So my grandfather went into World War I on a horse, on a horse. I don't know if you've
一战的时候 我的祖父骑着马去打仗 我不知道
ever ridden a horse but if people are shooting at you it's just not the best place to be.
你有没有骑过马 但是如果有人朝你开枪 马背上就不是最安全的地方
You're high off the ground; they shoot the horse and you're now immobile and you may
因为你离地面很高 他们一旦朝马开枪 你就不能动了
end up underneath the horse and it's all very bad in that regard. Twenty years later, when
有可能你还会死在马下 那真是非常糟糕 二十年过去了
both of my parents got involved in World War II, nobody who was fighting a war did it on
我的父母都参加了二战 那时没有人再骑着马打仗了

a horse. Everything changed in transportation in just 20 years so let's do it again. Let's
在短短20年里 交通方式全都改变了
make all electric cars. Let's make all the electricity from wind and solar.
我们制造了很多电动车 也利用风能和太阳能发电
Just that world leaders all showed up in Paris this year is a fantastic thing. Furthermore,
这些世界领导人全都出席了今年的巴黎气候大会 这是极好的事情
the United States President showed up there. The president, whether you like him or not,
而且 就连美国总统也出席了 这位总统 不管你喜不喜欢他
is the most influential single guy in the world, single person in the world and he went
他都是世界上最具影响力的一个人
to the trouble to go there, committing the United States to reducing greenhouse gas emissions
他不辞辛苦地去了那里 并承诺美国在接下来几年会减少温室气体的排放
over the next few years. And they all agreed to get together every five years and check
各国领导人一致同意 每五年开一次会议 互相监督检查
on each other, see if the other countries are holding to their commitments. Now the
看其他国家是否坚守了承诺
trouble is if a country is making more carbon dioxide than they agreed to in 2015, then
但现在问题是 如果一个国家排放的二氧化碳量 超过了他们在2015年承诺的量
it agreed to in 2015, there's not too much anybody can do about it, except world opinion
那也仅仅如此而已 没有人能够为此做什么 除了世界的舆论 这非常重要
is very important. World leaders are very interested in what people think of them and us or their country
世界各国领导人非常关心别国怎么看待他们以及他们的国家
And as I say all the time, if the U.S. were leading, if the U.S. were out in front on
就像我一直说的那样 如果美国率先使用高科技能源
energy technology everybody in the world would be following the same way everybody in the
那么世界上的每个人都会跟着这么做 就像每个人
world knows who Mickey Mouse is. If we had a culture of renewable energy people would
都知道米老鼠是谁 如果我们有一种可再生能源的文化
embrace that culture and use renewable energy.
人们也会欣然接受这种文化并使用可再生能源
The biggest news in science this year for me was the U.S., which is the world leader
我今年听过的最重大的科学新闻是
in all this energy burning, fossil fuel burning and using a lot of energy per person, the
作为世界领导者的美国在能源燃烧 化石燃烧和大量人均资源的使用上都是领导者
U.S. now has 53 percent of our population who believe that humans are causing climate
而美国现在有53%的人认为 人类正在导致气候变化
change. So 53 percent is enough to get elected president. And so maybe climate change will
所以53%的人已经足以竞选总统 或许气候变化
be an issue in the next presidential election here in the United States and that will influence the whole world.
在下一届总统选举当中将会是一个重要议题 而且这将会影响整个世界
A few weeks ago I was in West Virginia and I got an email from somebody in the Speakers
几周前 我在西弗吉尼亚州的时候 收到了一封来自某位发言人组织的邮件
Organization, the organization that led to my being hired to speak there The Clay Center
这个组织雇佣我 让我在美国西弗吉尼亚州查尔斯顿讲话
in Charleston West Virginia here in the United States. And it said don't talk about coal;
并让我不要谈论煤炭
it's a very sensitive subject here. The president's policies have greatly affected the coal industry
在那里这是一个非常敏感的话题 总统的政策极大地影响了煤炭工业
and so on and so on. When you're in that part of the world they have a technology called
等等诸如此类的话 当你在那里的时候 他们有一种技术叫做
mountaintop removal. So they take off the tops of these very high hills, these mountains,
山顶移除 他们将高的山丘及山脉的顶部去掉
and there's the coal all at this level all over the state of West Virginia and it ruins
在西弗吉尼亚州的这种高度上 有煤炭资源 但是这破坏了
the local ecosystems. The streams get full of all this crud. They use these slurries
当地的生态系统 河流中满是这种煤渣 他们用这些泥浆
to pump powdered coal around, use explosives and they destroy the forest that was there.
来吸收周围的煤尘 还使用炸药 并且他们破坏了那里的森林
So when I did this talk, despite this warning from somebody, I got a standing ovation when
因此我不顾某人的警告 依然作此演讲
I came out onstage. I did a talk, which wasn't bad, I got a standing ovation after that.
当我出来站在台上时 观众起立致敬 我的演讲反响很好 演讲后观众再一次起立致敬
Then there was a question and answer session like this, and I got a standing ovation after
之后有一个问答环节 并且在那之后观众又一次起立致敬
that. No it ain't about me, all I'm saying is people in West Virginia are also kind of
这并不是因为我 我所讲的是西弗吉尼亚州的人民都讨厌煤炭工业
tired of the coal industry. There's 30,000 coal jobs in West Virginia. That's a lot.
在西弗吉尼亚州有3万个和煤炭相关的工作 数量很多
Or is it? If you go to a typical professional baseball game there are about twice that many
但真是这样吗 如果你去一个典型的职业棒球比赛现场看看 人数有两倍多
people. If you go to a professional football game there are way more than twice that many
如果你去职业足球赛场看看 人数会比两倍还多
people. So it's a lot of jobs but it's not that many jobs. And if the state of West Virginia
因此是有很多工作机会 但还不至于那么多 如果西弗吉尼亚州
or the Commonwealth of the West Virginia where to change from coal burning to wind energy
或西弗吉尼亚联邦从燃烧煤炭改为使用风能
and solar voltaics, photovoltaics, soaking up sunlight to make electricity or even some
和太阳能 太阳光电板 吸收太阳能来发电 或者
concentrated solar where you concentrate sunlight and make heat, they would have 50,000 jobs over at least the next 20 years.
聚集太阳能来产生热量 在接下来的20年中就会产生5万个工作岗位
We cannot continue to burn coal everybody. I mean this is noncontroversial except here
我们不能继续燃烧煤炭了 这是不争的事实
and there. But what I'm saying is I was warned against talking about coal, but I talked about
但是我想说竟然有人警告我不要谈论煤炭 然而我还是谈论了
coal and people responded very favorably to not burning any more coal. So I think there's
而且大家都支持不再燃烧煤炭
a little bit of a disconnect there in the politics.
因此我认为政府在一定程度上没能跟上民意
Many of the citizens would rather not be decapitated their mountains and destroying their streams,
许多市民不想破坏山脉和污染河流
instead would like to exploit the wind that blows through. There's another, by the way
而是想开发风能 顺便说一下 还有一件
another charming thing. Because the mountains are the way they are in that area it concentrates
重要的事情 由于山脉屹立于此
the wind in a few places. So West Virginia would have a slight advantage over nearby
它能将风聚集起来 因此西弗吉尼亚州比附近的州
counties for certain wind applications. So you guys just be open minded. And if we work
更能利用风能优势 因此 请你们开放一下思路 而且如果我们
together we can change the world. The Paris Conference was a big start, a big step. People
共同努力的话 我们可以改变这个世界 巴黎峰会就是一个重要的开始 是重要的第一步
will be talking about the Paris Conference for decades because I really believe it's a turning point.
在接下来的数十年里 人们都会谈论巴黎峰会 我相信这是一个转折点 它就是一个转折点