美環保局長爲中美氣候變化聯合聲明辯護
The US environmental watchdog has defended a landmark climate deal with China that Republicans have attacked as one-sided, saying it requires Beijing as well as Washington to make “difficult adjustments”.
美國環境監管機構爲中美達成的一項具有里程碑意義的氣候協議進行辯護，稱該協議要求中美兩國都做出“艱難調整”。共和黨抨擊該協議是一邊倒的。The world’s two biggest greenhouse gas polluters signed the agreement to curb emissions last month, but Republicans say it imposes too many obligations on the US and too few on China.
上月，兩個全球最大的溫室氣體排放國簽署了遏制碳排放的協議，但共和黨人士表示，該協議令美國承擔的義務過多，中國承擔的義務太少。
Gina McCarthy, head of the US Environmental Protection Agency, rejected the criticism, saying Beijing’s commitment to ensure Chinese emissions peak by about 2030 demands that the central government takes immediate action to pull reluctant provincial governments into line.
美國環保局(US Environmental Protection Agency)局長吉娜•麥卡錫(Gina McCarthy)拒絕接受這一批評。她表示，中國承諾將確保中國的碳排放量在2030年左右見頂，這要求中央政府立即採取措施，讓不情願的省級政府步調一致。
“They are going to have to make really difficult adjustments to their entire economic structure and policy structure to be able to make that happen,” she said in an interview with the Financial Times. “This is a huge challenge for them and it’s one I certainly never envisioned they would embrace.
“要做到這點，他們將不得不對他們的整個經濟結構和政策結構作出一些真正艱難的調整，”她在接受英國《金融時報》採訪時表示，“這對他們而言是一項巨大挑戰，我確實想不到他們會迎接這樣的挑戰。”“I think people who are unfamiliar with [the US-China deal] may look at it as being disproportionate. I don’t think so.”
“我認爲，不瞭解（中美協議）的人可能會認爲其不成比例。我不這麼認爲。”Her comments highlight how efforts to tackle global warming depend partly on the world’s two largest economic powers managing tensions between central and regional governments.
她的言論突顯出，解決全球變暖的努力。在一定程度上依賴於全球兩大經濟強國妥善處理中央與地方政府之間的緊張關係。Beijing’s weak environmental bureaucracy faces constant battles with local leaders who have historically been told to prioritise economic growth above environment concerns, political analysts say.
政治分析人士表示，中國薄弱的環境部門面臨着與地方領導者的持續角力，後者傳統上被告知把經濟增長置於環境關切之上。Ms McCarthy, who was appointed in 2013 to help curb the pace of climate change part of President Barack Obama’s legacy, faces her own regional challenges at home.
麥卡錫在國內也面臨着地方政府發起的挑戰。她於2013年得到任命，以幫助控制氣候變化的速度，這將是美國總統巴拉克•奧巴馬(Barack Obama)的政治遺產之一。Her agency is being sued by 12 US states that oppose plans to cut greenhouse gas pollution from the power sector, which accounts for 40 per cent of the country’s emissions. A total of 17 state attorneys-general have declared the proposals illegal.
反對降低電力行業溫室氣體排放計劃的美國12個州正起訴美國環保局，該行業的碳排放量佔美國總排放量的40%。有17個州的首席檢察長宣佈這些提議非法。The regulations are central to the US’s ability to meet its own commitments to emit 26–28 per cent less greenhouse gas in 2025 than it did in 2005.
這些規定對於美國兌現自己承諾的能力至關重要，美國承諾在2025年令其溫室氣體排放量較2005年減少26%至28%。
