Democratic vice-presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) has joined her running mate Joe Biden’s flip-flop on whether, if elected, their administration would ban fracking.
Harris on Sunday said she supported Biden’s pledge that he would not ban fracking, the Washington Free Beacon reported. Harris made the comments on CNN’s “State of the Union,” saying fracking provides “good-paying jobs in places like Pennsylvania.”
Harris went on to say that if elected, Biden’s administration would “put a significant investment in the good-paying union jobs that we can create around clean energy.” She added that the suggestion one can’t have job creation and environmental protection is a “false choice,” the outlet reported.
A year ago, however, Harris fully embraced a ban on fracking during her own failed bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, the Free Beacon previously reported.
“There is no question I’m in favor of banning fracking,” Harris said last year. “We have to acknowledge that the residual impact of fracking is enormous in terms of the impact on the health and safety of communities.”
As The Daily Wire’s Hank Berrien reported, Biden has also previously supported a ban on fracking, even though he now claims President Donald Trump and Republicans are lying that he did so. From Berrien:
On January 24, 2020, speaking to a New Hampshire voter, Biden said he would stop fracking. The woman voter asked, “But like, what about, say, stopping fracking?”
Biden answered, “Yes.”
Woman voter: “And stopping pipeline infrastructure?”
Biden: “Yes.”
On March 15, 2020, a Democratic presidential debate between Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders was hosted by CNN, moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper. During that debate, there was this exchange:
Sanders: What this moment is about Joe, is that the scientists are telling us they underestimated the severity of the crisis. They were wrong. The problem is more severe. So all that I’m saying right here is that we are fighting for the future of this planet, for the wellbeing of our kids and future generations. You cannot continue, as I understand Joe believes, to continue fracking, correct me if I’m wrong. What we need to do right now is bringing the world together, tell the fossil fuel industry that we are going to move aggressively to win solar, sustainable energies-
Tapper: Thank you.
Sanders: … and energy efficiency.
Tapper: Thank you Senator.
Biden: No more, no new fracking.
Also in that debate, Biden stated, “Number one, no more subsidies for fossil fuel industry. No more drilling on federal lands. No more drilling, including offshore. No ability for the oil industry to continue to drill, period, ends, number one.”
In December 2019, Biden said of coal miners, “Anybody who can go down 300 to 3,000 feet in a mine can sure as hell learn to program as well…Give me a break! Anybody who can throw coal into a furnace can learn how to program, for God’s sake!”
At a Democratic presidential debate in late July 2019, CNN’s Dana Bash asked Biden, “Just to clarify, would there be any place for fossil fuels, including coal and fracking, in a Biden administration?”
Biden answered, “No. We would — we would work it out. Make sure it’s eliminated and no more subsidies for either one of those. Either — any fossil fuel.”