前程百利小编为大家带来托福阅读材料。节能减排是人类为了弥补以及犯下的错误不得不做的事情，但是如何减排呢?弗吉尼亚的“减排”就很聪明。文章的难词已经标示出来，希望大家可以学习到相关知识，并通过不断的阅读练习提高自己的托福阅读能力。
Whether republican state leaders like it or not, the Environmental Protection Agency is going to require(要求) them to cut their states’ greenhouse-gas emissions(温室气体排放). They can choose to do it the easy way or the hard way. One Virginia Republican is proposing(提议) they choose the easy way —and the smart way.
Starting next year, the EPA will demand that every state’s power sector meet specific emissions targets ,with the goal of cutting the electricity industry’s national carbon footprint(碳足迹，指企业机构、活动、产品或个人通过交通运输、食品生产和消费以及各类生产过程等引起的温室气体排放的集合) by 30 percent of 2005 levels by 2030. But states have flexibility about how they comply with(服从) the EPA’s mandate(命令). They can choose traditional, command-and-control regulation(可简称为CAC，指通过立法直接调控某种经济活动) that imposes changes on power plants, promotes renewables or cuts electricity waste. Or they can take a more efficient, market-based approach that would cost less money ,require less hassle(麻烦) and raise revenue(税收) for the state. Del. Ronald A. Villanueva (R-Virginia Beach)has a bill that would do the latter.
The bill would have Virginia join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a nine-state emissions-cutting pact that predated the EPA’s climate regulations. Participating states set an emissions cap(上限) that applies to all of them. Industries that want to emit greenhouse gases have to buy a permit to do so. Permits currently sell at around $5 for a ton of CO2 . The program encourages those who can cheaply cut back on their emissions to do so while allowing others to pay for the privilege of polluting and adjust their industries accordingly. Market forces drive(驱动) change rather than the government making decisions for businesses and consumers. As with any market, the bigger the market for carbon permits is, the more efficiently it operates, making a regional scheme better than a similar state-based program.
In other words, putting an effective price on carbon dioxide across a large number of states is the conservative(保守的，传统的), market-based approach to climate change. Republicans in Virginia and every other state should be jumping to create or join carbon markets.
In some respects, the General Assembly might improve on Mr. Villanueva’s proposal; for example, it could decide how to spend the roughly$200 million a year Virginia’s government would get from carbon permit auctions(拍卖). Mr. Villanueva would devote half to adapting Hampton Roads, a major population center and economic zone, to sea-level rise. The problem is acute there, partially because of melting ice sheets(冰盖) and partially because the land is sinking(下沉). Some of the area will probably have to be given up to the sea,while other parts will need flood-resistant(抗洪) retrofits(加装新设施). The rest of the money would go into energy efficiency improvements, economic development in coal country(以煤炭为主要能源的地区), and renewables(renewable是形容词可再生的，复数renewables特指可再生能源，是名词).
We’d argue that the money should go into the state’s general fund, allowing Hampton Roads flood protection to compete with every other priority in the budget process. But that’s a quibble(吹毛求疵) with what would be a major accomplishment, no matter how the money is spent: taking an EPA mandate and turning it into a market-based policy.
以上就是前程百利小编为大家带来的托福阅读材料，平时的阅读练习是托福考试阅读备考的重要一环。希望大家利用好每份材料，尽可能多地从中获取知识。预祝大家托福考试取得好成绩。
