A Scary Energy Winter Is Coming. Don’t Blame the Greens. 能源凜冬將至 別責怪綠能


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讀紐時學英文
2021/10/29 第356期 訂閱/退訂看歷史報份
 
 
紐時周報精選 A Scary Energy Winter Is Coming. Don't Blame the Greens. 能源凜冬將至 別責怪綠能
LeBron James Laughs at Your 'Old' Lakers Memes. After His Nap. 嘲笑湖人老態的網路迷因逗樂詹姆斯
紐時周報精選
 
A Scary Energy Winter Is Coming. Don't Blame the Greens. 能源凜冬將至 別責怪綠能
文/Thomas L. Friedman
譯/李京倫

能源凜冬將至 別責怪綠能

Every so often the tectonic geopolitical plates that hold up the world economy suddenly shift in ways that can rattle and destabilize everything on the surface. That's happening right now in the energy sphere.

有時候,承載世界經濟的地緣政治板塊會突然移動,把地表每樣東西搖得嘎嘎作響。這種事現在就在能源領域發生。

Several forces are coming together that could make Vladimir Putin the king of Europe, enable Iran to thumb its nose at America and build an atomic bomb, and disrupt European power markets enough that the upcoming United Nations climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, could suffer blackouts owing to too little clean energy.

有幾股勢力正在匯聚,能使俄國總統普亭成為歐洲之王,使伊朗有本錢不把美國放在眼裡,進而造出原子彈,並足以打亂歐洲能源市場,讓即將登場的英國蘇格蘭格拉斯哥聯合國氣候大會可能會因為潔淨能源太少而停電。

Yes, this is a big one.

沒錯,問題很大。

Natural gas and coal prices in Europe and Asia just hit their highest levels on record, oil prices in America hit a seven-year high and U.S. gasoline prices are up $1 a gallon from last year. If this winter is as bad as some experts predict — with some in the poor and middle classes unable to heat their homes — I fear we'll see a populist backlash to the whole climate/green movement. You can already smell that coming in Britain.

歐亞兩洲的天然氣和煤價剛剛達到史上最高,美國原油價格創七年新高,而汽油價格每加侖比去年上漲1美元。如果今年冬天跟一些專家預測的一樣糟,一些貧窮和中產階級人家負擔不起取暖費用,我擔心會出現針對整個氣候和綠能運動的民粹反彈。在英國已經可以嗅到這個跡象。

How did we get here? In truth, it's a good-news-bad-news story.

我們怎會走到這一步?其實,這是個好消息壞消息都有的故事。

The good news is that every major economy has signed onto reducing its carbon footprint by phasing out dirtier fuels like coal to heat homes and to power industries. The bad news is that most nations are doing it in totally uncoordinated ways, from the top down, and before the market has produced sufficient clean renewables like wind, solar and hydro.

好消息是,每個主要經濟體都已同意,透過逐步淘汰煤炭這類比較髒的燃料給家庭取暖和給產業供電,減少碳足跡。壞消息則是,多數國家這麼做的時候完全沒有互相協調,由上而下執行,而且市場還沒製造出足夠多的風力、太陽能和水力等清潔能源。

But how did the bad-news side of this story emerge so fast?

這個故事的壞消息面為何這麼快出現?

Blame COVID-19. First, the pandemic erupted and signaled to every major economy that we were headed for a deep recession. This sent prices of all kinds of commodities, including oil and gas, into downward spirals.

要怪新冠肺炎。首先,疫情爆發,對每個重要經濟體而言意味我們正走向深度衰退,使原油、天然氣等各類大宗商品價格走軟。

This, in turn, led banks to choke off investment in new natural gas capacity and crude wells after seven years of already declining investments in these hydrocarbons because of lousy returns.

這進而使銀行停止投資擴充天然氣產能和油井。銀行已減少投資這些碳氫化合物達七年,因為報酬率很差。

As Bill Gates points out in his smart book "How to Avoid a Climate Disaster," the only way to reach our climate targets is to shift production of all the big heavy industries, like steel, cement and automobiles, as well as how we heat our homes and power our cars, to electricity generated from clean energy. Safe and affordable nuclear power has to be part of our mix because, Gates argues, "it is the only carbon-free, scalable energy source that's available 24 hours a day."

就像微軟創辦人蓋茲在他那本睿智的書「如何避免氣候災難」指出的,達成氣候目標的唯一方法是,改變所有重工業如鋼鐵、水泥、汽車業等的生產方式,以及我們在家取暖和為愛車提供動力的方式,轉而用潔淨能源發電。蓋茲主張必須接納安全可負擔的核能,因為「這是唯一不產生二氧化碳又能擴增的能源來源,每天24小時供應」。

 
LeBron James Laughs at Your 'Old' Lakers Memes. After His Nap. 嘲笑湖人老態的網路迷因逗樂詹姆斯
文/Scott Cacciola
譯/莊蕙嘉

嘲笑湖人老態的網路迷因逗樂詹姆斯

LeBron James has seen the memes and read the punch lines.

詹姆斯看過那些迷因且讀了笑哏。

"The narrative about our age," he said, "I kind of laugh at it. I actually do really laugh. I'm not just saying that."

「這些內容都在嘴我們的年齡」,他說,「我有點發噱。事實上我真的有笑,我不是說說而已。」

The Los Angeles Lakers are old. They are the NBA's Traveling Wilburys, an aging rock star collective hoping to produce one more chart-topping album. Dwight Howard and DeAndre Jordan have more mileage between them than a 2003 Honda Civic. Carmelo Anthony, 37, recalled first getting to know James, 36, when they were high school standouts — way back in the previous millennium. At 32, Russell Westbrook is comparatively spry.

洛杉磯湖人隊老了。他們是美國職籃NBA的「漂泊合唱團」,一個老邁搖滾明星的組合,期望再出一張排行榜冠軍專輯。霍華德和德安德魯喬丹的哩程數比一輛2003年本田喜美還多。37歲的安東尼回想初識現年36歲詹姆斯時,兩人是高中球星,而那已是上一個千禧年的往事。相較之下,32歲的衛斯布魯克有活力多了。

"I don't think it's going to be like peanut butter and jelly to start the season," James told reporters ahead of training camp. "But that's all part of the process."

「我不認為開季會一帆風順。」詹姆斯在訓練營開始前告訴記者,「不過這都是過程的一部分。」

In his own small way, James reinvented himself, too, by slightly slimming down at this august stage of his career.

詹姆斯也以他的小方法改造自己,在他職業生涯年高德劭的階段瘦一點。

"He's made the decision to come back a little bit leaner," Rob Pelinka, the team's general manager, said. "And I think that's going to translate in his explosiveness and his quickness."

「他決定以苗條一點點的狀態回來」,湖人隊總經理佩林卡說,「我認為這將轉化在他的爆發力和速度上面」。

Westbrook, a former league MVP, spent last season with the Washington Wizards before he was traded to the Lakers in August. Westbrook called it a "blessing" to be playing in Los Angeles, where he grew up.

得過最有價值球員的衛斯布魯克,上個球季為華盛頓巫師隊效力,今年8月被交易至湖人。衛斯布魯克說,能在他長大的洛杉磯打球是種「賜福」。

"I think it's because we both understand and know what it takes in order to win, and obviously LeBron knows what it takes to get to that next level," Westbrook said.

「我認為,因為我們兩個都知道並了解贏球需要什麼,顯然詹姆斯也清楚更上一層樓需要什麼。」衛斯布魯克說。

But the aging process is undefeated, and there are obvious concerns about the Lakers' durability. James, so indestructible for much of his career, has been hampered by injuries in recent years, and Davis limped through the team's abridged playoff appearance last season. For his part, Pelinka sought to downplay the suggestion that the Lakers were brittle by citing the example of Tom Brady, who, at 44, is still quarterbacking football teams to Super Bowls.

但老化的過程難以克服,外界對湖人的續航力也有顯而易見的憂慮。生涯大部分時間都堅不可摧的詹姆斯,近幾年傷痛纏身,戴維斯上個賽季也因傷在季後賽出場時間大減。佩林卡以44歲的美式足球四分衛布雷迪仍能帶隊拿下超級盃冠軍為例,企圖淡化湖人戰力脆弱的聯想。

Amid the doubts and the questions about the Lakers, Anthony can make out a path that leads to a championship ring, which would be his first. There were moments in his career, he said, when he considered the possibility of teaming up with James, one of his closest friends. The opportunity never materialized. Perhaps neither player was ready for that to happen, Anthony said.

在有關湖人的懷疑和疑問中,安東尼有能耐闖出一條通往冠軍戒之路,也將是他的第一枚。他說,生涯中數度考慮和密友詹姆斯同隊的可能性,但從未實現。安東尼說,也許兩人都沒做好準備。

"But here we are now," he said. "Timing is everything."

「不過我們現在是隊友了。」他說,「時機比什麼都重要」。

 
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