The Vice President Kamala Harris campaign announced that she does not support a ban on the fracking. However, political strategists and experts in energy say this sudden shift in policy will have little impact with November’s key voters.

Harris stated in 2020 that there was “no doubt” she would ban fracking as president. However, her campaign told The Hill recently that she does not want to outlaw fracking after videos of Harris endorsing the practice resurfaced. This came following the withdrawal of President Joe Biden from the race for 2024. It’s up to the campaign to change Harris’ fracking stance, but that won’t suffice to calm the fears of key voting blocs – particularly rural and blue-collar Pennsylvanians – who fear Harris will wage war against the industry, or escalate Biden’s climate agenda, if she is elected.

She will be caught between a stone and a difficult place in regards to fracking and other issues, such as Gaza. Jon McHenry is a GOP polling expert and vice president of North Star Opinion Research. He told DCNF that she has her past statements and the Biden and Harris administration’s record which is against exports of LNG and fracking. “That’s good for her base, for those who were angry about Joe Biden’s representation of Democrats two weeks ago, but are now excited about Kamala, who wants her to banfracking and who’re happy to have a more liberal, younger candidate running for President.”

McHenry added, “She has to convince independents from states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina, and Arizona who want us to become more energy-independent and to develop more energy in the United States.” “She wants her energy but also bans it.”

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McHenry told the DCNF that Harris’s public perception issue on fracking could be resolved if she disavowed her previous position and explained to voters how her experiences at the White House – such as seeing the impact of the Ukraine War on global energy markets – led her to change.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports that Fracking, a method of extracting gas and oil from underground rock formations has led to a boom in natural gas in the U.S. Between 2000 and 2023, American natural gas consumption increased by about 40%, as the U.S. surpassed other countries in exporting liquefied gas (LNG).

In January, the Biden administration froze approvals for new LNG terminals. Critics say this was done to appease climate-focused citizens and environmental groups with deep pockets ahead of an upcoming election.

“Climate Change and the ban on fracking was CENTRAL to Her 2020 Campaign! She sang a song on the Tonight Show about climate change! Scott Jennings is a CNN pundit and political strategist. He told DCNF that nobody will believe anything but the fact that she’s a climate-cultist. “She is the Greta for the U.S. Government, and this should scare the hell out of any energy worker in Pennsylvania or American who might suffer under her radical views.”

Harris has received endorsements from large, well-funded environmental groups that are opposed to fracking. This is just a few weeks after she announced her candidacy. Two of the most radical environmentalist groups — Sunrise Movement and Climate Defiance – have not yet given their official endorsements.

According to Politico, Aru Shiney Ajay, Sunrise Movement’s Executive Director, told journalists Monday that a Donald Trump presidential term would be much more difficult to change.

Climate Defiance has demanded that Harris meet its demands to prove that she can “herald in an era that is equitable and sustainable.” These demands include stopping oil and natural gas development on federally controlled lands and water and ending leasing of oil and natural gas.

Harris’ flip-flop on fracking could have the most significant political and electoral consequences in Pennsylvania. This is a major natural gas producer, and it will be a pivotal swing state for 2024. The former President Donald Trump won Pennsylvania by a narrow margin in 2016, but lost it again to Biden in the 2020 election. According to McHenry’s, Pennsylvania will be a hotly contested state in 2024. A new poll by Susquehanna shows Harris ahead of Trump by four points, and 7% are unsure about who they will vote for in November.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Pennsylvania will produce more natural gas in 2022 than any other state except Texas. The natural gas industry is directly or indirectly responsible for 123,000 jobs within the state by 2022. This was revealed in a report prepared in August 2023 by FTI Consulting on behalf of the Marcellus Shale Coalition.

Andre Beliveau is the senior manager for energy policy at the Commonwealth Foundation. He told DCNF that “going back on her comments in 2019 about banning the filibuster or abolishing it to pass the Green New Deal” doesn’t change facts. The Biden-Harris Administration halted the expansion LNG exports and exacerbated reliability issues with unreliable, weather-dependent energy resources with the Inflation Reduction Act. They also allowed federal agencies over-regulate each coal and natural-gas power plants across the country, “Harris may backtrack on her comments from 2019, but her record over the past four years is unmistakable.”

Dave McCormick is the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania. He has already run an advertisement that attacks Harris’ energy policies and links him to his Democratic opponent Bob Casey, who is the incumbent Pennsylvania Senator.

Some pundits suggest that Harris can mitigate the risks she faces in Pennsylvania by selecting Democratic Pennsylvania Governor. Josh Shapiro is her running mate. McHenry, a DCNF spokesperson, said that selecting Shapiro would cause Harris problems in other states, and could isolate the voting blocs needed to win, due to Shapiro’s support for Israel and criticism of pro-Palestinian activist, McHenry explained.

McCormick stated in a DCNF statement that “Bob Casey, Kamala Harris, and other candidates have been against Pennsylvania energy at every turn. Their anti-fossil energy agenda would be disastrous to our commonwealth, as well as the 600,000 employees who depend on the energy industry for a living.” “Banning the filibuster and banning fracking to pass a Green New Deal might be popular among those who support it.