US ELECTIONS: Harris backs investments in 'diverse' energy sources in debate with Trump

Vice President Kamala Harris expressed support for investing in "diverse sources of energy" to reduce US reliance on foreign oil during a Sept. 10 debate against former President Donald Trump in the gas-producing state of Pennsylvania.

The two-hour presidential debate, hosted by ABC News in Philadelphia, was relatively light on detail on energy and climate policies. But Harris was asked early in the exchange to explain her previous support for a ban on hydraulic fracturing as a Democratic presidential candidate in 2019.

"My position is that we have got to invest in diverse sources of energy so we reduce our reliance on foreign oil," Harris said. "We have had the largest increase in domestic oil production in history because of an approach that recognizes that we cannot over-rely on foreign oil."

She repeatedly disavowed any support for a ban on hydraulic fracturing that she expressed five years ago during the crowded Democratic presidential primary.

"I have not banned fracking as vice president of the United States, and in fact, I was the tie-breaking vote on the Inflation Reduction Act, which opened new leases for fracking," she said.

The debate comes as polls show the candidates running in a dead heat in Pennsylvania, a key swing state and one of the nation's largest producers of natural gas. So far, Harris has sought to hold onto climate-minded voters within the Democratic coalition while winning over more moderate voters in the Keystone State.

According to the US Energy Information Administration, Pennsylvania was the second-largest gas-producing state, producing 7.41 Tcf in 2022.

Trump several times said without evidence that Harris would ban fracking on day one, and he asserted that oil production would be four or five times higher if he were in office, although he did not elaborate on how he would achieve such high levels.

The former president has recently promised to issue a national emergency declaration and "blast through every bureaucratic hurdle" to issue rapid approvals for new drilling, pipelines, refineries and power plants.

Seeking definition

Industry executives have been looking for more clarity from Harris on where she stands on oil and gas production, according to Frank Maisano, a senior principal at Bracewell LLP's Policy Resolution Group, in an interview prior to the debate. He called the discussion of fracking an important symbolic issue that relates to a potentially more aggressive approach to oil and gas production.

"The thing that worries I think a lot of folks in industry is that environmentalists have taken a back seat on pressuring her the way they pressured Joe Biden on this issue," he said, suggesting environmental advocates may have made a calculation that she will be better than Trump for their positions, or that they can place more pressure on her if she becomes president.

What the industry is seeking most is policy consistency, he said. "They don't look at what's happening in the moment [on production] because that's driven by demand. ...What we look at is what is available five years down the road ... and try to get some consistent certainty there."

During the latter part of the debate, the candidates were specifically asked to outline their plans for combating climate change. The moderators recalled that Trump has previously expressed support for "clean air and clean water," while Harris has called climate change "an existential threat."

In response, Harris cited energy and climate investments in the $1.2 trillion Inflation Reduction Act even as the US has achieved "historic" levels of domestic natural gas production under the Biden-Harris administration.

The vice president also pointed to an endorsement from the United Auto Workers, arguing that the Inflation Reduction Act has already sparked a resurgence in domestic manufacturing led by the US automobile supply chain.

The labor union knows that "part of building a clean energy economy includes investing in American-made products, American automobiles," Harris said.

Trump did not address the climate question directly, instead focusing on US manufacturing job levels relative to Mexico and China.

"We'll put tariffs in those cars so they can't come into our country," Trump said, reiterating a campaign promise to impose tariffs on vehicles imported from China.