Presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar pushed back Wednesday on the position of Democratic rivals who want to ban the practice of fracking for natural gas, saying the fossil fuel will “still exist for a while.”
“I see natural gas as a transition fuel,” Klobuchar said in response to a question at CNN’s climate change town hall event. “It is better than oil but not nearly as good as wind and solar. I am being honest on what we need to do. We won’t immediately get rid of it.”
Klobuchar, a senator from Minnesota running as a relative centrist, has joined most of the other Democrats in endorsing the goal of the United States reaching net-zero emissions by 2050, but she has stopped short of calling for the end of fracking, as competitors such as Sen. Bernie Sanders have done.
Sen. Kamala Harris of California also endorsed banning fracking during CNN’s town hall event after previously being noncommittal about it.
While opposing a blanket ban, Klobuchar did say she would review every fracking permit during her first 100 days to decide “which should continue and which can’t.” She would favor a ban if Congress — or the courts — are unable to overturn the Trump administration’s recent move to weaken regulations of methane, a pollutant emitted by natural gas that is more potent than carbon.
She also said her proposed carbon tax would lead to less use of natural gas, although most economists say carbon prices would initially encourage more natural gas over coal, which emits more carbon.
