Harris may have “won” the debate, but Americans “lost on fracking,” climate experts say

14 comments

1. > “I have been in ‘debates’ with deniers of climate change and it is impossible to win because they tell lies and you cannot bring up the evidence to show they are wrong,” 

   People like this are part of the problem. [All 219 climate change denial points have long since been debunked.](https://skepticalscience.com/argument.php)

2. I am not a fan of fracking, but in Ohio it has helped shut down coal plants which is a good thing. I’d rather have plants running on natural gas than coal until we can replace them with clean energy.

3. You know, the speed at which solar+battery has been taking over the market because it is the cheapest electricity in history has shifted my position on this.

   I don’t necessarily think fracking needs to be legally banned anymore….. the important thing, to me, is to prevent artificial roadblocks from preventing the inevitable shift to solar for purely economic reasons. A Harris administration could focus entirely on removing these roadblocks and be successful on the climate change front.

   Also, it is unfortunate that the election is so close between these two vastly different candidates, and strategically it just doesn’t seem to make sense to come out and declare support for a ban on fracking at this point.

   The technology and expertise used for fracking is also going to become invaluable once widespread geothermal takes off.

4. We can discuss the specifics after we elect the only candidate that acknowledges climate change is real.

5. She needs Pennsylvania. That’s all there is to it.

6. Ok, hear me out… I got my degree in environmental studies and sustainability. It is a passion of mine.

   With that being said, with everything at stake… I don’t give a damn about Harris’ flip flop regarding fracking.

   Sure, I would love a solid climate plan and future steps towards sustainability, but that isn’t possible right now; it is an obtainable ideal thanks to misinformation and climate denialism over the last 20-40 years… she is not going to be able to change that.

   Ok, Kamala flip flopped on fracking. I’m already over it because I know deep down she offers a stronger path towards renewables and scientific research/improvement than the alternative, Donald Trump.

7. Hot take:

   While we should be phasing out natural gas, fracking has been an *incredibly positive* thing for the climate. The cost of natural gas plummeting is what killed coal powered power plant construction. Before that happened coal – which is insanely abundant in the US – was the largest source of energy generation and is **much** worse in terms of climate impact.

   I was working on climate change issues for an environmental group in the early 2000s and we constantly bemoaned that the high cost of natural gas was preventing its use as a “bridge fuel” to get us to a renewable grid.

8. Seriously low on the agenda for majority of Americans.

9. Not just Americans but the whole world.

10. Maybe. But it seems so much better to me for Harris to win the presidency, preserving American democracy and effectively ending Trump’s political career, at which point she can pursue alternative energy policies that slowly obviate the need for fracking while also investing on weaning off the people who rely on fracking for their incomes.

11. Trump: “we’re going to allow capitalist corporations to exploit the environment as much as they want in order to extract as much profit as physically possible. Even if it renders our planet unlivable for humans.”

    Dems: “we’re going to do exactly that as well but only go like 99%, maybe 99.9%, as far as Trump would.”

    Pundits: “we’re saved!”

12. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. Vote blue.

13. If she would present herself as a pro-environmentalist and green president, she would have had this in the bag already. Too many of her policies are close to trump, so that people find it hard to make a clear distinction.

14. The Overton Window is so far to the right that it’s on a building three states East.

    That being said, please please please vote for Harris. And vote for down-ballot dems. I doubt she would veto a fracking ban bill if it crossed her desk.