Pictured here in 2020 is the drilling site of a shale gas well in St. Marys, Pennsylvania, a key battleground state where the fracking industry has brought jobs.
Keith Slacosic/AP
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Keith Slacosic/AP
Vice President Harris said in an interview with CNN on Thursday that she would not ban fracking if elected president, reversing the position she took during her first presidential campaign.
The Democratic candidate attempted to explain why he changed his position from against fracking to in favor of it.
“What I’ve seen is that we can grow and we can grow our clean energy economy without banning fracking,” she told CNN’s Dana Bash.
When she first ran for president in 2019, Harris said she strongly supported a fracking ban, but later abandoned that position when she campaigned for President Biden’s running mate, instead taking a stance against the fracking ban, despite the Biden administration’s major commitments to tackling climate change. The president also oversaw America’s greatest oil boom. — Or the world — Experienced.
It’s been years since the issue has received this much national attention: Before this week, the last time Google ranked highly for search interest for “fracking” was in October 2020, a month before the last presidential election. As for the Republican candidate, President Donald Trump He tried to convince voters that, unlike him, Harris wants to stop fracking.
This is a particularly important issue for voters in Pennsylvania, a key battleground state. In the state, the hydraulic fracturing industry has driven industrial and economic growth in the western and northern parts of the state.
If you need a refresher, here’s a quick overview of hydraulic fracturing.
What is hydraulic fracturing?
Fracking, short for hydraulic fracturing, is the process of using a high-pressure mixture of water, sand and chemicals to break up rock and extract gas and oil from deep underground.
Hydraulic fracturing has allowed oil and gas companies to tap vast energy reserves once thought untapped.
Why is it controversial?
Proponents tout its benefits: The fracking boom lowered oil and gas prices around the world, reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil production and creating new jobs that boosted the economy. It also helped the U.S. transition from producing coal to producing natural gas for power plants.
But the drilling technology does little to eliminate the country’s dependence on fossil fuels, which contribute to climate change.
Hydraulic fracturing also raises concerns about air and water quality. Drilling and transporting natural gas Methane leakIt is a potent greenhouse gas that warms the planet faster than carbon dioxide.
Years of research have shown that fracking lowers water levels, creates toxic air pollution, and creates noise pollution in nearby communities. Contaminated drinking water And then the earthquake.
Hydraulic fracturing itself can cause small-scale seismic activity, and underground disposal of wastewater used in the process has caused larger, more destructive earthquakes. According to the U.S. Geological Survey.
How much hydraulic fracturing is happening in the United States?
Over the past decade, U.S. oil production from hydraulic fracturing has increased fourfold and shows no signs of slowing overall. Last year, U.S. oil production averaged 12.9 million barrels per day, the highest on record, according to the Energy Information Administration. Nearly two-thirds of its oil production Fracking natural gas extraction also hit a record high (8.4 million barrels per day), and fracking natural gas production is also set to hit a record high of 81.5 billion cubic feet per day in 2023.
a The majority of hydraulic fracturing The phenomenon is occurring in the Permian region, which spans west Texas and eastern New Mexico, and which is home to more active drilling rigs than the other 48 states combined.
