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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Environment
Dharna Noor

Fracking explained: why the fossil fuel extraction process became a US election issue

A drilling rig is silhouetted at sunset.
A hydraulic fracturing drill rig near Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania, in 2012. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

Kamala Harris reiterated that she won’t ban fracking on Wednesday in an interview with KDKA-TV, the CBS affiliate in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Though the US vice-president once backed a ban on the fuel extraction process, she said on Wednesday that she changed her mind since joining Joe Biden’s presidential campaign in 2020 and has since remained firm.

The statement comes as she and Donald Trump compete for votes in Pennsylvania, a swing state with 20 seats in the electoral college and a major gas producer. The Trump campaign, meanwhile, has been running ads claiming that if elected, Harris would enshrine a ban on fracking, costing Pennsylvania over 300,000 jobs.

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