28. The Energy Crisis of 1973 and Nixon's Energy Policies.
28、1973年能源危机与尼克松总统的应对政策.
1. The energy crisis of 1973 underscored the necessity Of developing a coordinated national energy policy and concentrating the government's various energy programs into one agency. On April 18, 1973, six months before renewed conflict in the Middle East, President Nixon noted that the United States, with 6 percent of the world's population, consumed one-third of the world's energy. In the immediate future, the president predicted, the United States might face energy shortages and increased prices. Again, as in 1971, Nixon cautioned that America's energy challenge could become an energy crisis if current trends continued unchecked. Declaring that the Nation's energy demands had grown so rapidly that they now outstripped available supplies, the President amended his 1971 proposal for a cabinet department by requesting Congress to establish a department of energy and natural resources with responsibility for energy policy and management as well as research and development. Meanwhile, Nixon established the Special Energy Committee of senior White House advisors, including special assistants for domestic, foreign, and economic affairs, and the National Energy Office, headed by Charles J. DiBona, to identify issues and coordinate energy analysis between the various offices and agencies.
1、1973年的能源危机突出地表明,制定一个协调的国家能源政策以及将政府各个能源项目集中在同一部门是极为必要的。1973年4月18日,在中东冲突卷土重来的前六个月,尼克松总统指出:占世界人口百分之六的美国消耗了地球上三分之一的能源。他预言,在不久的将来,美国将面临能源短缺及其价格的飙升。尼克松再次如1971年那样,提出警告说,如果目前的趋势得不到控制,美国所面临的难题将会演变成能源危机。他断言,国家的能源需求增长过速,目前已超过了供给能力,于是尼克松总统修改了1971年对内阁的建议,请求议会建立一个能源与自然资源部门,专门负责能源的政策和管理,及其研究与开发。与此同时,尼克松还设立了一个由白宫高级顾问组成的特别能源委员会,其中包括国内外及经济事务特别助理,以及由CharlesJ、DiBona领导的国家能源办公室,他们的任务是发现问题、协调不同部门和机构对能源的分析与研究。
2. Nixon's proposal for a department of energy and natural resources stalled in Congress. The House and Senate held subcommittee hearings, but the proposal received no further attention during 1973. Although he did not abandon hope for an energy department, the President, turned to immediate, interim solutions to the organizational problem. At the urging of Roy L. Ash, director of the Office of Management and Budget, Nixon established the Energy Policy Office, which combined and expanded the responsibilities of the Special Energy Committee and the National Energy Office. The new Energy Policy Office established on June 29, 1973, under the leadership of Governor John A. Love of Colorado, with DiBona remaining at the White House as Love's deputy, was responsible for formulating and coordinating energy policies at the presidential level. Nixon also proposed creating the Energy Research and Development Administration to develop the government's energy research programs and to work with industry in developing and fostering new energy technologies. The new administration would combine the energy research and development activities of the Atomic Energy Commission and the Department of the Interior. The Atomic Energy Commission's licensing and regulatory responsibilities would continue in the independent five-member Nuclear Energy Commission.
2、尼克松的(设立)能源和自然资源部门的建议遭到议会的搁置。尽管众参两院举行了附属委员会的听证,该提议在1973年期间并没有得到更多的关注。但尼克松总统并没有放弃,他立即启用了组织机构问题的临时解决方案,在联邦预算和管理局局长Royl、Ash的督促下,能源政策办公室成立了,该办公室将特别能源委员会和国家能源办公室合并,并且扩大了职责范围。新的能源政策办公室成立于1973年6月29日,由科罗拉多州州长JohnA、Love领导,DiBona作为JohnA、Love的副手,留在在白宫里负责阐述和协调总统级别的能源政策问题。与此同时,尼克松总统还提议建立能源研发局,进行政府的能源项目研究,并与工业界合作开发和培育新的能源技术。新设立的部门将兼并(美国)核能委员会和(美国)内务部所负责的能源研究和开发活动。核能委员会的审批及立法职能仍由其五人独立委员会承担。
3. By September 1973 the President, while asserting the Nation was not yet in an energy crisis, continued to stress America's energy problem. Nixon especially encouraged congressional enactment of four bills to provide for the construction of the Alaskan pipeline and deepwater ports, deregulation of natural gas, and new standards for surface mining. He also expressed hope that Congress would quickly authorize the Department of Energy and Natural Resources and the Energy Research and Development Administration. Unfortunately war broke out in the Middle East on October 6, 1973. America's energy challenge and problem would soon become a bona fide crisis.
3、1973年9月之前,尽管尼克松总统承认能源危机并未出现,但他仍然继续强调美国的能源问题,尼克松尤其督促议会通过了有关阿拉斯加输油管道、深水码头的建设、放松天然气管制,以及地表采矿新标准的四个法案。他还表示,希望议会能够尽快批准(设立)能源和自然资源部以及能源研发局。不幸的是,1973年10月6日,中东战争爆发,美国的能源问题很快变成了一场名副其实的危机。
4. The consequences of the Israeli victory in the Yom Kippur War1 quickly spread to North America when the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) placed an embargo crude oil shipped to the United States. By November 1973 oil supplies were critically low, creating the most acute shortages of energy since World War II. Now the Arab oil embargo, subsequent long gas lines, and complex but fragmented energy projects and regulations demanded bolder action by the President. No longer regional, the energy shortages became nationwide threatened virtually every sector of the economy.
4、以色列在赎罪日战争中的胜利迅速影响到北美,因为以色列的胜利引起阿拉伯石油输出国组织(OAPEC)对美国实施原油禁运。截至1973年11月,石油供应量极低,造成了二战以来最严重的能源短缺。目前所面临的一系列问题—阿拉伯石油禁运、由此引发的加油站前排起的长龙、以及庞大但是已经支离破碎的能源项目和立法方案—都需要总统采取大胆的行动加以解决。能源短缺不再是区域性问题,它已经威胁到全国范围以及经济的各个部门。
5. In a televised address the energy emergency on November 7, 1973, President Nixon launched Project Independence to achieve energy self-sufficiency by 1980. Urging Americans to lower thermostats, drive cars more slowly, and eliminate unnecessary lighting. Nixon pledged increased funding for energy research and development. Recalling Manhattan Project, which had built the atomic bomb during World War II, and the Apollo Project, which had landed two Americans on the moon in 1969, the President expressed his faith that American science, technology, and industry could free the United States from dependence on foreign oil. Three weeks later, as winter cold began to grip the Northeast, the President reaffirmed Project Independence and announced plans to increase the production of home-heating oils, while reducing gasoline supplies and closing gasoline stations on Sundays. Communities across the Nation reduced holiday lighting and implemented various schemes for pumping short supplies of gasoline. As motorists scrambled for a place in line, in some states matching their license plates to the date on an odd-or-even system, the era of energy affluence ended.
5、1973年11月7日,尼克松总统就能源的紧急事态发表了电视讲话,呼吁发动一场旨在1980年之前达到能源自给自足的“独立计划”。(他)力劝美国人民调低温度控制器的设置、慢速驾驶和减少不必要的照明,并保证为能源研究和发展增加预算。总统在讲话中回忆起二战期间制造出原子弹的“曼哈顿计划”以及1969年将两名美国人送上月球的“阿波罗计划”,并坚定地表明了自己的信心—美国凭借自己的科技和工业一定能摆脱对外国石油的依赖。三周之后,寒流袭击了东北部,(尼克松)总统再次重申“独立运动计划”,宣布增加家庭取暖用油的生产同时降低汽油供应,并且在星期日关闭加油站。全国的社区减少了节日照明,并且实施了各种应对汽油短缺的方案。人们驾车在等候加油的长龙里争抢位置,一些州也根据车牌号实行了单双号出行的规定,这一切都表明、能源富足的时代已经结束了。