High petroleum prices might hit your wallet hard, but $100-a-barrel oil has some environmentalists quietly celebrating. The more expensive oil gets, the more attractive alternative — and climate-friendly — fuels become. Biofuels that would be buried by $17-a-barrel crude — the price as recently as November 2001 — are suddenly competitive when oil is in the triple digits. Ultra-efficient cars, public transit, plug-in hybrids — they all become better investments as oil gets and stays expensive. Global greenhouse gas emissions have skyrocketed over the past few decades on the back of relatively cheap oil, but as the price rises, it pays to decarbonize, and the climate will benefit. 

　　高油价也许会让你的钱包瘪下去。但是，百元一桶的油价却使得一些环保主义者欢欣鼓舞。油价越高，那种对气候友好的替代性燃料就越受欢迎。像2001年11月，原油价格处于17美元一桶的情况下，生物燃料行将灭绝。而在油价涨到三位数时，生物燃料突然变得有竞争力了。当油价高位运行时，高效节能车、公共交通和可充电的混合动力车都成了更好的投资渠道。在相对低廉的油价的支撑下，全球温室气体排放在过去的几十年里直线上升。但是，油价上涨就有利于减少二氧化碳气体的排放，将有助气候的改善。