Kamala Harris in first interview since becoming the nominee addresses key Pa. issue: ‘I will not ban fracking’

Vice President Kamala Harris said she would not ban fracking as president, reiterating in the strongest terms yet her support for a practice she opposed in 2019 and one that holds particular significance in critical Pennsylvania.

Early in her first interview since becoming the nominee, Harris was asked by CNN anchor Dana Bash about her previous support of the Green New Deal and comments during her 2019 run for president in which she said she was “no question in favor of banning fracking,” a technique used to extract natural gas from the Earth’s surface. Harris later reversed her position when she joined President Joe Biden on the ticket.

“I made that clear on the debate stage in 2020 that I would not ban fracking as vice president and I did not ban fracking,” she told Bash. “As president, I will not ban fracking ... we are in 2024 and I’ve not changed that position nor will I going forward. I’ve kept my word and I will keep my word.”

Asked what changed, Harris said her “values have not changed. I believe it is very important that we take seriously what we must do to guard against what is a clear crisis in terms of climate.”

But Harris said she thought the government could address the climate crisis by investing in clean energy in other ways, touting 300,000 new clean energy jobs created under the Biden-Harris administration.

“What I have seen is that we can grow, and we can increase a thriving clean energy economy, without banning fracking.”

Harris also noted she cast the tie-breaking vote in the U.S. Senate to increase leases for fracking.

“So I’m clear where I stand,” she said.

Pennsylvania is the second-largest natural gas producer in the nation so the issue is of particular significance in what Bash called Harris’ “must-win state of Pennsylvania.”

Harris’ past stance has fueled ongoing GOP attacks. Former President Donald Trump said earlier this month in York that the commonwealth would be relegated to “Third World” status if he is not elected in November, saying Pennsylvania’s energy production would plummet if Harris is elected.

“You’re going to go from being one of the largest producers in terms of fracking, the energy produced, into a nonfactor,” Trump said of his Democratic opponent. “Your state’s going to be Third World. Like much of our country, it’s being made Third World by these people. They don’t have a clue.”

After the interview aired, Trump contested whether Harris’ views had changed on fracking in a wide-ranging post. ”I agree, her values haven’t changed — The Border is going to remain open, not closed, there will be Free Healthcare for Illegal Alliens, Sanctuary Cities, No Cash Bail, Gun Confiscation, Zero Fracking...America will become a WASTELAND.”

Trump will hold a rally Friday in Johnstown, a former steel town in Western Pennsylvania, where the topic is likely to come up again.

The Harris and Walz interview, taped on the campaign trail in Savannah, Ga., premiered Thursday night on CNN and also covered foreign policy, immigration, and the upcoming debate with Trump in Philadelphia on Sept. 10.