来源：《每日电讯报》
原文刊登日期：2021年7月15日
The Government intends to ban the sale of new diesel or petrol cars, including hybrids, by 2035. This much we know because ministers have said so repeatedly. What we do not know is how they propose to go about this and other “decarbonisation” measures that underpin one of the biggest technological upheavals of modern times. A Whitehall paper sheds little light on the subject beyond repeating the ambition and even bringing forward the dates for some targets. The sale of new diesel and petrol heavy goods vehicles, for instance, will end by 2040 in what the Department for Transport calls a “world leading pledge”. Making a promise is the easy bit; setting out in detail how it can be achieved is another matter.
政府计划到2035年禁止销售新的柴油或汽油汽车，包括混合动力车。我们之所以知道这些，是因为内阁部长们反复说过。我们所不知道的是，他们打算如何实施这个以及其他“脱碳”措施，这些措施构成现代最大技术变革的基础。英国政府的一份文件除了重复其雄心，甚至提前了一些目标日期外，对这一问题几乎没有提供任何解释。例如，新型柴油和汽油重型货车的销售将在2040年前停止，交通部称之为“世界领先的承诺”。做出承诺很容易；而详细说明如何实现这一目标则是另一回事。
Doubtless opinion polls tell ministers that people want to bequeath a cleaner planet to their children and grandchildren and are eager to support “green” measures designed to bring this about. But the Government needs to invest a huge amount of political capital in explaining the practicalities and the costs to voters.
毫无疑问，民意调查告诉内阁部长们，人们希望给子孙后代留下一个更清洁的地球，并渴望支持旨在实现这一目标的“绿色”措施。但政府需要投入大量的政治资本，向选民解释其可行性和成本。
This mammoth process involves a 58 per cent cut in emissions over the next 15 years and will require changes to the way we heat our homes and travel, and even what we eat. Only now is the penny beginning to drop among millions of homeowners who will have to replace their heating systems at considerable expense in order to meet targets for cutting gas usage.
在这一庞大的过程中，未来15年的温室气体排放量将减少58%，并要求我们改变供暖方式、出行方式，甚至是饮食方式。直到现在，数以百万计的房主才开始醒悟，他们将不得不以相当大的代价更换他们的供暖系统，以达到减少天然气使用的目标。
For the first time, the UK will also include emissions from international aviation, which could cause a rise in air fares. Inevitably there will need to be some form of carbon taxation. Moreover, how will the Treasury recoup £35 billion in revenues currently received from petrol duties as more cars go electric? One idea is to move to road pricing whereby motorists pay per mile driven. But this is a politically difficult idea to sell so the Government has simply shied away from addressing the issue. Sooner or later it will have to.
英国还将首次纳入国际航空排放量，这可能导致机票价格上涨。但为了减少碳排放，某种形式的碳排放税不可避免。此外，随着越来越多的汽车转向电动，财政部将如何弥补目前从汽油税中获得的350亿英镑收入？一种想法是采用道路收费，即司机按行驶里程付费。但这在政治上是个很难被接受的想法，因此政府干脆回避了这个问题。但政府迟早要面对这一问题。
There is a desire in the country for people to play their part in combating climate change even though their sacrifices will be negated for as long as the world’s biggest emitters pump out carbon. The Government needs to be much more straightforward with the country about the impact this will have on their way of life and their pockets.
在英国，人们渴望在应对气候变化中发挥自己的作用，尽管只要世界上最大的排放国排放出二氧化碳，他们的牺牲就会被抵消。政府需要更直截了当地向国民说明这将对他们的生活方式和腰包产生的影响。