Harris courts swing voters with fracking reversal

Vice President Harris has reversed her position on fracking, signaling a move to the center on the issue. The rightward shift comes as she tries to court swing voters in states like Pennsylvania.

Harris was met with a wave of left-wing enthusiasm when she became the party’s presumptive nominee after President Biden left the race. Her shifted stance on fracking could dampen excitement among progressives, but the party’s left flank is still poised to ultimately back her over former President Trump. 

The Hill first reported, citing a Harris campaign official, that the vice president no longer supports a ban on fracking, despite taking the opposite stance when she ran for the Democratic nomination in the 2020 presidential cycle.

Fracking is a method of extracting oil and gas from shale rocks. It involves injecting the rocks with a mix of water, sand and chemicals. Using this method is a key driver of the “shale revolution” that cemented the U.S.’s role as a leading oil and gas producer.

Pennsylvania, a pivotal swing state in the upcoming election, is the second biggest gas-producing state, and the energy sector represented 4.6 percent of its total employment in 2022. The state had nearly 18,000 people working in fuel extraction that year. 

However, fracking has come under scrutiny due to its environmental impacts. Beyond its role in producing planet-warming fossil fuels, it has been linked to earthquakes and pollution. A 2022 study also found that children living near fracking sites had a higher likelihood of developing leukemia.  

Climate is a weighty issue for many in the Democrats’ constituency, especially young voters. Nevertheless, some political strategists said they believed Harris’s pivot was smart because it could reassure some voters, particularly those concerned about economic and labor issues.

“Fracking is a central part, a foundational part, a significant portion of Pennsylvania’s economy. The economic argument is going to be extremely significant nationally, and in the States, it’s the top issue on voters’ minds,” said Jon Reinish, a national Democratic strategist. 

Samuel Chen, a Pennsylvania-based Republican strategist, expressed a similar opinion, saying that if Harris doubled down on her previous support of a fracking ban, “it’s not going to play well in states like Pennsylvania.”

Others disagreed, saying they don’t believe Harris’s stance on fracking will have major implications for the race.

Her path to victory in key states like Pennsylvania is unlikely to include many hardcore oil and gas supporters, said Pennsylvania-based Democratic strategist Mike Mikus. 

Mikus was skeptical Harris’s reversal on the issue will be a millstone in the state, which was ground zero for the 2010s natural-gas boom. He noted that Republicans levied similar attacks on President Biden, who, unlike Harris, has not signaled support for a ban.

“The Republicans have always used this as an attack regardless of whether that was a candidate’s position — it’s like the boy who cried wolf,” Mikus told The Hill. “It became an attack that never stuck.”

Mikus added that Harris’s most likely path to victory in Pennsylvania runs through the suburbs of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, a virtual world away from the southwestern regions of the state that were the site of its natural gas boom.

“Now that she has stated her position, I really don’t think it’s going to have much of an impact here,” he said. “People who are strongly in favor of fracking to the point that it affects who they’re going to vote for, they’ve already picked a side.”

Chen, on the other hand, argued that union laborers who work in the energy industry could be among those whose voters are up for grabs — and could be swayed by the decision. 

“Energy is a large industry in Pennsylvania, and there are probably energy voters in this state,” he said, adding that “a very, very small percentage could be enough to do damage to the vice president.”

President Biden often touted his relationship with organized labor, including walking the picket line with United Auto Workers (UAW) members. Harris has not been as publicly associated with labor, but her reversal on fracking comes at the same time a number of major unions, including the UAW, have endorsed her as she consolidates support among Democratic voter blocs.

And while many progressives and environmental advocates were disappointed in Harris’s position, they also point to climate progress that has been made under the Biden administration the past few years, and they note Harris will do more to fight for the environment than Trump.

“Movements need to create immense pressure to show politicians that it’s more strategic for them to break from fossil fuels than not,” said Aru Shiney-Ajay, executive director of the progressive Sunrise Movement, when asked about Harris’s fracking position. 

“If I’m looking at the options around the election this November, there’s a lot of ways in which Kamala Harris would be immensely easier to pressure and change on that than a Donald Trump presidency would,” Shiney-Ajay said. 

The GOP has emphasized Harris’s 2019 opposition to fracking, particularly her statement in a CNN town hall that year that “there is no question I’m in favor of banning fracking.”

Trump has highlighted her 2019 stance, telling supporters at a rally last week that “she wants no fracking.”

“You’re going to be paying a lot of money. You’re going to be paying so much. You’re going to say ‘bring back Trump,’” the former president added.

Although Harris has now changed her position, Chen said Republicans should still stress her former stance. 

“The GOP should definitely continue to message that this was her position” he said. “When people change their views … it’s important to remind people of what their views were.”

Such attacks may not be limited to Harris herself.

Before last week’s reversal, Rep. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.), the GOP Senate nominee against Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), sought to tie Casey to the position. 

Casey, who has consistently run ahead of both Biden and Harris in polling in the state, has bucked the White House on natural gas issues in the past, notably joining his colleague Sen. John Fetterman (D) in opposing the Biden administration’s temporary moratorium on new natural gas exports. 

Casey told The Hill on Wednesday he believes Harris made the right decision in reversing her position.