Vice President Kamala Harris said during Tuesday’s presidential debate that she won’t ban fracking, but what is fracking and when did the Vice President say she would ban fracking?
Harris called for a ban on fracking in 2019 while campaigning for the Democratic nomination for the 2020 presidential primary.
But in her first interview after announcing her presidential run in August, Harris said she had no plans to ban fracking.
During Tuesday night’s presidential debate with former President Donald Trump in Philadelphia, she reiterated that she will not ban fracking.
“I made it clear in 2020 that I would not ban fracking,” Harris said after being asked by co-host Lindsay Davis where she stood on the issue.
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What is hydraulic fracturing?
According to National Geographic, hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, is a method used to extract natural gas and oil from deep beneath the Earth’s surface.
Chemicals, water and sand are injected at high pressure to open up cracks beneath the earth’s surface and extract the natural gas and oil the world depends on.
According to National Geographic, fracking is occurring across the US in states including New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia, and it will likely be a topic of discussion in the 2024 presidential debates.
What did Harris say about hydraulic fracturing?
Harris said that while she had changed her position on the fracking ban, “my values have not changed” and that the country needed to invest in diversified energy sources to “reduce our dependence on foreign oil.”
“As vice president of the United States, I did not ban fracking,” Harris said. “In fact, I voted by a tiebreaking majority on the Anti-Inflation Act, which opened up new fracking licenses.”
She added that this approach has reduced the country’s dependency on foreign oil.
But Trump insisted that despite her comments, she still maintained the same position and would ban the practice.
“She’s been against it for 12 years,” the former president said when it was his turn to respond.
“She wants to confiscate guns and she will never allow fracking in Pennsylvania. If she wins the election, fracking in Pennsylvania will end on Election Day.”
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