Environmentalists in Pennsylvania are rejecting Kamala Harris’ statement defending her position on fracking, saying her opposition to a ban on the practice is dividing voters in the most important state.
Fracking is just one of the changes Harris was asked about in her primetime interview with CNN, after she jettisoned some left-wing positions during her 2019 presidential campaign.
“My values haven’t changed,” Harris told the network. “We can grow and we can create a thriving clean energy economy without banning fracking.”
“Her values haven’t changed, except her values have changed,” scoffed Karen Feridun, co-founder of the Pennsylvania-based Better Path Coalition
“She was very clear that she was a supporter of the Green New Deal, she banned fracking and then she didn’t. That’s not a good position. And I think it’s a false assumption that Pennsylvania will never vote for someone who is against fracking and is planning to ban it,” she told DailyMail.com on Friday, as environmentalists buzzed about the issue in online forums.
“It’s something that doesn’t align with the strong values that we have to protect the planet. So it seems unfair to say that,” she fumed.
Vice President Kamala Harris said her “values haven’t changed” when asked about her opposition to a fracking ban. The issue has particular resonance in battleground Pennsylvania
Maya van Rossum of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, which has created regional bans on fracking through a regulatory board, said, “It is the responsibility of our government leaders, whether elected or appointed, to take a stand based on facts, science and reality and do what is best for the greater good, right now and in the future.”
“It is immoral and indecent for someone in a position of power to support fracking,” she said.
Political experts who analyzed Harris’ interview noted the importance of Pennsylvania. Harris has been virtually tied with Donald Trump in the polls there since he snatched the Democratic nomination from Joe Biden. Biden himself has not sought a fracking ban, but has invested billions in green technology initiatives.
The state has 19 electoral votes and is the most hotly contested prize of the election. It is one of the “Blue Wall” states that Trump won in 2016 and Joe Biden reclaimed in 2020. The polls are tight, and Trump held a campaign rally in Johnstown on Friday night. Western Pennsylvania is where companies are tapping the Marcellus Shale to extract natural gas through hydraulic fracturing (fracking), a chemical mix that environmentalists say threatens water supplies.
But according to Feridun, the issue surrounding fracking is not clear-cut.
“There’s a disconnect between what, for example, the unions in this state want and what the public wants, and that’s why I think the construction industry has played an outsized role in a lot of things that have to do with energy policy in the state. … I can only imagine that there was some pressure on her to, you know, preserve Biden’s position,” she speculated.
Harris defended Biden’s position on fracking during the 2020 vice presidential debate
Harris said she will not ban fracking, a process that is part of the nation’s energy boom but has been a target for environmentalists who fear its impact on drinking water and other risks.
CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale took issue with Harris’ claim that she had to be “clear” about where she stood in a 2020 debate
There aren’t many recent polls on this topic. But a 2022 Pennsylvania energy survey by Muhlenberg College revealed a narrow fracture.
When asked about extracting natural gas from shale deposits in the state, 19 percent of Pennsylvanians strongly supported it, while another 29 percent strongly supported it — a total of 48 percent.
There were also 19 percent against, with 25 percent ‘strongly’ against, for a slightly lower 44 percent. Eight percent were unsure.
But while support was unchanged from six years earlier, the number of people who were “somewhat” opposed had increased by three points and the number of people who were “strongly” opposed had increased by 9 percentage points.
Harris was also reprimanded by CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale, who made his name debunking Donald Trump’s false claims in 2016.
Harris told CNN’s Dana Bash that “I made that clear on the debate stage in 2020, that I would not ban fracking. As vice president, I did not ban fracking. As president, I will not ban fracking.”
Her interviewer then confronted her about her statement from 2019, during the primaries, when she said there was “no question that I support a ban on fracking” and that she would do so on her first day in office.
“In 2020, I made it very clear where I stand. We’re in 2024 and I haven’t changed that position, and I won’t. I kept my word and I will keep my word,” she said.
“The crux of the matter is that she failed to make it clear during a 2020 debate that she had changed her previous support for a fracking ban,” he said. said.
“Nowhere in her speech does she make it clear that she has abandoned her previous support for a ban on fracking. Instead, she reiterates that Joe Biden, then the leader of the Democratic slate, would not ban fracking himself,” he said on Thursday night’s broadcast.
Among those who complained online was former Pennsylvania House of Representatives candidate Ginny Kerslake.
“Ugh. Listening to @MSNBC and hearing them suggest Harris should crack down on fracking because “it’s a huge job creator in Pennsylvania”. No. No it’s not. But it’s causing huge damage. @KamalaHarris @TimWalz @KamalaHQ,” she wrote.