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 SandalowAssistant Secretary for Policy & International AffairsU.S. Department of EnergyTuesday, 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。

I’m in Beijing this week for talks on clean energy and climate change, along with Todd Stern, the United States’Special Envoy for Climate Change, John Holdren, President Obama’s Science Advisor, and other colleagues in the Obama administration. I’m plea sed to report that our talks yesterday were both fruitful and productive. I’m looking forward to further talks this afternoon. Our goals are to deepen our understanding of Chinese perspectives, chart a path for our two great countries to expand work together on these topics and help shape a successful outcome at the Copenhagen climate conference later this year.我与美国气候变化特使托德·斯特恩、奥巴马总统的科学顾问约翰·霍尔德伦以及奥巴马政府的其他同事这个星期在北京就清洁能源和气候变化展开会谈。

我很高兴地向大家报告，我们昨天的会谈是建设性和富有成效的。

我期待着今天下午进一步的会谈。

我们的目标是加深我们对中国观点的了解，为我们两个伟大国家就这些议题一道拓展工作描绘路径，并在今年晚些时候的哥本哈根气候变化会议上，帮助促成一个成功的结果。

From my visits to China over many years, I know there are susp icions here about the United States’motives when it comes to discussions on clean energy and climate change. Some of you may be surprised to learn that there are suspicions in my country about Chinese motives on these topics as well. I believe these mutual suspicions – in some cases even mistrust – must be recognized, discussed and, eventually, overcome.通过历年多次对中国的访问，我知道在谈到清洁能源和气候变化的时候，这里有人怀疑美国的动机。

你们当中有些人可能会吃惊地得知，我国也有人对中国就这些议题的动机怀有猜疑。

我相信这些相互猜疑——在某些情况下甚至是不信任——必须得到正视、讨论，并最终得以克服。

Fortunately, our two countries have a tradition of leaders who put suspicion and mistrust aside to take a chance on a better future. It was the vision of President Jimmy Carter and V ice Premier Deng Xiaoping for a new era of US-China relations when they met in 1979 that made it possible for me to visit Shanghai two years later. And the fact that the first thing these two men did after normalizing relations was sign an agreement on science and technology cooperation shows the insight they had into the shared challenges our two countries would face. That agreement, which focused on high energy physics, paved the way for the beginning of the Department of Energy’s work in China, which began six months later, and has laid the foundation for three decades of energy and environmental cooperation between China and the US.幸运的是，我们两国的领导人有把猜疑和不信任放在一边，留出机会共创美好未来的传统。