Kamala Harris Hostile to Fracking, But Not Quite Ready to ‘Ban’

U.S. Senate candidate Kamala Harris described a lukewarm position on hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) at Saturday’s United Farm Workers convention in Bakersfield, saying she was very skeptical of the practice.

But Harris didn’t go to the extreme that many in her party have pushed — namely, an all-out ban on fracking, according to the Sacramento Bee. Harris, the state’s sitting Attorney General, said that she’s reserving her judgement on fracking in California until regulations are available.

Harris has received the endorsement of several environmentalist groups, including the Sierra Club, Climate Hawks and League of Conservation Voters. Climate Hawks made support for Harris conditional on her being on offense on climate issues, and issued somewhat of a challenge in asking her to investigate Exxon, according to the left-wing website Daily Kos. As California’s Attorney General, she did launch an investigation, and the organization endorsed her candidacy for the U.S. Senate.

California Democrats strongly approved a proposed ban on fracking at their state convention in March 2014, according to HuffPo Politics. However, Gov. Jerry Brown has professed limited support for highly-regulated fracking.

Fracking has the potential to produce a revenue boom in the state under the right set of government and environmental circumstances. The California Council on Science & Technology released a report in July 2015 that no “science-based” evidence exists that fracking hurts the environment. California’s Monterrey Shale Formation holds potentially the greatest store of shale oil reserve in the country.

Gov. Brown endorsed Harris in her bid for the U.S. Senate on Monday. California holds an open primary election, where two candidates, irrespective of party, will be chosen to face off in November. Those two could be from the same political party.

Fellow Democrat, Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), cancelled an appearance at the weekend event.

In a Harris for Senate Spanish language campaign ad, United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta endorses the Attorney General’s campaign.

Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana