The head of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce isn’t pleased with the message that Joe Biden is sending to the state’s energy sector by choosing to cap off his campaign with Lady Gaga, who has publicly opposed fracking.
Lady Gaga is set to take the stage with Joe Biden on Monday in Pittsburgh for the campaign’s final night of festivities before election day. The Grammy and Oscar-winning pop star is a member of the group Artists Against Fracking, which opposes hydraulic fracking as well as natural gas exploration.
Biden has publicly stated that he would ban fracking and phase out fossil fuels if he is elected president.
“Calls to ban this industry are shortsighted and send the wrong message. All facets of Pennsylvanian’s diverse energy portfolio have a role to play in moving our economy forward,” PA Chamber President and CEO Gene Barr said in a statement to Breitbart News.
Barr also said that the natural gas industry has helped create jobs in Pennsylvania, and has resulted in “lower energy costs for Pennsylvania residents.”
President Donald Trump has specifically called out Lady Gaga’s participation in the Biden campaign, saying that it was another sign that Biden would hurt Pennsylvania’s energy sector and consumers.
“Just learned that Sleepy Joe Biden is campaigning in Pennsylvania with Lady Gaga, a proud member of ‘Artists Against Fracking.’ This is more proof that he would ban Fracking and skyrocket your energy prices,” the president tweeted Monday.
The Trump campaign also issued a statement, saying that the presence of Lady Gaga serves as a “sharp stick in the eye for 600,000 Pennsylvanians who work in the fracking industry.”
Lady Gaga responded by mocking Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh, asking in apparent jest, “What is a fracking?”
Here is PA Chamber of Commerce president Gene Barr’s full statement to Breitbart News:
One of Pennsylvania’s greatest competitive advantages is our affordable and accessible energy supply. The natural gas industry has helped drive the Commonwealth’s energy renaissance; resulting in significant direct and indirect jobs, lower energy costs for Pennsylvania residents and tremendous reductions in domestic greenhouse gas emissions. Calls to ban this industry are shortsighted and send the wrong message. All facets of Pennsylvanian’s diverse energy portfolio have a role to play in moving our economy forward.
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