Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrat, said Friday she would immediately ban fracking if elected president, drawing pushback from critics who said the move would cripple the U.S. oil-and-gas industry and force the nation to import fossil fuels.
“On my first day as president, I will sign an executive order that puts a total moratorium on all new fossil fuel leases for drilling offshore and on public lands. And I will ban fracking—everywhere,” tweeted Ms. Warren.
Her announcement came with environmentalists urging her to join Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who issued a statement Wednesday calling for a “full fracking ban on public and private lands,” putting the two progressives at the anti-fracking forefront of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary field.
Environmental groups have decried hydraulic fracturing as a threat to public safety and the climate, while critics warned that a nationwide ban would deal a devastating blow to the economy. Most U.S. oil-and-gas extraction involves fracking.
University of Colorado professor Roger A. Pielke Jr. said that Ms. Warren’s plan would force the nation to rely on foreign fossil-fuel imports.
“This is a big promise, both to ban fracking and to do it everywhere on day 1 of a Warren administration,” tweeted Mr. Pielke. “Banning fracking would kill off the ~entire US oil and gas extraction industry and turn the US into a major importer of fossil fuels. It would not reduce FF consumption.”
This is a big promise, both to ban fracking and to do it everywhere on day 1 of a Warren administration.
Banning fracking would kill off the ~entire US oil and gas extraction industry and turn the US into a major importer of fossil fuels.
It would not reduce FF consumption.
https://t.co/SblwXeuEUB— Roger Pielke Jr. (@RogerPielkeJr) September 6, 2019
Daniel Turner, executive director of the pro-industry Power the Future, said that Ms. Warren is “the same person who loves to call Donald Trump a ‘dictator.’”
“Yet she is the one wanting to singlehandedly end an entire industry with the stroke of her pen!” tweeted Mr. Turner.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration predicted in January that the nation would become energy independent by 2020 after becoming a net oil exporter for the first time in 75 years, thanks in large part to the energy boom, fueled by hydraulic fracturing and other technological breakthroughs.
So you WANT more instability in the Middle East as a result; and all that entails globally? March more troops to their death? You DO realize that the US will have to import the difference? Shale oil now accounts for 2/3rd’s of US oil production, Lizzy.
— Samir Madani (@Samir_Madani) September 7, 2019
In 2018, nearly two-thirds of the U.S. electrical grid was powered by fossil fuels—natural gas, coal, and petroleum—while nuclear energy accounts for 19%. Ms. Warren said at Wednesday’s CNN town hall that she opposes nuclear power for safety reasons.
That leaves renewables, which made up 17% of U.S. electrical generation, including 7% from hydropower and 6.6% from wind. Solar energy contributed less than 2%, according to the EIA.
U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions have fallen over the last decade, a phenomenon attributed to power plants replacing coal with natural gas, which has become cheaper and more abundant as a result of the shale revolution.
“The substitution of natural gas for coal is almost single-handedly responsible for the massive reduction in carbon emissions we have seen in the US over the past few years,” tweeted conservative pundit Ben Shapiro. “So Warren’s plan is to ban fracking and nuclear power plants to fight climate change?”
At CNN’s town hall Wednesday on the “climate crisis,” fracking was a hot topic. All the top Democratic presidential candidates have come out in favor of barring new oil and gas leases on federal land, and several have taken it a few steps further.
Read rest at Washington Times
Lizard Lady Warren a typical member of the Stupid Jackass Party once again proves they don’t belong in the Oval Office a typical reaction from a Liberal Democrat they want to ban everything
Some basic “ground rules” about oil & gas E & P are in order. First, the federal domain (offshore & western onshore) only make up 15% of total U.S (domestic) production. So, the remaining 85% is predominantly on PRIVATE lands. I’d respectfully suggest Ms. Warren’s staff give her a brief on U.S private property law. The president has NO AUTHORITY to make any kind of national mandate that would ban fracing. If you attempt that, then (basically) you have “condemned” all those private subsurface (mineral) rights and have engaged in a “taking”…good luck finding ANY court in the land that will support your de facto CONFISCATION of those private properties. COMPLETELY contrary to the rule of law. What is most evident from last weeks CNN “climate crisis” town hall is the LACK of knowledge exhibited by all the candidates when it comes to the energy sector. At present, there is no clean, scalable & sustainable alternative to replace fossil fuels…80% of our primary energy. Instead of the ongoing vilification campaign against energy PROVIDERS, I’d suggest a more thoughtful & informed discussion. That is in our nations best interest…
Frack Bernie. Frack Pocahontas.
With statements like that Warren will never be president. She’s ensuring that states like PA, OH, MI, WI stay in the “Red Column” and can even see states like CO flip. The ignorance (or crassness) of these Democrats is mind boggling.
The Dem’s seem intent on throwing the election. The Clinton shenanigans gutted the bench. They got nuthin’.
Randy is right on in his comment. There is a related issue. Believing they can do everything with executive orders is common with the current Democratic candidates. They believe they have and plan to use the same power Hitler had after the Reichstag fire. This shows they have no understanding of how the US government works with balance of power between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government. Warren and some others show no understanding what the impact of banning fracking would be or how impossible it is to scale up wind and solar which after years of subsidies only provide 8.6% of our electric power. All democratic candidates show no understanding of the fact that the US can not reduce world wide emissions due to the developing nations ramping up the use of fossil fuels. They also have no understanding that anthropological climate change isn’t happening. How can people who are so incompetent be serious candidates for president?
The fake Indian plans to become a dictator on her very first day .
She claims she is going to ” Ban fracking everywhere .” Like Canada
for example ?
Sorry flower pot all that acid in the sixties fried a few .