During a portion of an interview aired on Tuesday’s edition of “CNN This Morning,” U.S. Senate candidate and Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D) responded to a question on what caused him to change his 2018 opposition to fracking given that the environmental regulations that he says were critical were put into place before 2018 by saying that he was “very supportive” of fracking in 2017.
Co-host Don Lemon asked, “So, just context here, in 2018, when running for Lieutenant Governor, you said, ‘I don’t support fracking at all and I never have.’ So, to be clear, Lieutenant Governor, do you support fracking now?”
Fetterman responded, “Yeah. No, the — all of the reservations that I had with fracking were all about the environmental concerns, and Pennsylvania passed some of the strongest environmental regulations. And that has now, you know — means that I’ve been very supportive of fracking because energy independence is critical, and that gets more and more important, given — in light of the Ukraine war, to make sure we can’t be at — hostage to a nation like Russia. Again, it was all about the environmental issues, and, again, after the regulations passed, it’s a no-brainer to support fracking and I’ve been a very strong supporter of fracking.”
Lemon then followed up, “So, listen — but, my — correct me if I’m wrong — my research shows that environmental protections — those environmental protections were put in place in 2016. So what has changed since 2018 when you said that you didn’t support it?”
Fetterman answered, “Yeah, no, they were all part of that. And I also want to point out that, in 2017, I was actually very supportive of fracking directly across the street from where I live, as well, too. I’ve never taken any money from the industry. And I believe it’s — I’ve always believed that it’s a very — environmental concerns and it’s also very critical from energy dependence as well and it’s part of supporting fracking and now that we’re doing it in a more — or in a stronger environmental kinds of regulations.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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