Harris Campaign Fails to Explain Fracking Flip-Flop Before CNN Interview

Vice President Kamala Harris has been “very clear” about her flip-flop on banning fracking, the Harris campaign indicated Wednesday.

Harris is set to sit for her first pre-recorded interview on Thursday with CNN, in which she will likely be asked about an anonymous campaign aide who told Politico that Harris no longer supports fracking.

“The vice president has changed her position on fracking in Pennsylvania. Do you know why she’s changed her position?” CNN asked Harris campaign communications director Michael Tyler.

“Listen, I mean, she’s been very clear here,” he replied, failing to answer the question:

She’s proud of the work that she’s done as a part of this administration, making sure that American energy production is at an all-time high. We want to continue that progress into her first term in office here, and, again, I think whether it’s energy policy, economic policy writ large, that you have a fighter in Kamala Harris who is actually keeping these interests of the American people front and center, coming together to bring people together in search of solutions that actually improve people’s quality of life, improve our economy, improve energy production.

Harris will have an opportunity to clarify her fracking position during Thursday’s interview. Republicans, however, have cast doubt on the pre-recorded interview, noting that CNN might edit it to protect Harris. The network has a known bias against former President Donald Trump.

Doing away with fracking would mean terminating jobs and state revenue in Pennsylvania. About 200,000 landowners collect royalties from leasing their properties to natural gas wells, the Marcellus Shale Coalition estimated. Those royalties are taxed and provide local municipalities revenue for public schools, police departments, and conservation projects.

Fracking generated $3.2 billion in state and local tax revenue, the Washington Post reported, with royalty payments soaring above $6 billion. About 121,000 jobs for Pennsylvanian residents are linked to fracking, an FTI Consulting study found in 2022.

Nobody in the Keystone State appears to know what Harris truly believes about fracking or what she would do if she wins in November. She has not directly addressed how she would treat the oil and gas industry should she win despite hosting events to divulge how she might fix the economy under the administration’s leadership.