During Tuesday’s presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, the subject of fracking as a means of drilling for fossil fuel was a heated point of discussion, with Harris’ stances on the issue under scrutiny.
While Trump has repeatedly called for any and all tactics to increase drilling and production capacity in the United States, Harris’ viewpoint on fracking specifically has been called into question, with those concerns stemming back to her run for president in the 2020 campaign.
Here is an explainer of the situation.
What is fracking?
The practice of fracking, otherwise known as “hydraulic fracturing,” involves breaking apart formations of shale rock with the use of pressurized liquid, which includes water and other chemicals.
Those cracks allow fossil fuels like natural gas and petroleum to flow more freely, according to the BBC.
Has Harris’ stance on fracking changed?
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During the presidential campaign leading into the 2020 primaries, Harris said on multiple occasions that she would be in support of banning the practice to help address issues related to climate change.
“There’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking, and starting with what we can do on day one around public lands,” she told CNN in a climate change town hall in 2019.
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Her stance has changed on the issue during the ensuing five years. During an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, she discussed reasons behind shifts in her policy stances, and on the subject of fracking emphasized that she voted to expand fracking leases while serving as vice president.
Trump blasted Harris on her reversal on the topic.
“She gave up at least 12 and probably 14 or 15 different policies,” he said.
Why is fracking so controversial?
According to the BBC and other publications, fracking can cause tremors in the Earth’s surface, and the practice also uses massive quantities of water, which must be transported to the site that it is being used.
According to researchers at Yale, the process also creates a massive amount of wastewater, and also emits greenhouse gases like methane into the atmosphere, with the release of chemicals being associated with health risks.
Those in favor of fracking say that the U.S. must use the practice to increase its production of oil and other fossil fuels to lessen its reliance on other countries, and groups like the American Petroleum Institute point to thousands of jobs connected either directly or indirectly to the energy sector that are dependent on practices like fracking.
