Reforming our education system will require sustained effort from all of us—parents and teachers; federal, state, and local governments. The same is true for the second leg of our competitiveness agenda—a bold and sustainable energy policy. 　　教育体制改革需要我们所有人付出不懈努力—父母和老师；联邦政府、州政府以及地方政府。这同样适用于我们建设竞争力的第二步计划—一个大胆和可持续的能源政策。 　　In the past, America has been stirred to action when a new challenge threatened our national security. That was true when German and Japanese armies advanced across Europe and Asia, or when the Soviets launched Sputnik. The energy threat we face today may be less direct, but it is real. Our dependence on foreign oil strains family budgets and saps our economy. Oil money pays for the bombs going off from Baghdad to Beirut, and the bombast of dictators from Caracas to Tehran. Our nation will not be secure unless we take that leverage away, and our planet will not be safe unless we move decisively toward a clean-energy future. 　　过去，当新挑战威胁到国家安全时，美国会被激起采取行动。当德军和日军进攻欧洲和亚洲或前苏联发射“伴侣号”（Sputnik）人造卫星时就是这样。今天我们所面临的能源威胁或许不算直接，但它的确存在。我们对外国石油的依赖给我们的家庭造成了巨大的负担，使美国经济衰竭。石油财源换来了从巴格达到贝鲁特爆炸的炸弹以及从加拉加斯到德黑兰的独裁者们的夸夸其谈。只有排除了这些影响，我们国家才会安全；只有果断地发展未来的清洁能源，我们的星球才会安宁。 　　The dangers are eclipsed only by the opportunities that would come with change. We know the jobs of the twenty-first century will be created in developing alternative energy. The question is whether these jobs will be created in America or abroad. Already, we’ve seen countries like Germany, Spain, and Brazil reap the benefits of economic growth from clean energy. But we are decades behind in confronting this challenge. George Bush has spent most of his Administration denying that we have a problem and making deals with Big Oil behind closed doors. And while John McCain deserves credit for speaking out against the threat of climate change, his rhetoric is undercut by a record of voting time and again against important investments in renewable energy.

　　只有伴随变革而来的机遇才能使各种危险黯然失色。我们知道发展替代能源能为21世纪创造就业机会，问题在于这些工作岗位是在美国本土还是在境外创造。我们看到德国、西班牙和巴西等国已经从清洁能源带动的经济增长中获益，但是在应对这一挑战方面我们落伍了几十年。乔治·布什在其执政的大部分时间内，否认我们存在问题，并与大石油公司进行秘密交易。约翰·麦凯恩公开声明将应对气候变化威胁，这一点值得称赞，但是，他动听的辞令却因其本人一再投票反对对可再生能源进行重大投资的记录而大打折扣 。