How Can We Escape Soaring Energy Bills? Stop Using Fossil Fuels | Tessa Khan | TED

翻译人员: Yip Yan Yeung 校对人员: Grace Man

In the decades since the world became dependent on oil and gas,

世界依赖于石油和天然气的 这几十年以来，

we’ve been through cycle after cycle of boom and bust, of crisis and recovery.

我们在繁荣萧条、危机重建的 循环往复中沉浮。

In the 1970s, the 90s and now in 2022, with Russia’s war against Ukraine,

上世纪 70 年代、90 年代， 到如今 2022 年的俄乌战争，

we find ourselves once again in the grip of soaring fossil fuel prices

我们一次又一次受制于 飙升的化石燃料价格，

that have exposed so many countries to deep social and economic strife.

让多少国家陷入了 严峻的社会和经济斗争。

Instead of the usual cycle of crisis and then return to a fragile status quo,

我们不会再像以往被卷入危机 再回到岌岌可危的情况，

this can and must be the last time that we are left so vulnerable.

这可以，也必须是我们最后一次 落到如此不堪一击的境地。

Let me tell you why.

我来告诉你为什么。

In the last year, we've reached unprecedented clarity

去年，我们从未如此清晰地意识到了

about the fact that there is no room for new fossil fuel infrastructure

眼下我们绝不可能去 建设化石燃料的新基建，

if we are to have a decent shot

如果我们还想孤注一掷

of limiting the warming of our climate to 1.5 degrees.

将我们的气候变暖 控制在 1.5 度以内。

These warnings have sounded against a terrifying backdrop of climate chaos:

伴随着声声警告， 气候混乱的惨烈景象陆续上演：

Europe’s rivers running dry,

欧洲水道干涸，

apocalyptic flooding in Pakistan,

巴基斯坦毁天灭地的洪涝灾害，

savage wildfires, heat and drought across the world.

肆虐的山火、 热浪和干旱席卷全球。

The devastation wrought by our warming climate

我们持续变暖的气候 带来的破坏，

driven by the burning of oil, gas and coal

是由石油、天然气 和煤炭的燃烧引发的，

can no longer be ignored.

我们不能再对 它们的影响坐视不理。

At the same time,

与此同时，

a new reality, also driven by our dependency on fossil fuels,

由我们对化石燃料的依赖 引发的一个新现象

has been playing out in some of the richest countries in the world.

正在世界上最富有的 几个国家中蠢蠢欲动。

In the UK, millions of people

英国几百万人

are coming face to face with the desperate reality

将直面“燃料贫困”一词 背后的残酷现实。

behind the term "fuel poverty."

We've had stories about pensioners riding public buses all day to stay warm,

我们听说过有退休老人 天天待在公交车里取暖，

of local councils opening warm banks

有地方政府为没钱为房屋供暖的人 开设了“取暖银行”。

for people who can't afford to heat their homes.

Before the UK government announced

在英国政府宣布

that it was going to freeze the unit price of energy

即将限制能源单价之前，

in what is considered to be the single most expensive policy announcement

这项举措被认为是二战以来 最昂贵的政策公告，

since the Second World War,

40 percent of people living in the UK were expected to be in fuel poverty

英国 40% 的居民 将在今年年底前面临

by the end of this year.

燃料贫困。

Even with that price freeze,

即使有限价措施，

6.7 million households will struggle to pay their energy bills.

670 万户家庭也苦于 支付他们的能源账单。

How did we get here?

怎么发展成这样的？

Why is the situation so acute?

情况为什么如此迫在眉睫？

The answer is gas.

答案就是天然气。

The UK is exceptionally reliant on gas.

英国高度依赖天然气。

The vast majority of our homes are gas-heated,

我们的大多数房屋 都是由天然气供暖，

and a big chunk of our electricity is generated by gas-fired power stations.

我们的大部分用电 由燃气电厂供应。

With that comes extreme vulnerability to international gas prices

随之而来的是对 国际天然气价格的极度敏感，

that are now projected to stay unusually high until at least 2025.

而预计到至少 2025 年 气价都会非常高昂。

In the UK and indeed across Europe, this is a moment of huge peril.

英国，乃至整个欧洲， 都危在旦夕了。

And of huge opportunity.

但也机不可失。

As a climate change lawyer and campaigner

我是一名气候变化律师和倡导者，

working in the UK and across the global North,

在英国和一些发达国家工作，

conversations around fossil fuels in the recent past,

最近参与了一些 关于化石燃料的讨论，

including about our domestic significant oil and gas industry here in the UK,

涉及我们英国国内 重要的石油和天然气产业，

those conversations have until recently been about the impacts of climate change

这些讨论最近才谈到 气候变化的影响，

that are wreaking havoc in other parts of the world,

已经为世界其他地区 造成了巨大破坏，

or about impacts that are portrayed as fleeting in the UK.

最近才谈到在英国 被轻描淡写的一些影响。

It's been very easy for politicians

政客和只做短新闻周期的媒体

and a media focused on short-term news cycles to dismiss.

很容易就会忽略这些问题。

But that has now changed forever.

但是这个局面 现已被彻底颠覆了。

The only way to address our energy affordability crisis

解决我们能源负担危机的唯一途径

is to address its root cause,

就是解决根本问题，

and that is our dependency on fossil fuels.

即我们对化石燃料的依赖。

That's now common cause, not just across the climate movement,

这是许多问题共同的根源， 不仅涉及气候运动，

but across sectors working on inequality and poverty as well.

还会牵涉到 处理不平等和贫困的组织。

Renewable energy sources,

可再生能源

which are our only path away from climate catastrophe,

是我们从气候灾难中 逃出生天的唯一生路，

sources like solar and wind,

像太阳能和风能这样的能源，

those are now nine times cheaper than gas as a source of electricity in the UK.

比英国用于供电的天然气 便宜九倍。

Moreover, we know that we can significantly reduce

而且，我们知道我们可以

our energy demand here

大幅降低这里的能源需求，

by upgrading our homes,

通过升级我们那 荣获欧洲最冷最破之名的房屋。

which are among the coldest and leakiest in Europe.

While politicians and the fossil fuel industry's proxies might in this moment,

虽然政客和化石燃料产业的传声筒 可能在此时此刻，

and indeed are in this moment,

也确实在此时此刻，

trying to double down on fossil fuel production

试图在化石燃料的生产过程上 变本加厉大做文章，

as a solution to our sky-high energy bills,

作为解决我们暴涨的 能源账单的途径，

they are about to find out in short order

他们不日便会发现

that in a moment of acute crisis like this,

面临严重危机的今时今日，

when millions of people are experiencing the impact

数百万人受到了切身影响，

in such a material and tangible way,

there is no room for peddling false hope.

已经不可能让他们继续 贩卖不切实际的希望了。

There is nowhere to hide.

已经无处可藏了。

And while oil and gas companies continue to record record profits

虽然石油和天然气公司依旧在

off the same forces that are driving families all over the UK into despair,

从这把全英国家庭逼入绝境的 元凶身上赚得盆满钵满，

it will become even more clear, incontrovertibly clear,

局面已经逐渐清晰、 不容置疑地清晰——

that boom times for the oil and gas industry

石油天然气产业春风得意之时，

are bad times for the rest of us.

就是我们其他人苦不堪言之时。

Across the UK, there are new movements emerging to make sure

许多新运动在英国各地涌现，

that we are never put in this position again.

让我们不要再沦落至此。

From campaigns like Warm This Winter to Enough is Enough,

像“温暖这个冬季”和 “适可而止”这样的活动，

to movements to stop the opening up of new oil and gas fields,

像阻止开发新油气田的运动，

like Stop Rosebank,

比如“停止罗斯班克油气项目”运动，

to litigation and targeted advocacy,

像诉讼和有针对性的律师辩护，

there is a wave of action coming to make sure that this is the last cycle.

各种行动层出不穷， 努力让这成为最后一个周期。

This is the last time.

这是最后一次了。

This can and must be the last alarm bell to sound

这可以，也必须成为最后的警钟，

about the true cost of our reliance on fossil fuels

在迈向一个对我们所有人 更安全、更公正的未来之前，

before we step into a more safe, more just future for us all.

为我们对化石燃料的依赖 产生的真实成本敲响警钟。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）