Day 8 Day 9 这篇文章真是难
reading
1. rein in: to start to control a situation more strictly
up-end: to turn something over so that it is upside down
Efforts to rein in climate change will up-end the geopolitics of energy.
2. jittery
adj: anxious or nervous
Since then there has been a jittery recovery, but a return to the old world is unlikely.
3. scrap
verb: to decide not to use a plan or system because it is not practical
Today it is scraping along at just $40. 如今，它的售价仅为40美元
4. contender、decarbonize
noun: someone or something that is in competition with other people or things
verb: 除去碳素
America’s Democratic presidential contender, Joe Biden, wants to spend $2trn decarbonizing America’s economy.
5. earmark
verb: to decide that something will be used for a particular purpose or have something done to it in the future.
The European Union has earmarked 30% of its $880bn COVID-19 recovery plan for climate measures.
6. volatile
adj: a volatile situation is likely to change suddenly and without warning
The 21st-century energy system promises to be better than the oil age—better for human health, more politically stable, and less economically volatile.
7. ultimate
adj: someone’s ultimate aim is their main and most important aim, that they hope to achieve in the future
Today fossil fuels are the ultimate source of 85% of energy
8. mire
verb: to cause to stick fast in or as if in the mire
For decades petrostates such as Venezuela and Saudi Arabia, with little incentive to develop their economies, have been mired in the politics of handouts and cronyism.
9. vie
verb: to compete very hard with someone in order to get something
In an effort to ensure secure supplies, the world’s big powers have vied to influence these states, not least in the Middle East, where America has roughly 60,000 troops.
10. buffet、erratic
verb: if something, especially wind, rain, or the sea, buffets something, it hits it with a lot of force
adj: something that is erratic does not follow any pattern or plan but happens in a way that is not regular.
Oil markets are buffeted by an erratic cartel.
11. little wonder: 管不得
Little wonder that the price has swung by over 30% in a sixth-month period 62 times since 1970.
12. dislocation
noun: to move a bone out of its normal position in a joint, usually in an accident
Most important, decarbonizing energy will avoid the chaos of unchecked climate change, including devastating droughts, famine, floods, and mass dislocation.
13. meddle
verb: to deliberately try to influence or change a situation that does not concern you, or that you do not understand
Consuming countries, which once sought energy security by meddling in the politics of the oil producers, will instead look to sensible regulation of their own power industry.
14. clout
noun: power or the authority to influence other people’s decisions
Autocratic China could temporarily gain clout over the global power system because of its dominance in making key components and developing new technologies.
15. refine
verb: to make a substance purer using an industrial process
They also control much of the refining of minerals critical to clean energy, such as cobalt and lithium.
16. leverage
noun: influence that you can use to make people do what you want
China’s leverage depends on how fast other economies move
17. trajectory
noun:
America’s trajectory has been affected by the rise of shale oil and gas, which has made it the world’s largest oil producer, and by Republican resistance to decarbonization measures.
18. formidable
adj: the curved path of an object that has been fired or thrown through the air
If America were to act on climate change—with, say, a carbon tax and new infrastructure—its capital markets, national energy laboratories and universities would make it a formidable green power.
19. dwindle
verb: to gradually become less and less or smaller and smaller
As oil demand dwindles, they will face a vicious fight for market share which will be won by the countries with the cheapest and cleanest crude.
20. grapple with: to try hard to deal with or understand something difficult
Even as they grapple with the growing urgency of economic and political reform, the public resources to pay for it may dwindle.
21. perilous
adj: very dangerous
A perilous few decades lie ahead.
22. destabilize
verb: to make something such as a government or economy become less successful or powerful, or less able to control events
However, that would bring about a different, even more destabilizing set of climate-related consequences.
23. contemplate、drastic、turmoil
verb: to accept the possibility that something is true
adj: extreme and sudden
noun: a state of confusion, excitement, or anxiety
Instead, as our special report in this issue explains, the investments being contemplated fall drastically short of what is needed to keep temperatures within 2°C of pre-industrial levels, let alone the 1.5°C required to limit the environmental, economic and political turmoil of climate change.
24. turbulence
noun: a political or emotional situation that is very confused
And if the shift towards fossil-fuel-free renewable energy accelerates, as it must, it will cause even more geopolitical turbulence.
