Harris pledges not to 'ban fracking' if she becomes POTUS in major policy reversal during CNN interview

SAVANNAH, GEORGIA: Vice President Kamala Harris promised she would "not ban fracking" if elected, flip-flopping from her stance during her first presidential bid.

"As vice president, I did not ban fracking. As president, I will not ban fracking," Harris to;d CNN's Dana Bash in her first major interview since entering the 2024 race following President Joe Biden's exit in July, the New York Post reported.

Democratic vice presidential nominee and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz joined Harris for the sit-down interview on Thursday, August 29, where the Vice President took a major u-turn on her stance on fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, which is a gas and oil extraction technique.

Kamala Harris claims she made her position on fracking 'clear'

Before pledging not to ban fracking as Dana Bash pressed on the issue, Kamala Harris asserted that she made her standpoint on fracking "clear on the debate stage in 2020," which she noted was "that I would not ban fracking."

During a 2019 CNN town hall when she was running for the Democratic presidential primary, she said to a climate activist that there was "no question I'm in favor of banning fracking."

The Democratic nominee's stance on the oil extraction technique is significant for her victory in the battleground Pennsylvania, an oil-rich state. The 19 electoral votes could be decisive in the final outcome of the November election.

"In 2020, I made very clear where I stand," Harris said during the CNN interview. "We are in 2024 and I'm not changing that position nor will I going forward. I kept my word and I will keep my word."

Bash questioned what made Harris change her mind on fracking, to which she responded, "My values have not changed."

Substantiating her stance, Harris asserted her belief that the government was capable of guarding against the climate crisis by permitting fracking and cited the creation of more than 300,000 clean energy jobs.

"I cast the tie-breaking vote that actually increased releases for fracking as vice president," she added.

As Bash pressed once again on what made her flip flop, Harris repeated that she believed fracking could exist alongside a "clean energy economy."

What is fracking?

Fracking is the technique used to recover gas and oil from a rock layer by drilling deep into the earth and infusing water, sand, and chemicals at high pressure.

According to the Center for Biological Diversity, an Arizona-based non-profit organization, "fracking breaks up rock formations to allow oil and gas extraction. It also pollutes our air, water, and climate and endangers wildlife and human health."

This technique is used in over 30 states in the United States, particularly in North Dakota, Texas, and Pennsylvania. Furthermore, it boomed into states like California, New Mexico, and Nevada.

Apart from the massive usage of water, fracking involves the use of toxic chemicals like methanol, benzene, naphthalene, and trimethylbenzene, and 25% of these chemicals could be cancerous.

Water pollution from methane contamination and air pollution from the release of petroleum hydrocarbons are major drawbacks of the technique. In addition, the large amount of methane released could increase the greenhouse gas effect. The technique could also induce minor earthquakes.

Kamala Harris blasted online for vowing to 'not ban fracking'

Netizens lashed out at Kamala Harris for promising to "not ban fracking", flip-flopping from her 2019 remarks. Many accused her of not giving a concise answer as she reiterated her values remained unchanged.

"She literally has no idea what she is saying.. She’s just as bad as Biden," one social media user said.

"Her big, ingenious new talking point for all queries about her political flip-flops is 'my values have not changed.' She was apparently determined to deploy it repeatedly in this interview whether it made sense or not," another remarked.

"'My values have not changed' is her clever code to her supporters that she is only saying abhorrent things to get elected. Abhorrent things like pitting up a wall, supporting fracking, etc. It gives people with no values moral cover to go along for the ride," one person remarked.

"So she's telling a different story than her campaign is. Where the campaign doesn't know her positions. Or she doesn't know her positions from the campaign. What a disorganized mess," another added.

"Terrible, even when she's caught having said something else, she just ignores it and doubles down on what currently helps her. I think I hate this the most, trying to side to which ever angle gets you the vote/like," someone else said.

"To be charitable, Kamala is basically saying is that once fracking was shown to be safe and extremely valuable to our country, she reluctantly ended her opposition to it. Is this the leadership America wants? Oppose great ideas and innovations and then grudgingly accept them?" one individual wrote.

"She’s not giving direct concise answers. She’s using filler words so she can think of an answer and it’s hard to follow along with what she’s saying," another remarked.

"The dog whistle 'my values have not changed' followed by explaining why her policies have changed is such a painful lawyer/politician trick. She’s trying to signal to her most lefty friends she just needs to get over the finish line," one comment read.

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