VOA慢速英語(yǔ):California Seeks China's Help in Going Green

[00:00.00]From VOA Learning English, this is the Technology Report. [00:05.43]California Governor Jerry Brown wants to increase partnerships [00:10.51]between his state and China. [00:13.10]The governor traveled to China last week [00:16.48]to seek Chinese investment in things like high-speed rail, [00:21.31]renewable energy and electric vehicles. [00:24.69]The California governor spoke at China's Tsinghua University. [00:29.77]He called for a partnership between the United States and China [00:34.46]to develop technologies to reduce greenhouse gases. [00:39.08]"China has been instrumental in driving down the costs, [00:42.97]and making available that technology. [00:45.45]So there is a real connection." [00:48.29]Mr. Brown met with Prime Minister Li Keqiang [00:52.38]and China's minister of environmental protection, Zhou Shengxian. [00:58.00]Mr. Brown and Mr. Zhou signed a nonbinding agreement [01:04.13]to share information about policies to reduce pollution. [01:08.55]Pollution is a leading concern in Beijing, [01:12.64]where officials advise people to stay indoors [01:16.67]when air pollution levels peak. [01:19.16]California's biggest city, Los Angeles, [01:23.30]has successfully reduced its smog problem. [01:26.68]Its efforts included improving its vehicle emission standards, [01:32.40]and offering special incentives or rewards for clean energy policies. [01:38.23]Last year California held its first auction of carbon credits [01:44.20]under the state's greenhouse gas reduction law. [01:47.94]The law forces big polluting industries [01:52.02]to buy credits to release carbon dioxide, [01:55.21]methane and related gases. [01:58.49]Governor Brown also hopes to create [02:02.61]20,000 new megawatts of renewable electricity by 2020. [02:08.35]Mike Hart is CEO of Sierra Energy, a green energy company. [02:14.82]"Electric vehicles, we're looking at fuel cell vehicles. [02:18.85]And also biofuels. And a lot of those areas [02:22.59]where the technology needs to be advanced [02:24.87]but we need a whole new infrastructure." [02:26.91]To achieve those goals California is seeking help from China. [02:31.25]State-backed industries in the country [02:34.54]have made gains in reducing the cost of green technologies [02:38.72]such as solar panels and electric buses. [02:42.25]Governor Brown says his trip was [02:45.69]an appeal for increased trade with China. [02:48.62]Green technology is just one of the industries [02:52.45]the California governor is interested in working on. [02:56.73]"We are looking for investments into California of any kind. [03:00.68]And we're looking for sales from California into China [03:05.35]of any kind. So we're looking for partnerships." [03:08.49]California-based environmental scientists [03:11.64]and representatives from environmental consulting firms [03:15.92]also attended Governor Brown's speech in Beijing. [03:19.36]They say their work is increasingly directed at China. [03:24.23]That is because rising air pollution levels in that country [03:29.01]have created a market for solutions to the problems. [03:32.84]Former Chinese vice president -- now president -- [03:37.33]Xi Jinping visited Los Angeles in February. [03:41.36]He also called for an increase [03:44.80]in economic and cultural ties [03:47.04]between the United States and China. [03:50.72]And that's the Technology Report [03:53.99]from VOA Learning English. I'm June Simms.

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