美国能源部助理部长谈奥巴马政府的能源气候政策

美国能源部助理部长谈奥巴马政府的能源气候政策

“President Obama’s Energy and Climate Policy”

David Sandalow

Assistant Secretary for Policy & International Affairs

U.S. Department of Energy

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

“奥巴马总统的能源和气候政策”

美国能源部政策及国际事务助理部长

大卫·桑德罗

2009年6月9日星期二

Thank you for inviting me to speak today. I’m delighted to be here.

感谢你们今天邀请我发言。我很高兴来到这里。

Twenty-eight years ago, in the summer of 1981, I had the great privilege of living in Shanghai as a member of one of the first groups of U.S. exchange students in China following normalization of relations between our two countries. At the time, I recall, there was only one international telephone line in the entire city of Shanghai that we could use to call home. I remember taking cabs to the Heping Hotel every weekend to do just that.

28年前，在1981年的夏天，我们两国关系正常化之后，我非常荣幸地作为第一批到中国来的美国留学生之一在上海生活。我记得当时整个上海市只有一条国际电话线可以用来与家人通话。我记得每个周末都得乘车去和平饭店，就为了打电话。

Two days ago, in contrast, when I landed at Beijing Airport after the 14-hour nonstop flight from Washington, DC, my Blackberry automatically connected to a wireless network within moments of touching down. By the time we arrived at the terminal, I had already sent several emails back home. I started making phone calls just a few minutes later.

与此形成鲜明对比的是，两天前，当我从华盛顿特区经过14小时不间断的飞行降落在北京首都机场后，我的黑莓在飞机刚刚落地的那一刻就自动连接上了一个无线网络。当我们来到航站楼时，我已经发送了数个电子邮件回家。几分钟后，我就开始通电话。

Now if you had told me 28 years ago that I would one day send written messages and make telephone calls around the world from a small box I could fit in my pocket, I would have been skeptical. If you had shown me a picture of the skyline of Shanghai as it is today, I would have been astonished.

如果28年前你告诉我，有一天我能在世界各地用一个衣服口袋就能装下的小盒子发送书面信息和拨打电话，我会认为是天方夜谭。如果你给我看上海现在高楼云集的天际线照片，我一定会惊讶得目瞪口呆。

Recalling the extraordinary changes in just 28 years gives me great hope for our energy future.

回顾28年来天翻地覆的变化，让我无限憧憬我们能源的未来。

The energy challenges we face today are vast. In 2009, too many people around the world still lack access to basic energy services. Our patterns of energy use create geo-political instability. The ways we use energy are disrupting the climate system and threaten terrifying disruptions in decades to come. These problems can seem insurmountable.

我们今天所面临的能源挑战是巨大的。2009年，世界各地仍有太多人得不到基本的能源服务。我们的能源使用模式造成了地缘政治的不稳定。我们使用能源的方法破坏了气候系统并会在今后几十年造成可怕威胁。这些问题似乎不可逾越。

Y et I believe we will revolutionize energy technologies in the decades ahead as much as we revolutionized communications technologies in decades past. I believe China’s extraordinary growth will continue –and that this country will play a central role i n solving the world’s energy problems.

然而，就像过去几十年通信技术革命一样，我相信我们同样能在未来几十年进行能源技术革命。我相信中国的飞速增长将继续——这个国家将在解决世界能源问题上发挥重要作用。

I believe that, working together, the United States and China can and will shape a bright energy future.

我相信，通过携手合作，美国和中国能够而且将会塑造一个光明的能源未来。