白宫为新能源计划加码 拨款1.51亿美元

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.

周二，奥巴马政府重新将绿色能源计划列为重点，当日参议院的一个委员会开始讨论限制矿物燃料排放的温室气体的法案。

周一，奥巴马政府宣布为下一代能源研究项目拨款1.51亿美元，美国能源部长朱棣文(Steven Chu)说这些项目对于美国对抗气候变化的举措可能至关重要。最大的一笔接近920万美元的拨款发放给了Foro Energy Inc.，用于开发新的地热钻探技术。数额第二大的拨款900万美元给了杜邦公司(DuPont Co.)，用于生产一种从海藻中提取的生物燃料。

白宫关注清洁能源项目和由此可创造的工作机会，因美国参议院环境与公共事务委员会(Senate Environment and Public Works Committee)开始讨论委员会主席、加州民主党参议员芭芭拉•博克塞(Barbara Boxer)和马萨诸塞州民主党参议员约翰•克里(John Kerry)提出的一项提案细节，提案内容是限制温室气体排放，为不同行业分配污染额度，并允许公司买卖这些额度。

该法案的目标是到2020年在2005年水平上减排20%，到2050年减排约83%。