Kamala Harris’ fracking flip-flop could spell trouble for Pennsylvania Democrat Sen. Bob Casey, who dodged rather than defended the VP on the issue, which is key to Keystone State voters.
At a press conference in Philly earlier this month, The Post asked Casey about Harris’ frenzied position on hydraulic fracking, a practice that supports more than 5% of Pennsylvania’s workforce, per analysis from the American Petroleum Institute.
“I’ll let the vice president speak to it herself,” Casey replied, adding that she’ll have plenty of opportunities to answer for herself on the issue at the plentiful Pennsylvania visits she has upcoming.
“It’s clear to me that she has a position that would ensure that we don’t have fracking bans like some have proposed in Congress. I’ve always opposed, and will continue to oppose,” the senator added.
Last month, Harris’ campaign claimed that she is no longer in favor of banning fracking — a major policy reversal.
Prior to becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, she adamantly opposed it, telling CNN in 2019: “There is no question I’m in favor of banning fracking.”
The fracking issue has become front-and-center in must-win Pennsylvania, where 85% of voters support more domestic oil and gas production.
Casey’s GOP challenger Dave McCormick has been campaigning on Harris’ fracking foibles, running an ad featuring Harris telling a TV interviewer that fossil fuel industry workers should have “an ability to transition,” should the fracking ban she once favored take place.
At the Democratic National Convention last week, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro defended Harris’ change of heart on this hot-button issue in an interview with CBS News.
“Kamala Harris did say that in 2019. And then she showed up in Pennsylvania a whole bunch, she listened to people, and she has made clear that now she wants to continue natural gas extractions. She wants to continue to help Pennsylvania be a leader when it comes to energy production,” he said, referencing the five year old comments from her Democratic primary debate.
“I appreciate the fact that she listened and I appreciate the fact that her position evolved,” Shapiro added.
Shapiro is a popular purple state governor who has become a major Harris booster in his must-win swing state, so giving the veep a pass on her fracking flip-flop may just absolve her of her sins with Pennsylvanians.
But not with Brianna Howard, the mayor of Mount Jewett, Pa. and a member of 4th generation family-owned-and-operated oil and gas company, who told The Post the VP is merely a shill for the green energy agenda.
“Harris’ constant flip-flopping and backtracking on fracking is a reminder that she knows how important our American energy industry is, but because she’s a puppet of the climate alarmists who seek to impose their radical ‘green energy’ agenda on every day Americans, she refuses to acknowledge the necessity of fracking.”
With 70 days to go, the presidential race in Pennsylvania is in a near dead-heat. Emerson College Polling released Friday showed Trump narrowly leading Harris in the state, 49% to 48%.
