Good evening, are you angry and upset about gas prices? Is the family SUV destroying the family budget? Well, the government said today you’d better get used to it, that the price of gas is going to continue going up through November. And today a man who made billions in the oil business, T. Boone Pickens, said he’s now going to commit a small fortune to develop an alternative to oil: wind power.
Pickens said America is the Saudia Arabia of wind. Betsy Stark is here tonight with more. Betsy? Charlie, Boone Pickens has indeed made billions in the oil business. But today he called the nation’s dependence on foreign oil the single biggest problem facing America today, and said he’s betting some of his billions that the solution is a resource this country will never run out of - the wind.
The legendary oil man launched a major campaign today, sounding the alarm, saying the 700 billion dollars Americans spend every year buying foreign oil, often from their enemies, is killing the U.S. economy. "We have gotten ourselves into a trap. Who did it to us? We did. We don’t have anybody to blame but ourselves."
Pickens said today his plan starts with harnessing the winds of the Great Plains states as a source of electricity, rather than relying on natural gas to generate electricity. That in turn would free up natural gas to replace gasoline. " It reduces that 700 billion dollar figure to 250-300 billion."
Experts say there’s no question that wind farms are capable of producing massive amounts of power. "We have enough resource to supply the electricity for the country several times over easily." They are less sure about meeting the oil man’s goal of producing enough wind power in the next ten years to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil by a third, largely because the nation lacks the power grid to carry wind-generated electricity.
"The biggest obstacle today is transmission and distribution." Pickens says that’s precisely why Washington needs to show leadership on this issue - leadership some crave not just on wind power but solar, geothermal, wave, alternative energies of all kinds. Charlie? Alright Betsy Stark reporting tonight, thanks.
※ bet : 내기, <돈 등을> 걸다, <사람과> (에 대해) 내기를 걸다, 단언하다, 장담하다 * place/put/lay a bet on: ~ 에 걸다 ex. I placed my bet on red, and won. * a sure bet : 확실한 내기 , 확실한 선택 * Your best bet is ~ : the thing or action that gives the best chance of a successful result is ~ ex. Our best bet would be to take the train. * bet on ~ : ~ 에 내기를 걸다 ex. He bet two dollars on the horse. 그는 그 말에 2 달러를 걸었다. ex. I'll bet (you) that he will come. 그 사람이 올 것을 나는 장담한다.
get used to ~ : ~에 익숙해지다 * be used to~ : ~에 익숙해 있다 commit : 1. to promise or give (your loyalty or money) to a particular principle, person or plan of action 2. 위탁하다, 맡기다 3. <의안 등을> 위원회에 회부하다 ex. I think I can come tonight but I won't commit myself till I know for sure. ex. If you want to be an actor you have to really commit yourself to it (=spend all your time trying to fulfil this aim). ex. Lots of women complain that the problem with men is that they won't commit themselves to a relationship. ex. The boy was committed to the care of his uncle. 그 소년은 아저씨 의 보호를 받도록 맡겨졌다. ex. commit the bill to the committee 의안을 위원회에 회부하다 ex. commit something to memory : to study something carefully so that you can remember it exactly fortune : 1. 부, 큰 재산 [count usually singular] a very large amount of money 2. 운 [uncount] luck, especially good luck * make/amass a fortune: ex. He had made a fortune from mining. * cost a fortune: ex. Apartments in this area cost a fortune. * tell someone's fortune ~ 의 운을 점치다 alternative : [보통 the ~] 둘 중에서의 선택, 양자 택일, 다른 방도, 대안, 양자 택 일의, 대신의 ex. the alternative of death or submission 죽음이냐 항복이냐 둘 중의 하나 ex. There is[I have] no (other) alternative. 달리 방도가 없다. / ex. an alternative plan 대안 / ex. alternative fuels 대체연료 run out of ~ : ~ 을 다 써버리다, ~ 가 동나다, 떨어지다 ex. run out of time[money] 시간이 다 되다[돈이 다 떨어지다] * run short of ~ ~ 이 부족해지다 ex. I am running short of cash. 현금이 바닥 나간다. legendary : 전설적인, 유명한 / If you describe someone or something as legendary, you mean that they are very famous and that many stories are told about them. ex. His political skill is legendary. launch : <배를> 진수시키다.<사업 계획 개혁 등을> 시작하다, ~ 에 착수하다, <신제품을> 발매하다, 공격 등을 시작하다, <미사일 등 을> 발사하다, 쏘아 올리다 ex. launch a canoe 카누를 물에 띄우다 / launch wide social reforms 광 범한 사회 개혁에 착수하다 / launch a torpedo 어뢰를 발사하다 / launch an artificial satellite 인공 위성을 쏘아 올리다 /ex. launch pad : 미사일발 사대 trap : 덫, 올가미, 함정, 덫으로 잡다, 덫을 놓다, 함정에 빠뜨리다 ex. I was trapped. 함정에 빠졌다. harness : 마구 (馬具), 멜빵, <말 등에> 마구를 채우다, < 자연력을> 동력화하다, 이용하다 ex. Although we've harnessed the force of electricity, we still know very little about its effects on us. ex. We aim to do better at harnessing the skills and talents of our workforce. plains : 평원, 대초원 * Great Plains : 대초원 지대 《Rocky 산맥 동부의 미국·캐나 다에 걸친》 * high plains 고원, 대지 (臺地) in turn : 차례로, 번갈아, 이번에는 / 1. one after the other in an order 2. as a result of something that is part of a connected series of events: ex. Her mother taught her, and she in turn taught her own daughter. free up ~ : 1. ~을 해방하다, 풀어주다 2. to make someone or something available to be used for something else ex. free up the traffic jam 교통 정체를 풀다 ex. By scrapping this scheme, the government has freed up vital resources. wind farm : 풍력 기지, 풍력 발전 지역[시설] power grid : 배전망 * grid (가스·수도 등의) 배관망, 도로망, 송전망, 방송망. obstacle : 장애(물), 방해(물), 지장이 되는 것 ex. an obstacle to success 성공의 장애물 crave : 열망 [갈망] 하다 ex. I crave (for/after) water. 물이 마시고 싶어 못견디겠다 solar : 태양의, 태양에 관한, 태양의 작용에 의한 geothermal : 지열(地熱)의, 지구 열학의 [에 관한]