Kamilla Harris was attacked by Trump after Mike Pence’s criticism of the issue

Has taken a turn in the fuel issue

Of: Emelie Svensson

Published: Oct 10, 2020 at 11:42 a.m.
Updated: October 10, 2020 at 12:09

NEW YORK. Vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris has reversed herself, saying neither she nor Biden want to ban oil and gas extraction by fracking.

But Trump believes Harris is lying, while the left wing of Democrats believe she is unclear.

The serious climate problem divides the party and may continue to be exploited by the right, says fracking expert Anthony Ingraffea.

It was embarrassing, says Anthony Ingraffea, a professor of environmental technology at Cornell University in New York. He couldn’t help but screw himself at home on the couch when he watched the vice presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Mike Pence.
– About five times Harris said that she and Biden will not ban fracking, but did not explain exactly what they want. I am disappointed in your response, continue.
When Vice President Pence pressed Harris on the issue, she responded emphatically:
“I repeat, and the American people should know: Joe Biden will not ban fracking. It is a fact.”
The exchange of views caused Trump to tweet a video from 2019 in which Harris clearly says otherwise. The movie went viral and right-wing critics called Harris a liar after the debate.
The truth is more complex, according to Ingraffea. Biden has wanted to ban fracking on state-owned land, while Harris has come out in favor of a total ban on fracking in the United States, including on private land.
– It is a big difference. Most of the extraction is on private land, so a ban on state land would not have a major effect on the fossil fuel industry. Harris failed to convey those differences, Ingraffea says.

Photo: Nick Ut / TT NEWS AGENCY

Kamala Harris has reversed the fracking problem.

A big electoral problem

So how did fracking become a central element of the political election campaign in the United States? Partly because Kamala Harris has been forced to turn around since she became Biden’s horse pair and stood behind her weather platform. And partly because opinions differ markedly, not just between parties, but also within Democrats.
Even left-wing Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez saw Harris’s statement after the debate and emphasized how bad fracking is for the environment. Ingraffea says that Kamala Harris was far to the left on climate issues during the primary elections and supported the Green New Deal action plan.
– That I have turned the subject irritates the left. Ocasio-Cortez is outraged that Harris’s response has waned, and during the debate, Haris should have been clearer about why reducing fossil fuel extraction is important in the fight against climate change.

Now think which has become more of a “tennis of words” rather than a central debate about America’s transition to sustainable energy.
– Most Democrats want to change faster and faster than Biden. Thus, it has become a wedge that the right can use to frustrate Democrats on both the left and the center, he continues.

Pump dangerous chemicals

Hydraulic fracturing, or hydraulic fracturing, is an extraction method used to take advantage of underground accumulations of oil and natural gas. But technology is not the real concern, according to Ingraffea.
The central problem is that it is done on the board and on a large scale in the United States. To access the last layer of gas and oil in the shale, holes are drilled into the bedrock and millions of liters of liquid, containing a cocktail of dangerous chemicals, are pumped under enormous pressure.
This has sparked major protests from environmental activists, who say the method has led to increased air and water pollution.

Defenders, on the other hand, believe which is a major income generating industry that creates jobs. Banning fracking would affect tens of thousands of jobs in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Texas alone, three states that are particularly important in this year’s White House fight.
Although it is a technology that has been used since the 1950s, few had heard of fracking twelve years ago. At the time, the United States depended on other countries for its energy supply, importing about 90 percent of its natural gas and oil.
– Until we solved this with slate fracking. It turned out that we had the largest shale deposits in the world; suddenly, we became rich in oil and natural gas. “We are the new Saudi Arabia of natural gas,” said then-President Obama. But we overload extraction and instead exacerbate climate change and delay the transition to renewables, says Ingraffea.

The industry collapsed

Due to geopolitical battles, the industry collapsed during the pandemic. Many companies will perish, says the Cornell professor, and many Americans in the fracking industry are already unemployed.
– So what made the United States suddenly dominant in the energy field, has now been exhausted. The industry is bankrupt. They promised Wall Street huge profits, which they will no longer be able to repay. Trump wants the United States to continue dominating energy, to keep the jobs and not be dependent on other countries, but it will fail, because actions do not last forever. The peak was reached two years ago, now it will go downhill.
However, Ingraffea does not believe in an immediate total ban on fracking for fossil fuels in shale. The transition should take place gradually, he says.
– Companies must die a natural death due to competition from renewable energy. There are hundreds of millions of cars on America’s roads, should they suddenly not drive again? We must have a transition period where they are replaced by electric cars, otherwise there will be social, political and economic instability. It doesn’t happen overnight, but in a decade.

Published: Oct 10, 2020 at 11:42 a.m.

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