There’s a renewed focus on fracking — the practice of drilling deep into rock to extract oil and gas. During last week’s presidential debate in Pennsylvania, both candidates said they would not ban fracking.
In New York and Pennsylvania, there have been long standing separate controversies over the practice.
WSKG’s All Things Considered host Emillya Wilbert spoke with climate reporter Rebecca Redelmeier about what the candidates’ positions could mean for fracking in the Twin Tiers.
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EMILLYA WILBERT: What do we know about what’s happening with fracking in the Twin Tiers right now?
REBECCA REDELMEIER: There’s two different stories of fracking here, and it’s split on state lines.
In Pennsylvania, fracking has been well underway since the early-2000s. It’s led to a pretty thriving oil and gas industry in the state. But there’s also been a host of concerns and criticisms over the practice.
Researchers have found that fracking has been associated with health risks in some areas. And the industry said fracking would bring jobs and economic growth to the state, but some studies show that economic promise never really panned out.
Still, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who is a Democrat, has been mostly supportive of the industry. So even though there’s some controversy over fracking in Pennsylvania, it’s well underway.
In New York, it’s almost the opposite story. Pretty soon after natural gas was found in the shale rock here, New York’s then-governor Andrew Cuomo — also a Democrat — banned fracking over concerns about its public health and environmental threats. So the fracking boom that happened in Pennsylvania never took off here.
There’s been some effort in New York to challenge the ban legally, or find ways around it, but none of that has really worked. Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York Democrats, who hold most of the power here, continue to support a ban on fracking.
So even though both Pennsylvania and New York are led by Democratic governors, the approach is completely different.
WILBERT: Could anything change with a Harris or Trump presidency?
REDELMEIER: In short, not really.
In New York, earlier this month Kathy Hochul doubled-down on her anti-fracking position at a state energy summit. This is what she said:
HOCHUL: We’re not fracking, we’re not burning coal, we’re not going backwards, we’re not going back to the polluted skies of my childhood.
REDELMEIER: So, regardless of where the next president stands on the issue, New York’s fracking ban will still be the law under Hochul.
In Pennsylvania, many were concerned that Vice President Kamala Harris would try to ban fracking. But it’s important to note, a president doesn't have that power, only Congress can enact that kind of ban. A president only has say over fracking on federal land, and there’s very little federal land in Pennsylvania anyway.
That’s been somewhat misunderstood, because in 2019, when she was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nominee, Harris said she would ban fracking.
But as vice president, she rolled back that position. During her presidential campaign, she’s been adamant that she would not ban it. Here’s what she said at last week’s debate:
HARRIS: Let’s talk about fracking, because we’re here in Pennsylvania. I made that very clear in 2020, I will not ban fracking. I have not banned fracking.
REDELMEIER: Former President Trump, for his part, has said he supports fracking.
So, regardless of who wins the presidency, there’s unlikely to be a change.
WILBERT: I know there is a bill on Hochul’s desk right now to expand New York’s fracking ban. Where does that stand?
REDELMEIER: Yes. So, last year, a Texas-based company proposed using carbon dioxide to extract gas from rock in the Southern Tier.
Some officials and environmentalists saw this new proposal as a way of trying to skirt the state’s fracking ban, which only prohibits hydraulic fracking that uses water.
Legislators took pretty immediate action, proposing a bill to expand New York’s fracking ban to include a prohibition on fracking with carbon dioxide. It passed the state Legislature earlier this year.
That bill has now been on the governor’s desk for months. She hasn’t indicated if she will sign it, but she does often wait until the end of the year to sign a lot of legislation.
In the meantime, that company that proposed using carbon dioxide to drill for gas has gone silent, and it’s unclear if there’s been any movement in that project. I reached out to the company, called Southern Tier Solutions, and haven’t heard back.
So, it might just be another case of everyone gets talking about fracking, but nothing’s really changing.