Barack Obama has had a good spill so far. But his energy policy is now a mess
May 6th, 2010 | From The Economist print edition
When the Exxon Valdez ran aground in 1989 and dumped its oily cargo into Alaskan waters, it killed hordes of beautiful creatures and cost billions to clean up.
The current spill in the Gulf of Mexico could prove even worse. A tanker can leak its load but no more. A broken pipe connected to an oilfield may continue leaking until it is fixed. And since fixing it involves sending remote-controlled submarines a mile below the surface to tinker with mangled machinery in the dark, that could take a while. Small wonder that Barack Obama sounds so grave.
On April 20th an explosion crippled the Deepwater Horizon, an offshore
oil rig. Eleven people are presumed dead. As The Economist went to press, a vast oil slick was drifting towards American beaches and oyster beds. Flying down
to Louisiana on May 2nd, Mr Obama described the spill as “a massive and potentially unprecedented environmental disaster”. He warned that it “could seriously damage the economy and the environment of our Gulf states and … jeopardise the livelihoods of thousands of Americans”. And he told television viewers that the federal government had “launched and co-ordinated an all-hands-on-deck, relentless response to this crisis from day one”.
He was mindful, no doubt, that his predecessor’s political fortunes took
a plunge after another environmental disaster in the same region in 2005.
The federal response to Hurricane Katrina was slow and ineffectual, and George Bush dithered before visiting the wrecked city of New Orleans. He was widely decried as incompetent, insensitive, or both. Some people see parallels: Mr Obama also took his time to head for the Gulf coast, and was conspicuously larking around the previous night, telling jokes at the annual White House correspondents’ dinner. (My approval ratings may be sinking, he said, but they “are still very high
in the country of my birth”). Hostile pundits mutter that the spill is “Obama’s Katrina”.
The label has yet to catch on, however. For one thing, Mr Obama is plainly juggling multiple crises, from floods in Tennessee to a bomb in Times Square.
The oil spill has not produced wrenching televised images of human suffering,
as Katrina did. And Mr Obama has not yet made any obvious foul-ups. Addressing Gulf coast residents, he sounded calm but firm. “Let me be clear”, he said,
“BP [the oil firm] is responsible for this leak; BP will be paying the bill”.
So far, the spill has probably not altered many people’s minds about
Mr Obama. That could change: no one knows how long the crisis will linger
or how bad the damage will be. But for now, the spill’s main political effect has been to pollute the debate about energy. Before the rig exploded, America was inching fitfully towards a coherent energy policy. Not a perfect one, and certainly not a moment too soon, but a better one than before, and better late than never. Before the spill, Mr Obama’s approach was to offer something for everyone.
To please greens, he proposed subsidies for renewable energy and curbs
on greenhouse gases. To stop consumers from revolting, he was prepared to phase in those curbs slowly. To placate conservatives, he promoted nuclear power
and recently came out for more offshore oil-drilling. That last idea is now on hold.
Any sensible policy needs to recognize two facts. First, fossil fuels
are warming the planet. Second, America cannot suddenly stop using them.
Since many Republicans deny the first point and some Democrats underplay
the second, getting a bill through Congress is hard; and it has just got a lot harder. The Democrats will need at least a few Republican votes in the Senate, since they now control only 59 votes, one short of the number needed to break a filibuster. That is unlikely to happen before the mid-term elections – Lindsey Graham,
the keenest Republican on the idea, was working on a bill with two Democrats
but walked out last month when Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, said
that he had decided to tackle immigration first. Conceivably Senator Graham
can be wooed back, possibly along with a couple of his colleagues. But the wooing will be a lot trickier if Democrats block new domestic drilling, as several propose. Bill Nelson, a Democratic senator from Florida, says that any energy bill allowing offshore drilling would be “dead on arrival”. Governors of coastal states
are terrified, too. Charlie Crist of Florida and Arnold Schwarzenegger of California both withdrew their support for drilling this week.
Lessons to be learned
Disasters can be instructive. Both regulators and oil firms will learn useful lessons from the Deepwater Horizon fiasco, and safety will surely improve
as a result. But it is easy to learn the wrong lessons, too. After the accident
on Three Mile Island in 1979, Americans grew scared of nuclear power
and stopped building new reactors, even though no one died in that accident.
Had the nation not panicked, it would now have many more nuclear reactors, making the shift to a low-carbon economy significantly easier. Similarly today, panic is likely but unhelpful.
So long as Americans do not reduce their consumption of oil, refusing
to drill at home means importing more of the stuff, often from places with looser environmental standards. The net effect is likely to be more pollution, not less. Nigeria, for example, has had a major oil spill every year since 1969, observes
Lisa Margonelli of the New America Foundation, a think-tank. Putting a price
on carbon would eventually spur the development of cleaner fuels, and persuade Americans to switch to them. But in the meantime, oil is both useful and precious. Extracting it domestically, with tougher safety rules, would bring a windfall
to a Treasury that sorely needs one. When the current crisis is past, Mr Obama may remember this.
UNIT 2
Text A
Heat pump
Another method for heating with electricity involves the use of the heat pump. Every refrigeration machine is technically a heat pump, pumping heat
from an area of lower temperature (normally the space to be cooled or refrigerated) to an area of higher temperature (normally, the outdoors). The refrigeration machine may be used to pump heat in winter from the outdoor air, or groundwater, or any other source of low-temperature heat, and deliver this heat at higher temperature to a space to be heated. Usually, the heat pump is designed to function as an air conditioner in summer, then to reverse and serve as a heat pump in winter.
A heat pump’s operations can be explained using the following example.
The typical window-mounted air-conditioning unit has a heat-rejection unit (condenser) mounted outside. This unit discharges the heat removed by the indoor coil (evaporator) to the outside air. Therefore the evaporator subtracts heat
from the residence and transfers it to the refrigerant gas, which is pumped
to the outside condenser, where by means of a fan the heat is dissipated in the air outside. This cycle can be inverted: heat is subtracted from the outside air
and is transferred via the refrigerant gas to the indoor coil (evaporator)
and discharged into a residence’s ductwork by means of the evaporator fan.
This is a basic heat-pump system. Where winter climates reach freezing temperatures, however, the system is limited by the freezing of the condenser (outdoor coil); thus, heat pumps work better in mild climates with fairly warm winter temperatures. The complexity of their machinery also makes them uneconomical in many contexts.
Words and expressions:
heat pump – тепловой насос
refrigeration machine – машина охлаждения
to reverse and serve as – изменяться и служить как
heat-rejection unit – устройство отказа от тепла
evaporator – испаритель
refrigerant gas – охлаждающий газ
freezing temperatures – минусовые температуры
uneconomical – экономически не выгодно
Exercise 1
Ответьте на следующие вопросы:
1. What unit is involved for heating with the use of electricity?
2. Is refrigeration machine technically a heat pump?
3. May refrigeration machine be used to pump heat?
4. Is heat pump designed to function as an air conditioner in summer?
5. What is mounted outside in a typical window-mounted air-conditioning unit?
6. Can you explain a heat pump’s operations?
7. What is the function in a window-mounted air conditioner?
8. Can window-mounted air conditioner be used in winter climates reach freezing temperatures?
Exercise 2
Заполните пропуски недостающими по смыслу словами, используя текст:
1. One of the methods for heating with … involves the use of the heat pump.
2. Every refrigeration machine is … a heat pump.
3. Heat pump is designed to function as an … … in summer.
4. Window-mounted air-conditioning unit has a … mounted outside.
5. Condenser discharges the heat removed by the indoor … to the outside air.
6. Evaporator subtracts … from the residence and transfers it to
the refrigerant gas.
7. Heat is subtracted from the outside air and is … transferred via
the refrigerant gas to the indoor evaporator.
8. In winter climates with … temperatures air conditioning systems
are limited in use.
Exercise 3
Соответствуют ли данные предложения содержанию текста?
1. Refrigeration machine is pumping heat from an area of lower temperature to an area of higher temperature.
2. The refrigeration machine may be used to generate electricity
for household needs.
3. The heat pump is designed to function as an air conditioner in winter time at freezing temperatures.
4. Window-mounted air-conditioning unit has a heat-rejection unit mounted outside.
5. The evaporator subtracts heat from the outdoors and transfers
it to the refrigerant gas which is pumped to the indoor condenser.
6. Basic heat-pump system is not used for cooling the premises
in residential areas.
7. Main utilization of air-conditioning units is common in winter time
when temperatures are below zero.
8. The complexity of air conditioners makes them uneconomical
in many contexts.
Exercise 4
Используя текст, составьте высказывания с данными словами
и выражениями:
heat pump; refrigeration machine; lower temperature; higher temperature; source of low-temperature heat; air conditioner; window-mounted air-conditioning unit; heat-rejection unit; indoor coil; evaporator; refrigerant gas; outside condenser; residence’s ductwork; freezing temperatures.
Exercise 5
Кратко передайте содержание каждого абзаца.
Exercise 6
Выделите пять основных идей текста.
Exercise 7
Составьте предложения, используя данные выражения:
method for heating; space to be cooled or refrigerated; outdoors; to deliver heat; to reverse; pump’s operations; indoor coil; residence; to subtract heat;
to discharge; evaporator fan; winter climates; system is limited by; to work better; mild climates; uneconomical in many contexts.
Exercise 8
Переведите на русский язык следующие предложения:
1. The heat pump is used for heating with electricity.
2. Refrigeration machine is pumping heat from an area of lower temperature to an area of higher temperature.
3. The refrigeration machine may be used to pump heat in winter from
the outdoor air.
4. Heat pump is designed to function as an air conditioner in summer.
5. Heat pump discharges the heat removed by evaporator to the outside air.
6. In air conditioners heat is subtracted from the outside air and is transferred via the refrigerant gas to the indoor coil.
7. Where winter climates reach freezing temperatures the system is limited by the freezing of the condenser.
8. Heat pumps work better in mild climates with fairly warm winter temperatures.
9. The complexity of air condition equipment also makes them uneconomical in many contexts.
Exercise 9
Переведите на английский язык:
1. В тепловом насосе при помощи электричества нагревается воздух.
2. Любой агрегат охлаждения предполагает использование теплового насоса.
3. Принцип работы теплового насоса в том, чтобы работать
как кондиционер летом и выполнять функции нагрева зимой.
4. Испаритель удаляет теплый воздух из помещения.
5. Высокая температура воздуха понижается при помощи кондиционера.
6. Тепловые насосы используются практически на всех производствах.
7. Основной принцип работы теплового насоса – охлаждение и обогрев помещений и систем промышленного производства.
8. Тепловые насосы работают лучше всего в регионах с умеренным климатом.
Exercise 10
Текст для самостоятельного перевода.