Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2019 pledge to ban fracking and her subsequent allegedly failed actions remind working-class Pennsylvanians of why highbrow politicians are generally distrusted and disliked.
“The road to power is paved with hypocrisy,” as Frank Underwood, a character in the Netflix series House of Cards, put it best.
Harris’ sudden change of course on fracking policy was enough to sow skepticism, distrust and cynicism about her candidacy among working-class voters, but the change of course seemed even more sinister. Harris sent an anonymous campaign aide to Politico — This is a tactic to protect her from attacks by the far left and distance her from any public statements.
No one in the Keystone State seems to know what Harris really thinks about fracking or what she would do if elected in November. Though she held an event on Friday where she laid out how she would turn the economy around under her administration’s leadership, she didn’t directly address how she would handle the oil and gas industry if elected.
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“She really needs to explain what her perspective, her plans and her direction are,” said Jeff Novers, executive director of the Western Pennsylvania Construction Association. said “My question to her is, what has changed that would make you say you don’t support a ban on fracking? Fracking hasn’t changed,” Bloomberg said Wednesday.
“There’s already uncertainty about what she believes and what she will do,” said Novers, who is also executive director of Pittsburgh Works Together. The Washington Post“And if she doesn’t support a ban on fracking, what is her energy policy plan?”
Despite her change of policy, many believe Harris will attack the oil and gas industry if she wins the presidential election. “Energy is a big issue here,” asphalt worker Mickey Molinaro told Bloomberg. “Harris supports things like the Green New Deal. She’s committed to being anti-fossil fuel.”
Emmanuel Paris, 31, whose family owns a construction company that employs 400 people, said Harris’s change of policy on fracking led him to vote for Trump. “You can’t just shut down everything else and switch to solar and wind,” Mr. Paris said. post.
Paris is just one of many Keystone State voters who see Harris as allied with Green New Deal advocates and are put off by a legislative package that seeks to exploit global warming to restructure the U.S. economy into a socialist utopia.
Ending fracking would mean lost jobs and revenue for the state. About 2,000 landowners lease The Marcellus Shale Coalition estimates royalties on its land for natural gas wells. The royalties are taxes that provide revenue to local governments for public schools, police departments and environmental protection projects.
Fracking generates $3.2 billion in state and local tax revenues post Royalty payments have reportedly soared to more than $6 billion.A 2022 study by FTI Consulting found that roughly 121,000 jobs for Pennsylvania residents are linked to hydraulic fracturing.
Pennsylvania is a key state in Democrats’ blue wall strategy to stop former President Donald Trump from mounting the biggest comeback in American political history, with most polls showing Ms Harris with a slight lead over the former president, but within the margin of error.
Many political experts Predict Whoever wins the Keystone State will win the presidential election, and as with most elections, it will likely be decided by voter turnout in November.
“Pennsylvania, remember what I said? She’s against fracking. She’s on tape,” Trump said at a Minnesota rally in July. “The great thing about technology today is you can say something and if it’s bad, you’re in trouble.”
