主题：
DeAndrea Salvador: How we can make energy more affordable for low-income families
DeAndrea Salvador：我们如何才能让低收入家庭负担得起能源消费
内容简介：
Every month, millions of Americans face an impossible choice: pay for energy to power their homes, or pay for basic needs like food and medicine. TED Fellow DeAndrea Salvador is working to reduce energy costs so that no one has to make this kind of decision. In this quick talk, she shares her plan to help low-income families reduce their bills while also building a cleaner, more sustainable and more affordable energy future for us all.
每月，很多美国人面临着很严峻的选择：是把钱花在电费上，还是把钱花在吃的和药品这些基本需求上。TED成员DeAndrea Salvador致力于降低能源成本，这样的话就不会再有人去做这类选择了。在这场短小的讲演中，她给我们分享她的计划，这份计划可以帮助低收入家庭在用更清洁、更持久（可持续的）、更负担得起的同时减少开销。
讲者简介:
DeAndrea Salvador · Environmental justice advocate （环保主义者）
DeAndrea Salvador reshapes the way we use and engage with energy. DeAndrea Salvador 给我们指出新的能源使用方法和关系。
-----以下演讲英文稿-----
So, as a child, I used to spend all of my time at my great-grandmother's house. On hot, humid, summer days, I would dash across the floor and stick my face in front of her only air conditioner. But I didn't realize that that simple experience, though brief, was a privileged one in our community. Growing up, stories of next-door neighbors having to set up fake energy accounts or having to steal energy seemed normal to me. During the winter, struggling to get warm, my neighbors would have no choice but to bypass the meter after their heat was shut off, just to keep their family comfortable for one more day. These kinds of dangerous incidents can take root when people are faced with impossible choices.
当我小的时候，我一直住在我曾祖母的家里。在夏天又热、又湿，我真恨不得把穿过她家的地板，把脸贴到唯一的空调机前。但是不明白，这样的体验，虽然短暂，但是竟然是我们社区唯一的特殊待遇。随着长大，渐渐地，像隔壁邻居不得不设立虚假的电力账号，或者不得不偷电，这些事儿我都见怪不怪了。在冬季，我的邻居在暖气被停供之后，想方设法能弄点暖气，他们毫无选择，只能绕过电表，哪怕只为家人舒服多那么一天。这样危险的一桩桩、一件件，根源在于人们别无选择。
In the US, the average American spends three percent of their income on energy. In contrast, low-income and rural populations can spend 20, even 30 percent of their income on energy. In 2015, this caused over 25 million people to skip meals to provide power to their homes. This is when energy becomes a burden. But energy burdens are so much more than just a number. They present impossible and perilous choices: Do you take your child to get her flu medicine, or do you feed her? Or do you keep her warm? It's an impossible choice, and nearly every month, seven million people choose between medicine and energy.
在美国，平均每人把3%的收入花在能源上。然而，低收入人群和生活在农村的人们需要把20%甚至30%的收入花在能源上。在2015年，这个原因造成超过250万人为了家里能获得能源而不吃饭。如此一来，能源就成为了负担。但是能源负远不是一个数字可以说明白的。它们说明了无奈和冒险的选择：你是给孩吃感冒药？还是给他们食物的？或者给它们温暖？这根本没法选，而且每月有700万人在药品和能源中举棋不定。
This exposes a much larger and systemic issue. Families with high energy burdens are disproportionately people of color, who spend more per square foot than their white counterparts. But it's also nurses, veterans and even schoolteachers who fall into the mass of 37 million people a year who are unable to afford energy for their most basic needs. As a result, those with high energy burdens have a greater likelihood of conditions like heart disease and asthma.
这暴露了很多严重的系统性的问题。能源开销负担重的家庭大多是有色人种家庭，它们每平方英尺的能源消耗相对比白人家庭花费大。但是这里每年还有护士、退役军人甚至是学校里的老师都陷入到这370万大军里，它们没有能力负担能满足基本需求的能源。结果是那些能源负担高的人有很高的几率患上心脏疾病和哮喘。
Look -- given our rockets to Mars and our pocket-sized AI, we have the tools to address these systemic inequities. The technology is here. Cost of renewables, insulation, micro-grids and smart home technology are all decreasing. However, even as we approach cost parity, the majority of those who own solar earn much more than the average American.
看，我们的火箭去了火星，我们有袖珍的AI设备，我们有针对这些系统性不公平行为的工具。技术就在这里。可再生、保温、微电网和智能家居技术的成本都在降低。然而，即使我们接近平价，那些太阳能的拥有者仍然赚的比美国平均水平高得多。
This is why, when I was 22, I founded the nonprofit RETI. Our mission is to alleviate energy burdens by working with communities, utilities and government agencies alike to provide equitable access to clean energy, energy efficiency and energy technology.
这就是为什么在我22岁的时候，找到了非盈利机构RETI。我们的使命是减轻能源负担，社区、公共事业公司和政府一起为清洁器能源、高效能源和能源科技提供公平的入口。
But there's no one way to solve this. I believe in the power of local communities, in the transforming effect of relationships. So we start by working directly with the communities that have the highest energy burdens. We host workshops and events for communities to learn about energy poverty, and how making even small updates to their homes like better insulation for windows and water heaters can go a long way to maximize efficiency. We're connecting neighborhoods to community solar and spearheading community-led smart home research and installation programs to help families bring down their energy bills. We're even working directly with elected officials, advocating for more equitable pricing, because to see this vision of energy equity and resilience succeed, we have to work together sustainably.
但是没有单独一个途径可以解决。我相信本地社区的能力，我相信它们间的转变效率。所以我们开始着手直接和高能源负担的社区合作。我们在社区中主持了若干个工作组和项目，来了解因为能源负担不起的生活疾苦，以及如何做一些哪怕小的改进，就比如提高的房子的保温效果，又比如提高水暖系统的最高效率。我们正在把社区太阳能接入每一户家庭，并率先进行社区主导的智能家居探索，还有安装了能降低能源开支的程序。我们甚至直接和当选的官员一起，倡议更公平的价格，因为要实现实现能源公平的愿景并最终获得成功，我们必须一起持续努力。
Now, the US spends over three billion a year on energy bill payment assistance. And these programs do help millions of people, but they're only able to help a fraction of those in need. In fact, there is a 47-billion-dollar home-energy affordability gap, so assistance alone is not sustainable. But by building energy equity and resilience into our communities, we can assure fair and impartial access to energy that is clean, reliable and affordable. At scale, micro-grid technology, clean technology and energy efficiency dramatically improve public health. And for those with high energy burdens, it can help them reclaim 20 percent of their income -- 20 percent of a person's income who's struggling to make ends meet. This is life-changing. This is an opportunity for families to use their energy savings to sponsor their future.
现在，美国每年在能源补贴上花超过30亿美元。那么这些项目的确能帮到数百万人，但是那只能帮到的很小部分。实际上，有470亿美元的家庭用电负担的缺口，所以只是补贴是不可持续的。但通过在社区里重新建立起对于能源公平感，我们可以确保公平公正的能源补贴途径，这样清晰、可信也负担得起。总体来看，微电网、清洁能源和能源效率戏剧性的有助于公众健康的提升。还有，对于高能源负担的人们来说，它有助于改变占20%收入的这种情况--20%对于一个人的收入来说占很大一块。这是生活质量的提升。对于千家万户来说能源节省是一个绝佳的机会让她们可以对未来充满希望。
I think back to my great-grandmother and her neighbors, the impossible choices that they had to make and the effect it had on our whole community. But this is not just about them. There are millions nationwide having to make the same impossible choices today. And I know high energy burdens are a tremendous barrier to overcome, but through relationships with communities and technology, we have the paths to overcome them. And when we do, we will all be more resilient.
我想话题可以回到我的曾祖母和她的邻居们，那些无法选择的选择和整个社区的现状。但不仅仅是他们，在全国，就现在，仍有有数千万人在做着无法选择的选择。而且我知道高能源负担把收入大量地埋没了，但是通过社区和技术的结合，我们已经有了改善的很多方法。而且只要我们做下去，我们就可以更有回报。
Thank you.谢谢
(Applause)（掌声）
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