肯尼迪表示总统最近对汽车和轻型卡车颁布的燃料效率标准将会对我们的排放量起到明显的抑制作用。另外预计于明年初出台的针对发电厂规则，也可能会减少二氧化碳的排放量。当然了，减少多少取决于这些规则有多严格。（美国）各州，尤其是加州，都设置了法律在接下来的数十年里减少排放量。
Kennedy says that the president's recently enacted fuel-efficient standards for cars and light trucks will put a meaningful dent in our emission. And rules about power plants, due out early next year, could also reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide. How much of course depends upon how stringent these rules are. States, especially California, have laws designed to cut their emissions in the coming decades.
加州代表了美国八分之一的经济，所以那对美国总局而言是显著的一部分。
California represents 1/8 of American economy, so that's a significant piece of the overall American picture.
但是即便采取了所有的州和联邦行动，世界资源机构都估算美国没办法到2020年实现减少17%的排放量。肯尼迪表示到时将会需要新的联邦法律来填补空缺，而那以前景并不明朗。
But even with all those states and federal actions taken together, the World Resources Institute figures that the nation cannot achieve the 17% reduction in emission by 2020. News federal laws would need to fill the gap, Kennedy says the prospects for that are not very good.
在世界其他任何地方，你都看不到一场关于气候科学是否真实，天气是否真的在改变的政治辩论。那种政治氛围使得人们非常难以全面的方式往前发展，而那正是我们在这个国家需要解决的问题。
Nowhere else in the world would you see a political debate over whether climate science is real, whether or not the climate is really changing. That political climate makes it very difficult to move forward in a comprehensive way, and that's what we need to address in this country.
问题的一部分在于，就连那些接受气候变化科学的国会议员也担心，假如美国大幅度减少排放量会有害其经济竞争力。而这将是本事，美国的行动对减缓全球暖和产生不了多大作用。有意义的行动需要的协议远远超过我们国界范围。而那就把带回到南非气候大会上。
Part of the problem is, even Congressmen who accept the climate change science are concerned that if the U.S. drastically slashes its emissions, that could harm economic competitiveness, and by itself, American actions will no do much to slow down global warming. Meaningful action requires an agreement that extends far beyond our national border. And that brings us back to the climate talks in South Africa
