Seize the Moment
the Economist 2020.05.23
But as we explain this week, the pandemic both reveals the size of the challenge ahead and also creates a unique chance to enact government policies that steer the economy away from carbon at a lower financial, social and political cost than might otherwise have been the case. Rock-bottom energy prices make it easier to cut subsidies for fossil fuels and to introduce a tax on carbon. The revenues from that tax over the next decade can help repair battered government finances. The businesses at the heart of the fossil-fuel economy—oil and gas firms, steel producers, carmakers—are already going through the agony of shrinking their long-term capacity and employment. Getting economies in medically induced comas back on their feet is a circumstance tailor-made for investment in climate-friendly infrastructure that boosts growth and creates new jobs. Low interest rates make the bill smaller than ever.
段落大意：这次疫情既揭露出了未来挑战之大，同样也创造了一次独特的机遇。化石燃料经济遭遇危机，气候友好型经济得到发展。
单词讲解：
battered: ADJ-GRADED Something that is battered is old and in poor condition because it has been used a lot. 破旧的；陈旧的
eg: He drove up in a battered old car.
agony: N-UNCOUNT Agony is great physical or mental pain. （肉体或精神的）极度痛苦，创痛
eg: She called out in agony.
tailor-made : ADJ If something is tailor-made, it has been specially designed for a particular person or purpose. 专门制作的;定制的;特制的
eg: Each client's portfolio is tailor-made.
be tailor-made for：正好适合
可以同义替换suitable for
rock-bottom：ADJ [usually ADJ n] A rock-bottom price or level is a very low one, mainly in advertisements. (价格、水平)极低的，非常低的 [approval]
eg：What they do offer is a good product at a rock-bottom price.
除此之外，该单词还有名词的意思
N-UNCOUNT If something has reached rock bottom, it is at such a low level that it cannot go any lower. 最低点;最低水平;低谷
eg：Morale in the armed forces was at rock bottom.
写作学习：Rock-bottom energy prices make it easier to cut subsidies for fossil fuels and to introduce a tax on carbon. sth. makes it adj. to do sth.
这是一个在英语中比较常见的结构：make 跟形式宾语it+跟不定式to do.
Take carbon-pricing first. Long cherished by economists, such schemes use the power of the market to incentivise consumers and firms to cut their emissions, thus ensuring that the shift from carbon happens in the most efficient way possible. The timing is particularly propitious because such prices have the most immediate effects when they tip the balance between two already available technologies. In the past it was possible to argue that, although prices might entrench an advantage for cleaner gas over dirtier coal, renewable technologies were too immature to benefit. But over the past decade the costs of wind and solar power have tumbled. A relatively small push from a carbon price could give renewables a decisive advantage—one which would become permanent as wider deployment made them cheaper still. There may never have been a time when carbon prices could achieve so much so quickly.
段落大意：过去，新能源成本昂贵且盈利性不成熟。如今，这已不再是问题，新能源在碳定价的推动下迎来了属于自己的时机。
单词讲解：
propitious：ADJ-GRADED If something is propitious, it is likely to lead to success. 顺利的；有利的 [formal]
eg：They should wait for the most propitious moment between now and the next election.
tip：V-ERG If you tip an object or part of your body or if it tips, it moves into a sloping position with one end or side higher than the other. (使)倾斜;(使)斜侧
eg：He leaned away from her, and she had to tip her head back to see him.
tip the balance：改变格局，扭变局势
除此之外，该单词还有名词的意思
N-COUNT The tip of something long and narrow is the end of it. 末梢;尖端;顶端
eg：The sleeves covered his hands to the tips of his fingers.
entrench：VERB If something such as power, a custom, or an idea is entrenched, it is firmly established, so that it would be difficult to change it. 使（权力、习俗、观念等）根深蒂固
eg：These dictators have entrenched themselves politically and are difficult to move.
写作学习：Long cherished by economists, such schemes use the power of the market to incentivise consumers and firms to cut their emissions, thus ensuring that the shift from carbon happens in the most efficient way possible.
结构多样。过去分词cherished做伴随状语，主句，thus +动词现在分词表示结果。
试比较：
Such schemes have been long cherished by economists and use the power of the market to incentivise consumers and firms to cut their emissions. Thus, it ensures that the shift from carbon happens in the most efficient way possible.
Carbon prices are not as popular with politicians as they are with economists, which is why too few of them exist. But even before covid-19 there were hints their time was coming. Europe is planning an expansion of its carbon-pricing scheme, the largest in the world; China is instituting a brand new one. Joe Biden, who backed carbon prices when he was vice-president, will do so again in the coming election campaign—and at least some on the right will agree with that. The proceeds from a carbon tax could raise over 1% of GDP early on and would then taper away over several decades. This money could either be paid as a dividend to the public or, as is more likely now, help lower government debts, which are already forecast to reach an average of 122% of GDP in the rich world this year, and will rise further if green investments are debt-financed.
段落大意：碳定价备受政治家欢迎，但却不入经济学家的“法眼”。碳定价在欧洲、中国和美国受到支持。碳税收益会减轻政府债务负担。
单词讲解：
institute：VERB If you institute a system, rule, or course of action, you start it. 建立(体系等);制定(规章等);开始;开创 [formal]
eg：We will institute a number of measures to better safeguard the public.
除本文所用的动词的意思外，institute还有名词的意思：
N-COUNT; N-IN-NAMES An institute is an organization set up to do a particular type of work, especially research or teaching. You can also use institute to refer to the building the organization occupies. 机构;协会;研究院;学院
eg：Directly in front of the institute is Kelly Ingram Park.
proceeds：N-PLURAL The proceeds of an event or activity are the money that has been obtained from it. （某个事件或活动的）收入，收益
eg：The proceeds from the concert will go towards famine relief.
除了本文中所用的名词的意思外，proceed还有动词的意思
VERB
1、proceed to do 接下来做；接着做（做不同的事）
proceed with 继续进行；继续做 （做同一件事）
eg：He proceeded to tell me of my birth.
eg：The group proceeded with a march they knew would lead to bloodshed.
2、 If an activity, process, or event proceeds, it goes on and does not stop. （活动、过程或事件）继续，持续，连续不断
eg：The ideas were not new. Their development had proceeded steadily since the war.
3、If you proceed in a particular direction, you go in that direction. （朝某个方向）前进，行进 [formal]
eg：She climbed the steps and proceeded along the upstairs hallway.
taper ：V-ERG If something tapers, or if you taper it, it becomes gradually thinner at one end. (使)一端逐渐变细;(使)变锥形 [Also VERB preposition]
eg：Taper the shape of your eyebrows towards the outer corners.
V-ERG If something tapers or is tapered, it gradually becomes reduced in amount, number, or size until it is greatly reduced. 逐渐减少;逐渐缩小 [Also VERB n PREPOSITION]
eg：There are signs that inflation is tapering.
本文应该是第二个意思，taper away 逐渐减少
dividend: N-COUNT A dividend is the part of a company's profits which is paid to people who have shares in the company. 红利;股息;股利 [business]
eg: The first quarter dividend has been increased by nearly 4 per cent.
写作学习：Carbon prices are not as popular with politicians as they are with economists.
简单比较级的复杂使用。as……as 是最简单的比较级结构，普遍连接单个成份
（宾语或者表语）。某些情况下，需要使用完整的结构。
which are already forecast to reach an average of 122% of GDP in the rich world this year.
be forecast to 预见，预测，表示将来可能会发生某事
=be predicted to
Carbon pricing is only part of the big-bang response now possible. By itself, it is unlikely to create a network of electric-vehicle charging-points, more nuclear power plants to underpin the cheap but intermittent electricity supplied by renewables, programmes to retrofit inefficient buildings and to develop technologies aimed at reducing emissions that cannot simply be electrified away, such as those from large aircraft and some farms. In these areas subsidies and direct government investment are needed to ensure that tomorrow’s consumers and firms have the technologies which carbon prices will encourage.
段落大意：现今，碳定价是应对环境危机的唯一可能方案。但是碳定价本身无法实现。尤其是在机场和农场，实现碳定价所需的技术，还需要一定的政府补贴和投资。
单词讲解：
underpin: VERB If one thing underpins another, it helps the other thing to continue or succeed by supporting and strengthening it. 加强…的基础；巩固；支撑
eg: ...mystical themes that underpin all religions.
intermittent: ADJ-GRADED Something that is intermittent happens occasionally rather than continuously. 间歇的;断断续续的
eg:After three hours of intermittent rain, the game was abandoned.
retrofit: VERB To retrofit a machine or a building means to put new parts or new equipment in it after it has been in use for some time, especially to improve its safety or make it work better. 对（机器）更新部件;对（建筑物）进行翻新
eg: Much of this business involves retrofitting existing planes.
长句学习：By itself, it is unlikely to create a network of electric-vehicle charging-points, more nuclear power plants to underpin the cheap but intermittent electricity supplied by renewables programmes to retrofit inefficient buildings and to develop technologies aimed at reducing emissions that cannot simply be electrified away, such as those from large aircraft and some farms.
主句：it is unlikely to
目的状语：to underpin the cheap but intermittent electricity
过去分词做后置定语：supplied by renewables programmes
目的状语：to retrofit inefficient buildings and to develop technologies
过去分词做后置定语：aimed at reducing emissions
定语从句：that cannot simply be electrified away, such as those from large aircraft and some farms.
碳定价（Carbon Pricing）
碳定价是一种降低温室气体排放的工具，用来记录温室气体排放的外部成本，即公共支付的排放成本。比如，农作物受损成本、干旱和升温带来的医疗保健成本、洪水带来的财产损失及海平面上升产生的影响等，这些成本将通过对排放的二氧化碳定价的方式展现出来。
这种定价方式有助于将温室气体排放造成的损害转移给那些对此负责的人，或可以减少二氧化碳排放的人，如排放二氧化碳的工厂、企业等。
碳定价不是决定谁应该在何处排放以及如何减少排放，而是向排放者提供经济信号，并允许他们决定改变其活动并降低其排放量，或继续排放但同时为其排放量付钱。
通过这种方式，可以以最灵活，成本最低的方式实现全球环境目标。在温室气体排放中设定适当的价格对于在为清洁发展制定经济激励措施时将气候变化的外部成本内部化具有根本意义。
