Referencing a PoliticoPro article, a CNN KFILE reporter suggested in an October 21 post that Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign is “walking back her support for fracking” because “a top climate campaign staffer told PoliticoPro notes she's not promoting expanding it and said she didn't promote increased leases for fracking in the Inflation Reduction Act.”
Right-wing media figures have latched on to the idea that Harris flipped her position on fracking and no longer supports the controversial drilling technique.
In response to the post, the climate campaign staffer clarified:
“I didn't explain myself clearly here. Contrary to Trump's claims, the VP has not banned fracking, doesn't support banning fracking, and in fact cast the tie-breaking vote on the biggest pro-climate law ever, which, yes, opened new fracking leases. People know that's her position.”
KFILE reposted the clarification to the original post. But even without the clarification, it is not contradictory for a presidential candidate to both oppose a total ban on fracking — the majority of which happens on state and private land — and oppose expanding fracking on federal land. If anything, it's wholly representative of the Harris-Biden approach to oil and gas, which has attempted to balance the upheaval of the global fossil fuel market in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and America’s own transition to a clean energy economy.
Notably, the post comes on the heels of an October 15 report from KFILE, which suggested that Harris has abandoned her progressive position on climate change. The claim was evidenced by, among other things, the fact that she no longer supports a ban on fracking, a position she held during the 2019 Democratic primary but changed after becoming vice president.