While there were few moments of agreement during Tuesday’s Presidential debate, one thing was clear from both candidates: supporting fracking is key to electability as voters across the country want lower prices and energy security.
Vice President and current Democratic nominee Kamala Harris said:
“I will not ban fracking. I have not banned fracking as Vice President of the United States, and in fact, I was the tie-breaking vote on the Inflation Reduction Act, which opened new leases for fracking. My position is that we have to invest in diverse sources of energy so we reduce our reliance on foreign oil. We have had the largest increase in domestic oil production in history because of an approach that recognizes that we cannot over rely on foreign oil.”
Former President and current Republican nominee Donald Trump has voiced his support for fracking on numerous occasions, saying that he will “unleash American energy.”
It was quite the turn of events from fifteen years ago when EID was first launched and when fracking – often viewed as the other “f” word – was controversial and hotly contested. And it was certainly a stark difference to the 2019-2020 election cycle when nearly every Democratic candidate – including Harris – said that they would ban fracking or significantly limit it.
Source: The Washington Post
Fast forward to today, and candidates from both sides of the aisle, in key battleground states and across the country, understand that fracking is safe, mainstream, and necessary for our modern way of life.
Harris’ morphing positions are a snapshot of the shifting debate of fracking. Her attempt to clean up her anti-energy past follows other candidates hugging closely to energy issues, despite mixed records, in key swing states such as Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, Colorado Senator Michael Bennet, and former Ohio Senate candidate Tim Ryan.
These candidates’ endorsement of fracking – and especially Harris’ pivot from activist talking points – show how important energy issues are to voters who understand increased oil and natural gas development is key to bringing down gas prices and decreasing reliance on foreign oil.
Bottom Line: As much as activists continue to try to throw spaghetti at the wall in hopes of eliminating the development of fossil fuels, Kamala Harris’ shifting position makes clear: unleashing abundant and affordable American energy resources through safe and responsible fracking technology is a winning issue.
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