Kamala 2019: ‘There’s No Question I’m In Favor Of Banning Fracking’

With the battleground state of Pennsylvania, whose economy is profoundly affected by its capacity for fracking, it is instructive to remember that in 2019, when running for President of the United States, then-Sen. Kamala Harris flatly stated she would ban fracking.

Harris spoke at a CNN Climate Crisis Town Hall on September 4, 2019, hosted by CNN’s Erin Burnett.

Jessie Bluedorn, whom CNN called a “climate activist” and worked with the “Climate Organization 350,” insisted, “The toxic impacts of fracking on the community are immense,” then asked, “From contaminated groundwater to poisonous emissions — will you commit to implementing a federal ban on fracking your first day in office, adding the United States to the list of countries who have banned this devastating practice?”

Harris, who had said earlier in the town hall, “To the United States Congress, here’s my point. If they fail to act, as president of the United States, I am prepared to get rid of the filibuster to pass a Green New Deal,” answered, “There’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking, so yes. And … starting with what we can do on day one around public lands, right? And then there has to be legislation, but yes — and this is something I’ve taken on in California. I have a history of working on this issue. And to your point, we have to just acknowledge that the residual impact of fracking is enormous in terms of the impact on the health and safety of communities — yeah, so thank you.”

“So would you ban offshore drilling?” Burnett interjected.

“Yes, and I’ve again, worked on that,” Harris responded. “You can — you can talk to the folks in Santa Barbara about the work that I’ve done there where it’s a big problem — but it’s a big problem in many areas of our country — and yes, I would. Yes.”

“Pennsylvania’s natural gas sector supports ~123,000 statewide jobs and contributed more than $41 billion in 2022 state economic activity, according to the report conducted by energy economists at FTI Consulting, Inc., a global business advisory firm,” the Marcellus Shale Coalition has noted.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) noted in a recent study that in Pennsylvania, the natural gas and oil industry in 2021 directly and indirectly:

• Supported 423,700 total jobs (93,060 direct and 330,640 indirect) or 5.6 percent of Pennsylvania’s total employment.
• Generated an additional 3.6 jobs elsewhere in Pennsylvania’s economy for each direct job in the state’s natural gas and oil industry.
• Provided $40.3 billion in labor income ($14.3 billion direct and $26.0 billion indirect) to Pennsylvania, 7.5 percent of the state’s total.
• Contributed $75.0 billion to Pennsylvania’s total gross domestic product ($35.9 billion direct and $39.1 billion indirect), 8.9 percent of the state’s total.