Biden Says He’s ‘Not Banning Fracking’ Months After Saying: ‘No More, No New Fracking’

By
Lawrence Richard
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OPINION | Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those held by Sarah Palin.

Joe Biden does not support a ban on fracking, he said during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania on Monday.

“I am not banning fracking. Let me say that again: I am not banning fracking. No matter how many times Donald Trump lies about me,” he said.

The Hill reports: “Biden’s climate plan calls for ending new oil and gas leases on public lands, but it would not ban oil drilling and does not bar any specific method for extracting fossil fuels.”

Biden continued:

“I’ve laid out an agenda for economic recovery that will restore a sense of security for working families,” he said.

“We won’t just build things back the way they were before. We’re going to build them back better with good paying jobs building our nation’s roads, bridges, solar arrays, windmills,” he said, saying the clean energy strategy has “a place for the energy workers right here in western Pennsylvania.”

BizPac Review reports, however, Biden’s comments come just four months after he told the country in March that he would stop fracking on public land.

The Daily Caller similarly reported that Biden said he would oppose fracking, all but saying he would ban it if he were to win the presidency:

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Biden promised during CNN’s Democratic debate in Washington, D.C. to stop new fracking projects after his presidential rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders, drilled the former vice president for not being tough enough on the oil industry.

Biden also suggested that he can transition the country away from fossil fuel-powered transportation and toward “high speed rail, taking millions of automobiles off the road. Making sure we move in a direction where no more drilling on federal lands.”

Biden made similar arguments during a December Democratic debate, telling moderators and audience members that he is willing to sacrifice thousands of blue collar jobs in the fossil fuel industry to tackle climate change.

Politifact ruled the Trump campaign statement that Biden wants to ban fracking as “mostly false,” yet seeming provides contrary evidence:

While talking about climate change, Sanders said that he wants to completely eliminate fracking in America to help with the climate change crisis, to which Biden responded that he does, too.

“Well, I’m not sure your proposal does that,” Sanders said.

“No more, no new fracking,” Biden said.

That statement was a deviation from Biden’s official position, in which he stated he did not want to outright ban the practice.

Following the debate, a Biden campaign representative clarified the position, saying Biden wants a ban only on new fracking activities on federal lands and waters, according to a PolitiFact item from June 2020, and another from July 2020.

Politifact also distinguishes between a ban and a total ban: “Joe Biden supports a ban on new fracking permits for federal land and waters, not a total ban.”

The Biden campaign also once clarified that he did call for “banning new oil and gas permitting on public lands and waters.”

While on the campaign trail, Biden has also said: