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Last updated on: 1/21/2020 10:54:29 AM PST

Should Fracking Be Allowed?

Hydraulic fracking is a process of collecting natural gas and oil. A mixture of water, sand, and chemicals are pumped underground at a high pressure via a drilled hole. The sand mixture causes small cracks or fractures created underground in the rock layer, which allows the natural gas or oil to flow up a drilled hole and to the surface for collection. For more information, visit alternativeenergy.procon.org.
Source: BBC News, "What Is Fracking and Why Is It Controversial?," bbc.com, Oct. 15, 2018
Pro
Joe Biden
Biden
Jo Jorgensen
Jorgensen
Donald Trump
Trump

Con
Howie Hawkins
Hawkins
Not Clear or Not Found





Pro (Yes)

Pro
Joe Biden
Biden
Democrat

"I've argued against any more oil drilling or gas drilling on federal lands that we can -- and to stop that. I think we should, in fact, be looking at what exists now and making a judgement whether or not the -- those, in fact, that are there, those wells that are there, whether or not they're dangerous, whether or not they've already done the damage, and what we can do from there by trying to change the attitude of the members of the governors of the various states and the state legislatures.

Now, we could pass national legislation, but I don't think we'd get it done, in terms of getting the votes to get it done, to say all fracking that's going on now ends unless you can show there's some physical security need or worried about explosions, et cetera, which is a legitimate thing to worry about. But I would not allow any more.

[Anderson] COOPER... So just to be clear, you would not call for a ban statewide on fracking or nationwide? You said stop new oil and gas drilling on federal lands?

BIDEN: Yes."

Source: CNN, "Climate Crisis Town Hall with Joe Biden (D), Presidential Candidate. Aired 8-8:40p ET," cnn.com, Sep. 4, 2019
Pro
Jo Jorgensen
Jorgensen
Libertarian

"Fracking should be allowed so long as the rights of surface property owners are balanced with those of mineral owners. Government should not subsidize any form of energy production, including gas and oil."

Source:

Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon.org on Aug. 26, 2020

Pro
Donald Trump
Trump
Republican

"The last administration tried to shut down Pennsylvania coal and Pennsylvania fracking. If they got in, your fracking is gone, your coal is gone, you guys — I don't know what the hell you're going to do... We have the greatest resources, which really came about over the last few years. Nobody knew this. Fracking made it possible. Other new technologies made it possible. And now we're the number-one — think of it, as I said — the number-one energy producer in the world."

Source: Donald Trump, "Remarks by President Trump on American Energy and Manufacturing | Monaca, PA," whitehouse.gov, Aug. 13, 2019

[Editor's Note: In Dec. 2019, the Trump administration announced plans to open over one million acres of public land in California to fracking.]
Con (No)

Con
Howie Hawkins
Hawkins
Green

"The watered-down Green New Deal non-binding resolution from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey falls short in many respects, including:

1. It fails to support the immediate frontline demand of the grassroots climate movement—a nationwide ban on fracking and new fossil fuel infrastructure. If we don’t win that demand, we will be locked into four more decades more of fracked gas and oil burning, which means a climate holocaust."

Source: Howie Hawkins, "The Sunrise Movement Needs to Demand More in the Green New Deal," howiehawkins.us, Aug. 26, 2019



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