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伊朗战争对石油的冲击正严重打击关键参议院选情The Iran War’s Impact on Oil Is Hitting Key Senate Races Hard

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伊朗战争目前已进入第九个月,这对美国人的钱包造成了沉重打击,并可能扭曲决定谁将控制国会关键中期选举的权力平衡。

Now in its ninth month, the war in Iran has hit American pockets hard, and it could shift the balance in key midterm races that decide who controls Congress.

中东炼油厂和其他设施遭受的严重破坏,加上霍尔木兹海峡能否保持开放的不确定性持续存在,使油价居高不下。美国为此付出了代价:美国进步中心估计,这场战争使每个美国家庭损失了至少1200美元。

The serious damage to refineries and other facilities in the Middle East, combined with ongoing uncertainty about whether the Strait of Hormuz will remain open, have kept oil prices inflated. Americans have paid for it: The Center for American Progress estimates that the war has cost each US household at least $1,200.

生活成本的上升是这场战争极不受欢迎的原因之一,周二的中期选举很可能成为对白宫如何处理这一影响的全民公投。民主党人正试图利用这一点来谋取优势,在柴油、取暖油和化肥高昂价格尤为选民关切的地区赢得竞选。以下是这在全国关键州的发展形势。

Rising costs are among the reasons the war has been deeply unpopular, and Tuesday’s midterms are likely to be a referendum on how the White House has handled the impact. Democrats are trying to use that to their advantage to win races in places where the high price of diesel, home heating oil, and fertilizer are particularly top-of-mind for voters. Here’s how it’s playing out in key states across the country.

得克萨斯州的柴油之争 高昂的柴油价格正在影响每个州的选民,但这在得克萨斯州是一个尤为尖锐的问题,得州州长格雷格·阿伯特上个月曾因柴油价格发布了紧急状态。根据美国汽车协会的数据,该州过去的柴油价格在全国一直处于最低水平之列,但如今价格较去年飙升了80%以上。这大约比全国平均水平高出10%。

A Fight Over Diesel in Texas High diesel prices are affecting voters in every state, but it’s a particularly acute problem in Texas, where Governor Greg Abbott issued a state of emergency over diesel prices last month. The state, which traditionally had some of the lowest diesel prices in the country, has seen prices surge more than 80 percent compared to last year. That’s roughly 10 percent above the national average, according to AAA data.

阿博特正面临一场艰难的连任竞选,其对手吉娜·伊诺霍萨已把这场战争当作攻击阿博特的切入点。她一直施压阿博特暂停州政府对柴油征收的燃油税。得克萨斯州民主党在紧急状态声明发布后发表声明,呼吁阿博特“要求唐纳德·特朗普取消其荒谬的关税,并停止这场不必要的战争,这些正在推高得克萨斯人的成本”。

Abbott is facing a tough reelection campaign, and his opponent, Gina Hinojosa, has used the war as an attack line against Abbott. She has pressured Abbott to suspend a state gas tax on diesel. The Texas Democratic Party issued a statement following the state of the emergency declaration calling on Abbott to “demand that Donald Trump lift his absurd tariffs and halt the unnecessary war that are driving up costs for Texans.”

燃油价格也成为民主党人詹姆斯·塔拉里科与得州总检察长肯·帕克斯顿之间激烈的参议院选战中的因素。塔拉里科还呼吁帕克斯顿支持暂停联邦燃油税——此举得到包括特朗普在内的一些共和党高层人士的支持——并指责帕克斯顿“选择支持这场推高柴油价格的战争”。缅因州取暖成本高昂。在美国490万使用燃油取暖的家庭中,超过80%位于东北部。这在缅因州是一种特别受欢迎的取暖方式,该州超过一半的家庭依赖这种方式。

Fuel prices have also factored into the heated Senate race between Democrat James Talarico and Texas attorney general Ken Paxton. Talarico has also called on Paxton to support suspending the federal gas tax—a move that is supported by some high-ranking Republicans, including Trump—and accused him of “choosing to support the war driving up diesel prices.”High Heating Costs in Maine More than 80 percent of the 4.9 million households in the US that heat their homes with oil are located in the Northeast. It’s a particularly popular form of heating in Maine, where more than half of households in the state rely on it.

随着冬季临近,且价格如今几乎是去年的两倍,取暖油在现任共和党人苏珊·柯林斯与民主党挑战者特洛伊·杰克逊之间激烈的参议院选战中发挥了重要作用。

With winter approaching and prices now nearly double what they were last year, heating oil has played a big role in the contentious Senate race between incumbent Republican Susan Collins and Democratic challenger Troy Jackson.

州民主党人抓住柯林斯早期对这场战争的支持来攻击她。(近几个月来她已公开反对这场冲突。)白宫释放了一批取暖油储备,以暂时压低这种燃料的价格,这表明这场选战胶着得令人不安。

State Democrats have seized on Collins’ early support of the war to attack her. (She has come out against the conflict in recent months.) In a sign that the race is uncomfortably close, the White House released a tranche of heating oil reserves in a bid to temporarily draw down the price of the fuel.

“家庭现在加满一箱油的花费比一年前多得多,”全国能源援助主任协会执行主任马克·沃尔夫说。该协会预测,东北部家庭今年冬季可能在取暖油上多支出38亿美元。

“Families are spending a lot more to fill up a tank than they did a year ago,” says Mark Wolfe, the executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, which predicted that households in the Northeast could spend an additional $3.8 billion on heating oil this winter.

与柴油价格飙升不同——后者可能通过多种产品价格上涨传导至消费者——取暖油本身就是一种消费品:家庭直接支付费用让取暖油送到家中。沃尔夫表示,对选民钱包的影响“非常直接”。

Unlike price spikes on diesel fuel, which may filter to consumers through higher prices on a number of different products, heating oil itself is a consumer good: Families pay directly for the oil to be delivered to their homes. The impact to voters’ pocketbooks, Wolfe says, is “very immediate.”

化肥价格震动中西部 高昂的柴油价格损害了农民利益,化肥成本上涨同样如此。

Fertilizer Prices Shake the Midwest High diesel prices have hurt farmers, but so, too, has the cost of fertilizer.

氮基化肥(如氨和尿素)由天然气副产品制造,世界上一些最大的生产商位于中东。虽然部分生产已恢复,但仍远低于战前平均水平。尿素价格今年早些时候飙升。

Nitrogen-based fertilizers, like ammonia and urea, are made from natural gas by-products, and some of the world’s biggest producers are based in the Middle East. While some production has restarted, it remains well below its prewar average. Urea prices spiked earlier this year.

金融服务公司StoneX化肥部副总裁乔什·林维尔表示:“如果你要种植小麦和玉米等作物,就必须施用氮肥。”

“If you're going to plant crops like wheat and corn, you have to apply nitrogen,” says Josh Linville, the vice president of fertilizer at financial services company StoneX.

硫磺同样由石油和天然气副产品制造,是其他类型化肥的关键成分。得益于海湾地区的供应链问题,硫磺价格较今年初已翻倍多。林维尔说,使用硫基化肥的农民不得不在作物管理方面做出艰难抉择。

Sulfur, which is also made from oil and gas by-products, is a crucial ingredient in other types of fertilizer. Sulfur prices have more than doubled since the start of this year, thanks to supply chain issues in the Gulf. Farmers who use sulfur-based fertilizers, Linville says, have had to make tough choices about how to manage their crops.

这些压力使化肥问题成为俄亥俄州、爱荷华州、伊利诺伊州等胶着州竞选的焦点。支持民主党的超级政治行动委员会“投票给退伍军人”本月早些时候在爱荷华州播放了一则针对共和党参议员提名人阿什利·欣森的攻击广告,重点抨击她支持袭击伊朗的投票记录。

These stresses have put fertilizer front and center in tight races in states like Ohio, Iowa, and Illinois. VoteVets, a PAC that supports Democrats, aired an attack ad against Republican Senate nominee Ashley Hinson in Iowa earlier this month that highlights her record of voting in favor of attacks on Iran.

广告称:“创纪录的汽油价格。创纪录的化肥成本。农场倒闭。而阿什利·欣森在华盛顿为所有这些投了赞成票。”在俄亥俄州,民主党人谢罗德·布朗的竞选团队近几周播放广告,将高昂的柴油和化肥成本归咎于其对手、现任参议员约翰·休斯特,同样通过提及他支持战争的投票记录。

“Record gas prices. Record fertilizer costs. Farms going under,” the ad intones. “And Ashley Henson’s voting for all of it in Washington.”In Ohio, Democrat Sherrod Brown’s campaign has aired an ad in recent weeks pinning high diesel and fertilizer costs on his opponent, incumbent senator John Husted, again by bringing up his track record of voting for the war.

这是否足以拉走足够多的农场选民——共和党的核心票仓——从而把选情推向布朗,还有待观察。但农民承受的代价正在不断累积,而随着伊朗局势的不确定性笼罩,短期内几乎看不到缓解的希望。“那个农民坐在那里说,‘我必须种地,但问题不是我能不能赚钱,’”林维尔说。“而是‘明年我怎么才能亏得最少?’”

Whether that can peel off enough farm voters—a core Republican constituency—to swing the race to Brown remains to be seen. But the costs on farmers are mounting, and there’s little relief in sight with uncertainty looming over Iran. “That farmer’s sitting there saying, ‘I have to farm, but it’s not a matter of can I make money,’” Linville says. “It’s ‘how do I lose the least amount of money next year?’”

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