太阳能电池板由工人安装到位，他们的工作无法转到海外。
 

We’re wasting less energy, too.  We’ve doubled how far our cars and trucks will go on a gallon of gas by the middle of the next decade, saving you money at the pump – and we’re helping families and businesses save billions with more efficient homes, buildings, and appliances.
 

This strategy has created jobs, grown our economy, and helped make America more energy independent than we’ve been in decades – all while holding our carbon emissions to levels not seen in about 20 years.  It’s a good start.  But for the sake of our children, we have to do more.
 

我们还减少了能源浪费。下一个十年的中期，我们的轿车和卡车每加仑油行驶的里程就已经加倍了，节约你的油钱--我们将用高效住宅、建筑和家电帮助家庭和企业节约几十亿美元。
 

这个战略已经创造了工作岗位，增长了经济，帮助美国比过去几十年里更加能源独立--所有这些都是在把碳排放控制在20多年来的最低点实现的。这是一个良好的开端。但是为了我们的孩子们的缘故，我们必须做得更多。
 

This week, we will.  Today, about 40% of America’s carbon pollution comes from power plants.  But right now, there are no national limits to the amount of carbon pollution that existing plants can pump into the air we breathe. None. We limit the amount of toxic chemicals like mercury, sulfur, and arsenic that power plants put in our air and water.  But they can dump unlimited amounts of carbon pollution into the air.  It’s not smart, it’s not safe, and it doesn’t make sense.
 

That’s why, a year ago, I directed the Environmental Protection Agency to build on the efforts of many states, cities, and companies, and come up with commonsense guidelines for reducing dangerous carbon pollution from our power plants.  This week, we’re unveiling these proposed guidelines, which will cut down on the carbon pollution, smog, and soot that threaten the health of the most vulnerable Americans, including children and the elderly.  In just the first year that these standards go into effect, up to 100,000 asthma attacks and 2,100 heart attacks will be avoided – and those numbers will go up from there.
 

本周，我们将做得更多。今天，大约40%的美国碳排放来自发电厂。但是迄今为止，还没有一个国家级的法规限制现有的工厂排放到我们呼吸的空气中的碳污染量。没有。我们限制汞、硫和砷等发电厂排放到我们的空气和水中的有毒化学元素。但是他们可以无限制地向空气中排放碳污染。这不明智，不安全，没有道理。
 

These standards were created in an open and transparent way, with input from the business community.  States and local governments weighed in, too.  In fact, nearly a dozen states are already implementing their own market-based programs to reduce carbon pollution.  And over 1,000 mayors have signed agreements to cut their cities’ carbon pollution.
 

So the idea of setting higher standards to cut pollution at our power plants is not new.  It’s just time for Washington to catch up with the rest of the country.
 

Now, special interests and their allies in Congress will claim that these guidelines will kill jobs and crush the economy.  Let's face it, that’s what they always say.
 

这些标准都是根据企业界的情况，以开放透明的方式制定的。州和地方政府也参与了。事实上，近十个州已经在执行他们的基于市场的项目减少碳排放了。超过1,000位市长签署了协议减少他们所在城市的碳排放。
 

所以设立更高的标准减少我们的发电厂的碳排放的主意不是新创。现在是华盛顿跟上全国其它地区的时候了。
 

现在，国会中的特殊利益群体和他们的同盟声称这些指南将减少工作岗位和打击经济。我们必须面对它，这就是他们经常说的。
 

But every time America has set clear rules and better standards for our air, our water, and our children’s health – the warnings of the cynics have been wrong.  They warned that doing something about the smog choking our cities, and acid rain poisoning our lakes, would kill business.  It didn’t.  Our air got cleaner, acid rain was cut dramatically, and our economy kept growing.
 

These excuses for inaction somehow suggest a lack of faith in American businesses and American ingenuity.  The truth is, when we ask our workers and businesses to innovate, they do.  When we raise the bar, they meet it.  When we restricted cancer-causing chemicals in plastics and leaded fuel in our cars, American chemists came up with better substitutes.  When we phased out the gases that depleted the ozone layer, American workers built better refrigerators and air conditioners.  The fuel standards we put in place a few years ago didn’t cripple automakers; the American auto industry retooled, and today, they’re selling the best cars in the world, with more hybrids, plug-in, and fuel-efficient models to choose from than ever before.
 

但是每一次美国为了我们的空气、水和我们的孩子们的健康设立明晰的规则和更好的标准--那些玩世不恭者们的警告都是错的。他们警告解决窒息我们的城市的雾霾、毒害我们的湖泊的酸雨所做的会扼杀企业。没有。我们的空气更加清新了，酸雨大幅减少了，而我们的经济却持续发展。
 

这些不作为的借口某种程度上反映了对美国企业和美国人的天才缺乏信心。事实上，我们要求我们的企业和工人创新，他们都做到了。我们提高标准，他们都达到了标准。我们限制塑料中和车用的含铅燃料里的造成癌症的化学物质，美国的化学家们就提出了更好的替代品。我们逐步淘汰消耗臭氧层的气体，美国的工人们造出了更好的冰箱和空调。几年前我们实施了新的燃油标准没有妨碍我们的汽车工业；美国的汽车工业重新安装工艺装备，今天，他们正在销售世界上最好的汽车，其中有比以往更多的混合动力车，全电动车和高燃烧效率型车供顾客选择。
 

In America, we don’t have to choose between the health of our economy and the health of our children.  The old rules may say we can’t protect our environment and promote economic growth at the same time, but in America, we’ve always used new technology to break the old rules.
 

As President, and as a parent, I refuse to condemn our children to a planet that’s beyond fixing.  The shift to a cleaner energy economy won’t happen overnight, and it will require tough choices along the way.  But a low-carbon, clean energy economy can be an engine of growth for decades to come.  America will build that engine.  America will build the future.  A future that’s cleaner, more prosperous, and full of good jobs – a future where we can look our kids in the eye and tell them we did our part to leave them a safer, more stable world.
 

Thanks, and have a great weekend.
在美国，我们不必在经济健康和我们的孩子们的健康之间取舍。老规则说我们无法同时保护我们的环境和发展我们的经济，但是在美国，我们一直应用新技术打破这个框框。
作为总统，作为家长，我不会判处我们的孩子们生活在一个不可恢复的星球上。向清洁能源经济的转型不会一蹴而就，它要求在前进过程中做出艰难的抉择。但是一个低碳，清洁能源经济可能成为未来几十年经济发展的引擎。美国将打造这个引擎。美国将打造这个未来。一个更加清洁、更加繁荣和到处是好工作的未来--一个我们可以正视我们的孩子们，告诉他们我们尽了我们的职责留给他们的更加安全和更加稳定的世界的未来。
谢谢，周末快乐。