白宮爲新能源計劃加碼 撥款1.51億美元

White House Renews Green-Power Push

The Obama administration is putting its green-power agenda back on center stage Tuesday as a Senate committee begins debating a bill to curb the greenhouse gases from fossil fuels.

On Monday, the Obama administration announced $151 million in grants for next-generation energy research projects that Energy Secretary Steven Chu said could be vital to U.S. efforts to combat climate change. The biggest grant -- almost $9.2 million -- was awarded to Foro Energy Inc. for the development of new geothermal drilling technology. The next biggest, at $9 million, went to DuPont Co. for the production of a biofuel derived from seaweed.

The White House's focus on clean-energy projects and the jobs that could be created by them comes as the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee starts debating the specifics of a proposal by Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D., Calif.) and Sen. John Kerry (D., Mass.) to cap greenhouse-gas emissions and allocate pollution credits to various industries under a system that allows companies to buy and sell such credits.

The bill aims to cut emissions by 20% below 2005 levels by 2020, and by about 83% by 2050.

週二，奧巴馬政府重新將綠色能源計劃列爲重點，當日參議院的一個委員會開始討論限制礦物燃料排放的溫室氣體的法案。

週一，奧巴馬政府宣佈爲下一代能源研究項目撥款1.51億美元，美國能源部長朱棣文(Steven Chu)說這些項目對於美國對抗氣候變化的舉措可能至關重要。最大的一筆接近920萬美元的撥款發放給了Foro Energy Inc.，用於開發新的地熱鑽探技術。數額第二大的撥款900萬美元給了杜邦公司(DuPont Co.)，用於生產一種從海藻中提取的生物燃料。

白宮關注清潔能源項目和由此可創造的工作機會，因美國參議院環境與公共事務委員會(Senate Environment and Public Works Committee)開始討論委員會主席、加州民主黨參議員芭芭拉•博克塞(Barbara Boxer)和馬薩諸塞州民主黨參議員約翰•克里(John Kerry)提出的一項提案細節，提案內容是限制溫室氣體排放，爲不同行業分配污染額度，並允許公司買賣這些額度。

該法案的目標是到2020年在2005年水平上減排20%，到2050年減排約83%。