In Pennsylvania, Harris can't shake her anti-fracking past
Many of the swing voters here whose livelihoods rise and fall with the fortunes of the fossil energy industry have not forgotten the last time Harris ran for president, when she called for a ban on fracking — extracting natural gas by creating cracks in the earth’s bedrock. It is a position she now disavows. Even the boom in oil and gas production under the Biden-Harris administration is failing to assuage anxieties that the halcyon days of fracking for natural gas here would dim if Harris wins the White House.
Pennsylvania’s standing as one of the world’s largest sources of natural gas is creating mounting tension for Democrats aiming to keep it as a pillar in their electoral “Blue Wall” while also stepping up the energy transition. Harris, a Californian with a deep record of clashing with the oil and gas sector, may face a tougher path than Joe Biden did in 2020. Scranton native Biden, who is perceived as more centrist, won Pennsylvania by just 81,000 votes.
The natural gas industry’s reach in this state is expansive. It has brought shiny office parks, bustling new residential subdivisions and manicured golf courses to areas that had earlier been defined by emptying downtowns and steady layoffs. Some 200,000 landowners in the state are receiving royalties from the natural gas wells on their property, according to the Marcellus Shale Coalition, an industry group. Some of the biggest royalty checks are going to local governments and school districts.
Now, with polls showing Pennsylvania is a toss-up, her campaign says the candidate’s past talk of bans is old news and is being misrepresented by her rival, Trump. In a statement, the Harris campaign did not explain the candidate’s shift in thinking but did say that domestic energy production is far higher under the current administration than it was when Trump was president, and that more energy jobs were created by this White House.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/08/13/kamala-harris-fracking-pennsylvania-climate/
= new reply since forum marked as read
When this new "boom" came in about 15 years ago, most of the high-paying jobs went to people who moved here from Texas and Oklahoma because they were regular oil industry employees. Personally I don't know anyone who has benefitted financially from this "boom" but I guess some in Butler and Beaver counties have benefitted.
The sad thing is that rural landowners sign agreements to allow the oil companies to come on their land and drill with the new fracking technology. That's the only oil left because the old technology oil wells played out long ago. Now the new fracking technology pumps contaminated water into the substructure and forces the oil out of the ground. Net result is that the local water wells and aquifers are ruined for the next 1,000 years.
How are the oil companies planning to replace our drinking water supplies? How are Pennsylvania farmers supposed to water their crops and feed their animals? Some farm families have been forced to give up their land because of the groundwater and well water being ruined by the frackers. Others stay on their farms as long as they can afford to have water delivered in tank trucks, which is expensive.
Long story short - I can't believe that Pennsylvanians will turn off to Kamala because of the anti-fracking position. She actually has a good point and many Pennsylvanians agree with her. If the oil companies don't like her, well they weren't going to vote blue anyway.
