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Battling climate change
對抗氣候變遷
US president renews campaign to curb emissions
美國總統再次推動降低碳排放量的計畫 |
| U.S. President Barack Obama renewed his campaign to curb carbon emissions Saturday, saying the debate over climate change is over. Obama, who made the battle against climate change a core promise of his 2008 election campaign, has been stymied at the federal level by opposition from lawmakers. | 美國總統歐巴馬週六再度推動降低碳排放的計畫，並表示有關氣候變遷的爭論已經結束。毆巴馬二○○八年競選總統時，以對抗氣候變遷作為其主要競選支票之一，不過這項支票在聯邦政府中，因為國會議員們的反對而受阻。 |
| Congress "is full of folks who stubbornly and automatically reject the scientific evidence," Obama told a crowd of more than 30,641 people, including thousands of graduates at the University of California, Irvine. "They'll tell you climate change is a hoax, or a fad. One says the world might actually be cooling." | 歐巴馬在加州大學爾灣分校向數千名畢業生在內的三萬零六百四十一人表示，國會裡「充斥著固執且自動駁斥科學證據的傢伙。他們告訴大家，氣候變遷是一場騙局或一股時尚。有些人會說，全球其實可能正在冷卻。」 |
| Several weeks ago, Obama unveiled a contentious plan to cut carbon emissions from U.S. power plants by 30 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. The plan would let U.S. states choose their own approaches as long as each enforces restrictions on carbon emissions. | 歐巴馬數週前公布了一項爭議性的計畫，要在二○三○年之前，把美國發電廠的碳排放量從二○○五年的程度降低三成。這項計畫將讓美國自行決定降低碳排放的措施，只要這些措施執行碳排放限制即可。 |
| The president used his speech to the university graduates to present a US$1 billion (approximately NT$30 billion) competition for funds to help communities hit by natural disasters linked to climate change. "Climate change is no longer a distant threat," the president emphasized. "In some parts of the country, weather-related disasters like droughts, fires, storms and floods are going to get harsher and costlier." | 歐巴馬趁著這場對大學畢業生的演說，提出一項總獎金十億美元（約新台幣三百億元）的競賽，以協助遭氣候變遷有關天災重創的社區籌措經費。他強調：「氣候變遷不再是個遙不可及的威脅。在美國部分地區，乾旱、大火、暴風雨和洪水等氣候變遷相關的天災，將造成災情更慘且損失金額更高的情況。」 |
| He stressed that climate change remains "one of the most significant long-term challenges" to the United States and the world. "The climate change deniers suggest there's still a debate over the science. There's not," Obama said. "I've got to admit, though, it's pretty rare that you'll encounter someone who says the problem you're trying to solve doesn't even exist." When President John F. Kennedy set the United States on a course for the moon, Obama added, "I don't remember anyone saying the moon wasn't real, or that it was made of cheese." | 歐巴馬指出，氣候變遷仍是美國與全球所面臨「最重大的長期挑戰之一」。他表示：「否認氣候變遷存在的人會說，科學方面仍有爭議，但情況完全沒爭議。不過我必須坦承，你很少會遇到會說你設法解決的問題並不存在的人。」他接著指出：「當甘迺迪總統帶領美國邁上登陸月球的道路時，我不記得有人說過月球是不是真的，或者它是由乳酪製成的。」 |
| Of the US$1 billion funding Obama announced Saturday, about US$820 million (approximately NT$25 billion) will be available to any state that experienced a "presidentially declared major disaster" between 2011 and 2013. States affected by Hurricane Sandy — which killed more than 200 people, affected 650,000 houses and caused months-long power cuts — will be eligible to compete for the rest, about US$180 million (approximately NT$5.4 billion), the White House said in a statement. The money "will support innovative resilience projects at the local level while encouraging communities to adopt policy changes and activities that plan for the impacts of extreme weather and climate change and rebuild affected areas to be better prepared for the future," it said. | 歐巴馬週六宣布的十億美元經費中，有大約八億兩千萬美元（約新台幣兩百五十億元），將提供給二○一一年至二○一三年間被「總統宣布為重大災情」的任何一州。白宮方面在一份聲明中表示，受到造成兩百多人喪生、六十五萬棟房屋受損，以及電力中斷數個月的珊迪颶風影響的各州，都將有資格爭取大約一億八千萬美元（約新台幣五十四億元）的剩餘經費。這份聲明指出，這筆經費將「支持地區性的創新抗災計畫，同時鼓勵各社區調整政策與活動，為極端氣候的衝擊，氣候變遷，重建受創地區在未來做更充足準備的計畫。」 |
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