-
奥巴
马
演
讲
为
未来清
洁
能源投
资
Hi,
everybody. I'm speaking to you this week from a
factory in
Petersburg, Virginia, where
they're bringing on more than
100 new
workers to build parts for the next generation of
jet
engines.
It's a story that's happening more frequently
across the
country. Our businesses just
added 233,000 jobs last month
–
for a total of
nearly four million new jobs over the last two
years. More companies are choosing to
bring jobs back and
invest in America.
Manufacturing is adding jobs for the first
time since the 1990s, and we're
building more things to sell
to the
rest of the world stamped with three proud words:
Made in America.
And it's not just that we're building
stuff. We're building
better stuff. The
engine parts manufactured here in
Petersburg will go into next-generation
planes that are
lighter 1 , faster,
and more fuel-efficient.
That last part is important. Because whether
you're paying
for a plane ticket, or
filling up your gas tank, technology that
helps us get more miles to the gallon
is one of the easiest
ways to save
money and reduce our dependence 2 on
１
foreign oil.
The recent spike 3 in
gas prices has been another painful
reminder 4 of why we have to invest in
this technology. As
usual, politicians
have been rolling out their three-point plans
for two-dollar gas: drill, drill, and
drill some more. Well, my
response is,
we have been drilling. Under my Administration,
oil production in America is at an
eight-year high. We've
quadrupled the
number of operating oil rigs, and opened up
millions of acres for drilling.
But you and I both know
that with only 2% of the world's oil
reserves, we can't just drill our way
to lower gas prices
–
not
when consume 20 percent of the world's
oil. We need an all-
of-the-above
strategy that relies less on foreign oil and more
on American-made energy
–
solar, wind, natural gas,
biofuels,
and more.
That's the strategy we're pursuing.
It's why I went to a plant
in North
Carolina earlier this week, where they're making
trucks that run on natural gas, and
hybrid 5 trucks that go
further on a
single tank.
And it's why
I've been focused on fuel efficient cars since the
day I took office. Over the last few
years, the annual number
２
of miles driven
by Americans has stayed roughly the same,
but the total amount of gas we use has
been going down. In
other words, we're
getting more bang for our buck 6 .
If we accelerate that trend, we can
help drivers save a
significant amount
of money. That's why, after 30 years of
inaction
（无
为
）
, we finally put in place new standards
that
will make sure our cars average
nearly 55 miles per gallon by
the
middle of the next decade
–
nearly double what they get
today. This
wasn't easy: we had to bring together auto 7
companies, and unions, and folks who
don't ordinarily see
eye to eye. But it
was worth it.
Because
these cars aren't some pie in the sky solution
that's
years away. They're being built
right now
–
by American
workers, in factories right here in the
U.S.A. Every year, our
cars and trucks
will be able to go further and use less fuel,
and pretty soon, you'll be able to fill
up every two weeks
instead of every
week
–
something that, over
time, will save
the typical family more
than $$8,000 at the pump. We'll
reduce
our oil consumption by more than 12 billion
barrels.
That's a future worth
investing in.
So we have
a choice. Right now, some folks in Washington
would rather spend another $$4 billion
on subsidies 8 to oil
３
companies each
year. Well you know what? We've been
handing out these kinds of taxpayer 9
giveaways for nearly a
century. And
outside of Congress, does anyone really think
that's still a good idea? I want this
Congress to stop the
giveaways to an
oil industry that's never been more profitable,
and invest in a clean energy industry
that's never been more
promising 10 .
We should be investing in the technology
that's building the cars and trucks and
jets that will prevent
us from dealing
11 with these high gas prices year after year
after year.
Ending this cycle of rising gas prices won't be
easy, and it
won't happen overnight.
But that's why you sent us to
Washington
–
to
solve tough problems like this one. So I'm
going to keep doing everything I can to
help you save money
on gas, both right
now and in the future. I hope politicians
from both sides of the aisle 12 join
me. Let's put aside the
bumper-sticker
slogans, remember why we're here, and get
things done for the American people.
Thank you, God bless you,
and have a great weekend.
４