This is the VOA Special English Economics Report, from http://voaspecialenglish.com | http://facebook.com/voalearningenglish
Energy has become
an important issue in the American presidential campaign. And gasoline prices,
costs that affect almost all Americans, have risen sharply in recent months. For
example, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has criticized President
Obama's energy policy. In a newspaper commentary, he said the president has let
prices rise while placing too many requirements on the energy industry. One
issue in the political debate is a project proposed by the Canadian company
Transcanada. Its Keystone XL pipeline would stretch more than three thousand
kilometers from Alberta, Canada to several oil processing centers in the United
States. If completed, the project would cost about thirteen billion dollars and
transport over one million barrels of oil a day. The Republican Party has
criticized President Obama for delaying work on the oil pipeline. Republican Doc
Hastings serves in the United States Congress. He says the party wants to use
all of the nation's energy resources. Mr. Hastings says that would include use
of both the Keystone XL pipeline and oil exploration in coastal waters. He says
Republicans in the House of Representatives have passed reforms that break down
government barriers to America's natural resources. And, he says the House has
passed legislation that would open coastal areas to new oil exploration and
production. In early March, President Obama visited a Daimler truck factory in
North Carolina. He told workers that more oil exploration is not an easy answer
to the nation's energy problems. He said the United States has two percent of
the world's oil reserves, but uses twenty percent of the world's oil. He said
this means that, even with increased oil production, there is no easy answer to
high gasoline prices.Workers at the North Carolina factory build alternative
fuel vehicles. Mr. Obama told them that new sources of energy mean more jobs.
The president has called for tax breaks on clean energy vehicles and urged local
governments to buy them. He also has asked lawmakers to end four billion dollars
in support for the oil and gas industries. For VOA Special English, I'm Carolyn
Presutti. You can download texts and MP3s of our programs and learn English at
voaspecialenglish.com.
(Adapted from a radio program broadcast
09Mar2012)
원문출처 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buVIEfnO4c4&feature=youtube_gdata
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