Harris embraces oil and gas on debate stage

by Rachel Frazin - 09/11/24 4:50 PM ET

Vice President Harris emphasized her support for oil and gas while limiting the focus on climate change on the debate stage Tuesday night.

The night underscored a broader trend in her campaign: While Harris is still a more climate-inclined candidate when compared to former President Trump, she has projected a moderate stance on the issue in TV appearances since joining the race.

That public positioning could appeal to swing voters in key states like Pennsylvania, a major gas producer. But it risks alienating her base, as progressives and young voters often point to climate as one of their top concerns.

When Harris was asked about climate change during the debate, she offered an answer that in part touted the production of natural gas, a fossil fuel whose burning contributes to climate change.

“I am proud that as vice president, over the last four years, we have invested a trillion dollars in a clean energy economy, while we have also increased domestic gas production to historic levels,” she said.

Harris also boasted about record oil production when asked about fracking.

“My position is that we have got to invest in diverse sources of energy so we reduce our reliance on foreign oil,” Harris said.

“We have had the largest increase in domestic oil production in history because of an approach that recognizes that we cannot over-rely on foreign oil,” she added.

U.S. oil production surpassed a monthly average of 13 million barrels per day for the first time in August 2023 and has remained above 13 million barrels nearly every month since then. Under the Trump administration, production reached a high monthly average of 12.99 million barrels per day in November 2019 before demand was crushed by the coronavirus pandemic.

But as the U.S. does not have a state-owned oil company, presidential policies have limited impacts on oil production — the decisions that drive it up or down are made by private firms based on market factors. The oil market is also a particularly global one, and so actions by other oil-producing nations such as Saudi Arabia and Russia may impact these decisions as well.

On Wednesday night, Harris also pointed out that the Inflation Reduction Act, which spurred massive investments in climate-friendly energy sources, additionally opened up new opportunities to drill on public lands.

The debate was held in Pennsylvania, whose 19 electoral votes could decide the election. The state has a robust gas industry. As of 2022, 18,000 people in Pennsylvania worked in mining and fuel extraction, and the energy sector more broadly made up 4.6 percent of the state’s employment.

The Hill first reported in late July that Harris’s position on fracking had shifted since 2019 and that she no longer supports a ban on the practice. The shift has been widely seen as part of an effort to court voters in Pennsylvania.

When it became clear Harris had made that shift, strategists gave a mixed picture as to whether opposing a ban on fracking would help her case. Some argued that it’s important to support an industry that has a major role in Pennsylvania’s economy, while others said her path to victory likely would not hinge on hardcore fossil fuel supporters.

Climate advocates expressed disappointment over her reversal at the time, and recoiled at her comments in Wednesday’s debate.

“We think that this is making the work of turning out young voters harder, and is a real missed opportunity for her to energize and galvanize young people,” said Stevie O’Hanlon, spokesperson for the progressive Sunrise Movement.

“I don’t think that her answers on climate change helped move that young person who’s skeptical about politics to get out the door on Nov. 5,” O’Hanlon said.

The Sunrise Movement is moving forward with an effort to support Harris despite its disappointment in her debate comments. The group has said that it would conduct outreach efforts in favor of Harris targeting 1.5 million voters. Those plans have not changed.

While Harris’s comments did promote oil and gas as a positive, a key lobbying group for the industry remained skeptical.

“Now’s the time where voters deserve to know the difference between rhetoric and long-term policy,” said Amanda Eversole, executive vice president and chief advocacy officer at the American Petroleum Institute. “There were buzz words that were used which are encouraging signs, but there’s a lot more that needs to be answered.”

“It’s hard to tout a record of strong leasing policy when the administration has put in place the lowest number of federal leases in its five-year plan in the history of the program,” Eversole said.

Harris is still the candidate who is poised to take more action on climate change, especially as Trump is likely to weaken environmental regulations if reelected.

The former president has infamously called climate change a hoax. During his first White House tenure, he rolled back numerous regulations aimed at mitigating climate change and protecting the environment and has vowed to do so again if he earns a second term.

2024 Election Coverage

At a number of campaign events, he has pledged to “drill baby drill,” pull out of the global Paris Agreement and undo Biden administration rules that aim to limit vehicle and power plant pollution.

“Donald Trump would be an absolute climate disaster,” O’Hanlon said.

She said that Harris “missed an opportunity to draw a really clear contrast on climate change with Donald Trump.”