The Patriot Post® · Kamala Harris's Fracking Lie
Since the debate moderators wouldn’t do their job, it’s up to us, the conservative commentators and analysts, to set the record straight.
Vice President Kamala Harris got away with a lot of whoppers in Tuesday evening’s debate. All of them were deplorable, but the lies and partial truths regarding her position on fracking play a crucial role for voters in the swing state of Pennsylvania. Harris said:
Let’s talk about fracking because we’re here in Pennsylvania. I made that very clear in 2020. I will not ban fracking. I have not banned fracking as vice president of the United States. And, in fact, I was the tiebreaking vote on the Inflation Reduction Act, which opened new leases for fracking. My position is that we have got to invest in diverse sources of energy so we reduce our reliance on foreign oil. We have had the largest increase in domestic oil production in history because of an approach that recognizes that we cannot over-rely on foreign oil.
Let’s break down the falsehoods into smaller chunks. Harris asserts that in 2020, she made it clear she would not ban fracking. But that 2020 claim itself was a flip-flop from the position she put forth at a town hall the previous year. In 2019, she unequivocally stated that she would ban fracking. However, in 2020, once Joe Biden was backed into a corner and had to choose her as the only viable woman of color to be his running mate, Harris made it clear that he would not ban fracking. Here is the relevant clip:
2024 Kamala on if she would ban fracking: “No and I made that clear on the debate stage in 2020.”
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) August 30, 2024
2019 Kamala: “There’s no question that I’m in favor of banning fracking.”
2020 Kamala on the debate stage: “Joe Biden will not ban fracking. That is a fact.” pic.twitter.com/SapEoflUht
The next part of her claim is a half-truth. She was indeed the deciding vote on the Inflation Reduction Act — much to her shame and our impoverishment. However, she really cannot take any credit for opening up new leases for fracking. The only reason fracking was even included was because West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin made it a stipulation for his agreeing to sign on with the Democrats to that misnamed boondoggle.
And as a matter of fact, the Biden/Harris administration has been trying to renege on its agreement regarding that particular write-in by Manchin. According to The Wall Street Journal:
Mr. Manchin’s provision prohibits the government from holding offshore wind sales unless it auctions off a certain amount of offshore area for oil and gas. The Administration had canceled Mr. Trump’s planned offshore oil and gas lease sales. Mr. Manchin’s goal was to force the Administration to open up more public area for drilling. No dice.
The Administration’s new five-year offshore oil and gas plan for 2024 through 2029 includes only three lease sales, which is the fewest in history and the bare minimum needed for Biden officials to achieve their offshore wind targets. Most five-year plans have included 15 to 20 sales. The Trump plan that Biden officials revoked would have held 47.
Three new leases are not much to brag about, especially considering that if Harris had her druthers, the number would be zero.
Lastly, her claim that we have the largest increase in domestic oil production in history is also inaccurate. The increase in oil production had nothing to do with Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, or their policies on fracking. It was simply the natural bounce back from the pandemic-induced slump. It’s also interesting to note her refrain about not being reliant on foreign oil. Well, during the Biden/Harris administration, that’s all we’ve relied on — especially after draining our oil reserves.
At the end of the day, the determination of Harris and Biden to pursue only alternative energy sources such as solar and wind is impractical and a money suck. Fossil fuels and nuclear are still the best sources of sustainable energy (the latter is also the cleanest). With the innovation of fracking, our country should be the world’s largest supplier of oil. Instead, our allies across the pond are forced to rely on Russian and OPEC oil because we refuse to touch this resource all in the name of fighting “climate change.”
Harris’s disingenuous flip-flop has not matched the reality of the administration that she represents. And with her in the driver’s seat, it’s not going to change.
To quote Senator Bernie Sanders: “No, I don’t think [Harris is] abandoning her ideals. I think she’s trying to be pragmatic and doing what she thinks is right in order to win the election.”