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RebeccaHenderson_2020T-_拯救气候，我们必须重塑资本主义_-
I am a tree hugger . 我是一个环保主义者。
I spent much of my childhood on the great lower limb of a massive copper beech , alternately reading and looking up at the sky through its branches. 我童年的大部分时间 都坐在一棵高耸的铜山毛榉的 巨大树干上, 一会儿阅读, 一会儿穿过它的树枝仰望天空。
I felt safe and cared for and connected to something infinitely larger than myself. 和一个比我大得多的东西 联系在一起, 让我感到安全和自在。
tree hugger:n.(非正式,贬)环境保护狂; childhood:n.童年;幼年;孩童时期 limb:n.肢,臂;分支;枝干;v.切断…的手足;从…上截下树枝; massive:adj.大量的;巨大的,厚重的;魁伟的; copper beech:n.紫叶山毛榉; alternately:adv.交替地;轮流地;隔一个地; infinitely:adv.无限地;极其;
I thought the trees were immortal , that they would always be here. 我以为这些树是不朽的, 它们会一直在这里。
But I was wrong. 但我错了
The trees are dying. 树木正在慢慢死去。
Climate change is killing the cedars of Lebanon and the forests of the American West. 气候变化正在杀死黎巴嫩的雪松 和美国西部的森林。
And it's not just the trees. 然而身处绝境的不仅仅是树木。[00:43]
immortal:adj.不朽的;神仙的;长生的;n.神仙;不朽人物; cedars:n.香柏; Lebanon:n.黎巴嫩(西南亚国家,位于地中海东岸);
Since 1998, extreme heat has killed more than 160,000 people, and unchecked climate change could kill millions more. 自 1998 年以来, 酷热已导致超过 16 万人死亡, 而不受控制的气候变化 可能会使更多的人丧生。
How did we get here? 事情为什么会变成这样？
There are many reasons, of course, but one of the most important is that we let capitalism morph into something monstrous . 当然有很多原因, 但最重要的是, 我们让资本主义变成了 一种可怕的东西。
I'm a huge fan of capitalism at its best. 我非常拥护 最佳状态下的资本主义。
extreme:adj.极端的;极度的;偏激的;尽头的;n.极端;末端;最大程度;极端的事物; unchecked:adj.未经核对的;未加抑制的; capitalism:n.资本主义; morph:n.词态;语素;变体;vt.在屏幕上变换图像;改变; monstrous:adj.巨大的;怪异的;荒谬的;畸形的;
After all, I'm an economist and a business school professor. 毕竟,我是个经济学家 和商学院教授。
I think genuinely free and fair markets are one of the great inventions of the human race . 我认为真正自由公平的市场 是人类最伟大的发明之一。
But here's the catch: markets only work their magic when prices reflect real costs. 但问题是: 只有当价格反映真实价值时, 市场才会发挥其魔力。
business school:n.(大学里针对毕业生的)工商学院; genuinely:adv.真诚地;诚实地; human race:n.人类; reflect:v.反映;映出(影像);反射;表明,表达;
And right now, prices are badly out of whack . 而现在,价格严重失调。
We're letting the firms who sell fossil fuels, and indeed anyone who emits greenhouse gases, cause enormous damage for which they do not have to pay. 我们放任那些 出售化石燃料的公司—— 事实上,也包括任何 排放温室气体的人—— 造成了他们不必赔偿的巨大损失,
out of whack:不正常;不一致;(美口)紊乱; fossil:n.化石;老人;老古董;adj.从地下发掘出来的;化石的;属于旧时代的;陈腐的; emits:发出;放射;发行(emit的动词单数第三人称形式); greenhouse:n.温室;暖房; enormous:adj.庞大的,巨大的;凶暴的,极恶的;
And that is hardly fair. 这很不公平。
Imagine for a moment that my hands are filled with a cloud of electrons , 10 dollars' worth of coal-fired electricity that could power your cell phone for more than 10 years. 想象一下, 我的手中满是电子云, 价值 10 美元的燃煤电力 可以给你的手机供电 10 年以上。
That probably sounds like a pretty good deal. 这可能听起来相当划算。
But it's only so cheap because you're not paying for the harm that it causes. 但它之所以这么廉价, 因为你并没有 为它所造成的危害付出代价。
Burning coal sends poisons like mercury and lead into the air, increasing healthcare costs by billions of dollars and causing the death of hundreds of thousands of people every year. 燃烧煤炭会像水银一样产生毒物, 并将其释放到空气中, 导致医疗保健费用增加数十亿美元, 以及每年 几十万人死亡,
electrons:n.[物]电子(electron的复数形式); coal-fired:adj.烧煤的; electricity:n.电力;电流;强烈的紧张情绪; mercury:n.[化]汞,水银;[天]水星;温度表;精神,元气; healthcare:n.医疗保健;健康护理,健康服务;卫生保健;
It also emits huge quantities of carbon dioxide . 还有大规模的二氧化碳排放。
So another part of the real cost of coal is the climate damage it will cause and is already causing. 燃烧煤炭的另一部分真实成本, 就是它会造成, 并且已经造成的气候破坏。
More than a million acres burned in California this summer, and massive floods put a third of Bangladesh under water. 今年夏天,加利福尼亚州 超过 100 万英亩的土地被烧毁, 大规模的洪水 使三分之一的孟加拉被淹没。
quantities:n.数量;数目;大量;大宗;(quantity的复数) carbon dioxide:二氧化碳;
Hundreds of studies have tried to put a number on these costs. 数百项研究试图量化这种后果。
My sense of this work, and here I'm relying on my colleagues in the School of Public Health and my friends in economics, is that generating 10 dollars' worth of coal-fired electricity 我对这一做法的估计, 基于我和公共卫生学院的同事 以及经济学领域一些朋友的合作, 就是产生价值 10 美元的燃煤电力
causes at least eight dollars' worth of harm to human health and at least another eight dollars' worth of climate damage and probably much more. 会对人体健康造成 至少价值 8 美元的危害, 以及至少价值 8 美元的气候损害, 甚至更多。
So the true cost of this handful of electrons? 所以这一点电的真正成本
relying:v.依赖;信任;指望(rely的现在分词); colleagues:n.同事;同行(colleague的复数); generating:v.产生;引起;(generate的现在分词)
It's not 10 dollars. 可远不止 10 美元,
It's something more like 26. 而是差不多 26 美元。
The hidden costs of doing things like burning oil and gas and eating beef are similarly enormous and just as unfair. 燃烧化石燃料的隐性成本 和吃牛肉同样巨大, 也同样产生了不平等。
Everyone who's trying to build a clean economy has to compete with firms that are heavily subsidized by the destruction of our health and the degradation of our climate. 每个试图打造清洁经济的人 必须与那些以破坏我们的健康, 并导致气候的退化为代价。 来得到大量补贴的公司竞争。
similarly:adv.同样地;类似于; economy:n.经济;节约;理财; compete:v.竞争;对抗;参加比赛(或竞赛); subsidized:adj.补贴的,补助的;v.资助或补助(subsidize的过去时和过去分词); destruction:n.破坏,毁灭;摧毁; degradation:n.退化;降格,降级;堕落;
This is not the capitalism I signed up for. 这不是我所支持的资本主义,
This is not a market that is either free or fair. 这也不是自由或公平的市场。
So ... 那么...
What do we do? 我们该怎么办？
The "easy" answer is that governments should insist that anyone who emits greenhouse gases pay for the damage that they cause. “简单”的答案是,政府应该坚持 任何排放温室气体的人 都应赔偿他们造成的损失。
However, at the moment, there's not much sign that governments are up for this, partly because the fossil fuel companies have spent the last 20 years using their heavily subsidized profits to deny the reality of climate change and to shower the politicians , who should be regulating them, with money. 然而,目前还没有太多迹象表明 政府已经准备好这么做, 部分原因在于,化石燃料公司 在过去的 20 年里, 一直在利用大量补贴带来的利润 否认气候变化的现实, 对本应对它们 进行管制的官员施加压力。
So here's my crazy idea. 那么,下面就是 我提出的一个疯狂的想法。
I think business should step up. 我认为商业领域应该承担责任。
I think business should fix capitalism. 我认为商业应该修复资本主义。
I know. (Laughs) 我知道,[04:20]
fossil fuel:n.化石燃料(如煤或石油); profits:n.利润; v.获益; (profit的第三人称单数和复数) deny:v.否定,否认;拒绝给予;拒绝…的要求; politicians:n.政治家;(蔑)政客;(美)政治贩;(politician的复数) regulating:vt.调节;校正(regulate的现在分词);
Some of you are probably thinking, " Fat chance ." 你们中的一些人 可能会想,“根本没戏”。
Didn't I just say that companies are the ones denying the science, distorting the market and lobbying the politicians? 我不是刚刚才说, 正是那些公司在否认科学、 扭曲市场和游说政客吗？
I did. 我的确是这么说的。
But fixing this is squarely in the private sector's interest. 但是解决这个问题 也完全符合私营部门的利益。
Fat chance:希望渺茫;很少可能(作反语); denying:v.否认;否定;拒绝承认;拒绝给予;(deny的现在分词) distorting:v.使变形;扭曲;使失真;歪曲;(distort的现在分词) lobbying:v.游说(从政者或政府);(lobby的现在分词) squarely:adv.直角地;诚实地;正好;干脆地;正当地;
The truth is business is screwed if we don't fix climate change. 事实是,如果我们不解决气候变化问题, 那么公司也会面临经营困境。
It's going to be hard to make money when the great coastal cities are under water and millions of angry people are migrating north as the harvests fail. 当各大沿海城市被淹没, 由于粮食歉收,数以百万计 愤怒的人们开始北迁, 公司就会很难盈利。
It's going to be tough to keep free enterprise alive if most people believe the rich and the white are using it to trash the planet for their own benefit. 如果大多数人相信富人和白人 为了自己的利益 而利用气候变化来破坏地球。 自由企业也将很难存活。
screwed:v.用螺丝固定;旋紧;拧紧;拧上去;(screw的过去分词和过去式) coastal:adj.沿海的;海岸的; migrating:v.迁移;迁徙;移居(migrate的现在分词); free enterprise:n.自由企业(体制); trash:n.垃圾;废物;v.丢弃;修剪树枝;
So let me tell you what this looks like on the ground. 我来具体解释一下。
My friend Erik Osmundsen left a cushy job in private equity to become the CEO of a garbage company. 我的朋友埃里克·奥斯蒙森（Erik Osmundsen） 离开了私人股本公司的一份轻松的工作, 成为了一家垃圾处理公司的 CEO。
That sounds like a slightly odd idea. 这听起来有点荒唐。
But Erik wanted to make a difference , and changing the way that trash is handled could reduce emissions by billions of tons. 但埃里克想要有所作为, 因为改变垃圾处理方式 可以减少数十亿吨的排放。
Right away , he ran into a massive problem: the industry was thoroughly corrupt . 不过很快,他就遇到了个大问题: 这个行业腐败透顶。
cushy:adj.轻松的;容易的;轻松又容易赚钱的; in private:私下地;秘密地; equity:n.公平,公正;衡平法;普通股;抵押资产的净值; garbage:n.垃圾;废物; slightly:adv.些微地,轻微地;纤细地; odd:adj.古怪的;奇数的;n.奇数; make a difference:有影响,有关系; emissions:n.(光、热、气等的)发出,排放;排放物;散发物;(emission的复数) Right away:立刻; thoroughly:adv.彻底地,完全地; corrupt:v.损坏;破坏;使腐化;使堕落;adj.贪污的;受贿的;腐败的;营私舞弊的;
Firms were cutting costs by dumping waste illegally , the regulations were poorly enforced and the fines for violation were tiny. 公司通过非法倾倒废物来削减成本, 监管执行不力, 因违规所遭受的罚款 也少得可怜。
Erik announced he was going to run clean and to raise prices to cover the costs of doing so. 埃里克宣布, 他要摒弃一切行业恶习, 并提高价格以支付这样做的费用。
Many of his senior team thought he was crazy. 他的许多资深团队成员都认为他疯了,
Half of them quit. 其中有一半的人退出了。
dumping:n.倾倒,倾卸;v.丢弃,扔掉;抛弃;抛售;(dump的现在分词) illegally:adv.非法地; regulations:n.章程;规则;法规;管理,控制;(regulation的复数) enforced:adj.强迫的;强制性的;v.强制执行;迫使;(enforce的过去分词和过去式) violation:n.违反;妨碍,侵害;违背;强奸; senior:adj.大;级别(或地位)高的;成人的;高级水平的;n.上级;上司;较…年长的人;
So did many of his customers. 他的许多客户也是如此。
His competitors denounced him for bringing the industry into disrepute , and he started to receive personal threats. 他的竞争对手谴责他 使这个行业声名狼藉。 他还开始受到人身威胁。
But corruption works best when it's hidden. 但是隐藏之下的腐败最难察觉。
As soon as Erik went public, people started to step up. 埃里克将这个秘密公之于众, 而人们也纷纷开始站出来。
A few customers were willing to pay more. 一些客户表示愿意付更多的钱。
His investors agreed that taking the high road could pay off. 他的投资者也一致认为, 秉持道德标准终会有回报。[06:18]
denounced:adj.公开抨击的;v.谴责;揭发;声明…无效(denounce的过去分词); disrepute:n.不光彩,坏名声; personal:adj.个人的;身体的;亲自的;n.人事消息栏;人称代名词; corruption:n.贪污,腐败;堕落; As soon as:一…就; high road:n.公路干线;交通要道;最直接的方式;
Those of his employees who remained loved the idea of taking a stand and found all kinds of legal ways to cut costs. 他那些留下来的雇员 非常支持这一表明立场的理念, 并找到了各种合法途径削减成本。
Erik persuaded several of his competitors to join him in refusing to dispose of garbage illegally, and it got much tougher for regulators to stay on the sidelines . 埃里克说服了许多竞争对手, 和他一起拒绝非法处理垃圾, 监管机构要想置身事外 也变得更加困难。
Today, Erik's company, Norsk Gjenvinning, is one of the largest recycling companies in Scandinavia. 而今天,埃里克的公司 Norsk Gjenvinning 是斯堪的纳维亚 最大的回收公司之一。
Let me generalize . 让我概括一下。
These are the four pillars of change: 变革的四大支柱包括:
persuaded:v.劝说;说服;使信服;使相信;(persuade的过去式和过去分词) dispose:v.布置;安排;排列;使倾向于; regulators:n.调整者;调节阀(regulator的复数形式); on the sidelines:当旁观者,不直接参加; recycling:n.(资源,垃圾的)回收利用;v.回收;再循环利用(recycle的现在分词); generalize:vt.概括;推广;使...一般化;vi.形成概念; pillars:n.柱子;柱状物;台柱(pillar的复数);v.用柱支持(pillar的第三人称单数);
Build a business that can set the right price and still be profitable . 第一,建立一个能设定合理价格, 但仍然能够盈利的企业。
Persuade your competitors to do the same thing. 第二,说服竞争对手做同样的事情。
Make sure that investors understand there's money to be made. 第三,确保投资者了解 依然有钱可赚。
And push governments to put the right price into law so that bottom-feeders can't survive. 第四,推动政府 将合理价格纳入法律, 让那些想要坐收渔利的 贪婪之人无利可图。
profitable:adj.有利可图的;赚钱的;有益的;
I'm not telling you we've got this nailed. 这并不是说,问题已经解决了。
Things are pretty desperate . 情况依然相当危急。
But there are thousands of businesspeople like Erik, and there are millions of people like us. 但是我们有成千上万 像埃里克那样的商人, 也有数百万像我们这样的人。
And we are customers, employees, investors and citizens. 我们是顾客、雇员、投资者和公民。
Instead of giving up on capitalism, let's fix it by making sure that markets are truly fair and truly free, and that no one can dump garbage on us and walk away without paying for it. 与其放弃资本主义, 不如通过确保市场真正公平 和真正自由来解决它的问题—— 没有人能随意倾倒垃圾 而不付出代价。
desperate:adj.不顾一切的;令人绝望的;极度渴望的; businesspeople:商人;
We have the resources and the technology to solve climate change. 我们有现成的资源和技术 来应对气候变化。
Together, we can save the trees and each other. 众志成城, 我们就可以一同拯救树木, 还有彼此。
Thank you. 谢谢。
resources:n.[计][环境]资源; v.向…提供资金(resource的第三人称单数); technology:n.技术;工艺;术语;