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Fracking is a key issue in the presidential race and is especially important for Pennsylvania.
Subject: Fracking is crucial for the U.S., particularly in the key swing state of Pennsylvania.
Hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as “fracking,” has become a contentious issue in the 2024 presidential race between former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, as both candidates vie for support in energy-producing states like Pennsylvania.
The issue of fracking was highlighted during the sole presidential debate between the Republican and Democratic nominees, held in Pennsylvania—a key battleground state with strong support for the practice and 19 electoral votes at stake.
Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” has emerged as a divisive topic in the 2024 presidential race between former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris as they compete for votes in energy-producing states like Pennsylvania.
During her 2019 presidential campaign, Harris, then a senator, stated that she was in favor of banning fracking. However, as the 2024 Democratic nominee, she has since changed her position, now opposing a ban on fracking. This shift was addressed by debate moderators in September.
“Fracking? She’s been against it for 12 years,” Trump remarked about Harris during the debate.
The topic of fracking was raised during the only presidential debate between the Republican and Democratic nominees, held in Pennsylvania, a crucial battleground state with strong support for the practice and 19 electoral votes at stake.
“This is a radical left liberal that would do this,” the former president stated. “She will never allow fracking in Pennsylvania. If she won the election, fracking in Pennsylvania will end on day one.”
Since becoming her party’s nominee, Harris has faced ongoing pressure to clarify her stance on energy production, which intensified this month. Last week, her campaign’s top climate adviser stated that the vice president would not “promote” new fossil fuel drilling, a remark that raised concerns and was later retracted as Harris sought to ease worries about her earlier positions on fracking.
A 2021 Department of Energy report indicated that in 2019, 75% of domestic natural gas and 63% of domestic crude oil production in the U.S. relied on a combination of horizontal drilling and fracking technologies.
Additionally, a study commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute (API) and conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers last year found that the oil and natural gas industry supported 10.8 million jobs in the U.S. in 2021, accounting for 5.4% of total U.S. employment.
A New York Times/Siena poll conducted in September revealed that nearly two-thirds of voters nationwide support increasing domestic production of oil and natural gas. Additionally, a Morning Consult survey of voters in seven battleground states—Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin—found that over 80% of voters in each state favor boosting American oil and natural gas production.
Meyer believes that fracking has become a central topic in the election conversation because it serves as a proxy for the broader energy renaissance that the U.S. has experienced over the past 15 years.
So how critical is fracking to the U.S. and Pennsylvania?
Meyer explains that when candidates from both parties express support for fracking, they are not only endorsing the technology itself but also the numerous benefits it brings. “The job creation, the lower costs, the decrease in imports—these advantages are all tied to U.S. energy development, much of which has stemmed from hydraulic fracturing,” he said.
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