Ohio Gov. John Kasich said fracking is key when asked about sagging oil prices during the Republican presidential debate Thursday night.
Hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking, is the process of injecting water and chemicals into the earth to release natural gas trapped within the rocks. It has been responsible for an upturn in the economic fortunes of Ohio and much of the American energy sector. The boom has turned the U.S. into the world’s biggest crude oil and natural gas producer.
However, the energy sector has been hurting over the last year and has had to slash tens of thousands of jobs as crude oil prices drop to $30 a barrel. Kasich said the best way to insulate the United States from the fluctuations is fracking.
“It’s so important for us to be energy independent, and we’re getting there because of fracking,” he said.
Kasich said the low prices, which are expected to stick around for the next couple years and are driving gasoline prices down, will be key to economic growth.
The former member of Congress also was asked about the tense situation in the Middle East as relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran have soured.
Kasich touted his foreign policy experience throughout his years in Congress and said he has seen the Cold War and tension in the Middle East, so he is familiar with many different conflicts.
Instead of attacking Iran, Kasich said the United States needs to send a message to Saudi Arabia to get the kingdom to stop funding radical clerics who are inspiring radical Islamic terrorists.
“You gotta knock off the funding and teaching of radical clerics, who are the very people trying to destroy us and will turn around and destroy them,” he said.
