Joe Biden’s lead in his home state of Pennsylvania is slipping, and so is his position on fracking.
He clarified on Monday that he would not ban fracking if elected president and accused President Trump of lying about his past comments on the subject.
“I’m not for banning fracking. Let’s say that again: I’m not for banning fracking, no matter how many times Donald Trump lies about me,” Biden said during a speech in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a hub for the natural gas fracking boom.
In that case, the only lie in the Trump campaign’s recent ads is the one that Biden told Democratic voters during the primaries. He said there would be “no new fracking” during the Biden administration, which in practical terms means “no fracking.” Biden’s defenders have dismissed this as a gaffe, which would be an understandable explanation if this sudden contradiction had been a one-time misstep.
It was not. When asked in July 2019 whether there would be a “place for fossil fuels, including coal and fracking, in a Biden administration,” Biden replied: “No. We would work it out. We would make sure it’s eliminated, and no more subsidies for either one of those, period.”
This past January, the former vice president was asked by a New Hampshire voter, “What about stopping fracking?” Biden said in response, “Yes.” In February, he reiterated this promise and said, “We’re going to get rid of fossil fuels … we’re going to phase out fossil fuels … no more coal plants.”
Biden’s campaign has since argued that these comments only had to do with his previous promise to end new fracking leases on federal lands. If that were the case, why didn’t he say so at the time? He could have explained that his proposed ban would be narrow or that it would leave room for exceptions. But in these interactions, he did not because, at the time, his environmental platform was under pressure from leftist activists.
At the very least, Biden’s position on fracking has been inconsistent and confusing. And if Trump’s team uses that to the president’s advantage, Biden has no one but himself to blame.
