Staff Reports
Kamala Harris’s stance on fracking has all the consistency of a wet paper towel—especially if one were to look at her statements over the years. Back in 2019, Harris boldly declared her support for a fracking ban as if it were a ticket to the championship of environmental politics. Fast forward to the present, and her flip-flopping on such a critical issue could very well cost her the coveted electoral votes from Pennsylvania, a state that holds the keys to the presidency.
Pennsylvania is as crucial to the Democrats as sunglasses are to a vampire. It stands as a bastion of the party’s Blue Wall strategy, a necessary fortress in preventing Donald Trump’s remarkable political resurgence. It’s widely acknowledged in the political world that the winner of Pennsylvania is likely to walk away with the White House. Thus, one would expect that Harris, with all her lofty ambitions, would mind her fracking manners. But alas, it appears she’s stumbled onto the slippery slope of political expediency.
Kamala Harris on Fracking:
“There’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking”
PA – Vote Trump 2024pic.twitter.com/KK2szGI6hK
— Sheri™ (@FFT1776) August 5, 2024
Behind closed doors, anonymous campaign sources suggest that Harris performed a miraculous mid-air somersault, suddenly becoming less fervent about banning fracking in an attempt to win over a skeptical electorate. This change of heart isn’t particularly convincing. Emanuel Paris, a construction firm employee from Pennsylvania, certainly isn’t buying it. He views her newfound love for fracking as too little, too late, asserting that one cannot simply stop conventional energy in favor of a solar panel daydream. The man speaks for many Keystone State workers who recognize that abandoning fracking is akin to signing a death warrant for countless jobs and local revenue streams.
For those not familiar with the fracking industry’s impact, it generates an eye-popping $3.2 billion in state and local tax revenue annually. That’s right—thousands of landowners collect royalties from natural gas wells, which fund everything from local schools to first responders. Pennsylvanians are well aware that around 121,000 jobs are tethered to fracking—jobs that Harris would have them believe can simply vanish without consequence. Yet, thanks to the Colorado-esque dreamers championing the Green New Deal, Harris found herself in an aisle filled with the bubble-wrapped fantasies of environmental extremists who want to turn the world into a socialist wonderland.
It’s no surprise that voters in the state are scratching their heads, wondering why their representatives are bent on sabotaging their livelihoods. Smokin’ Steer BBQ owner Dave Hunter aptly questions why Harris would even entertain a fracking ban, and rightfully so. Many Pennsylvanians, like Bavington Roadhouse co-owner Ron Valenti, have awoken from their deep partisan slumber. They’re now scrutinizing policies instead of marching down the party line like obedient soldiers.
With polling showing a nail-biter race in Pennsylvania, where Harris and Trump are neck-and-neck, voters are more aware than ever of the implications of energy policies that could spell disaster for their homes, jobs, and futures. As the election steamrolls ahead, the real question isn’t just what Harris will say next but whether she can keep her balance on the political tightrope she has walked herself onto, a feat that seems increasingly unlikely.
