How Harris’s Energy Policy is Failing Pennsylvania | 11.2.24
10:33 Share

Pennsylvania is one of the most critical battleground states in the upcoming presidential election. Voters in the state are uniquely focused on energy policy and affordability. In fact, a recent poll found that 78% of residents said energy costs is one of their primary concerns. In this episode, we speak to an expert on energy policy about whether Kamala Harris is a fit for Pennsylvanians on issues like fracking, natural gas, and coal production.

I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley. It's Saturday, November 2nd, and this is a Saturday edition of Morning Wire.

Again, text WIRE to 989898 today.

Joining us to discuss Kamala Harris's energy policies is Andre Beliveau, Senior Manager of Energy Policy at the Commonwealth Foundation. Andre, thanks so much for coming on. Yeah, thanks so much for having me. So first off, can you just characterize for us what Harris's energy policies are as of 2024? I know they've changed somewhat from the past. Yeah, so I think there's a few interesting points. One, obviously there's been the flip-flopping on fracking. What I've been trying to say to people is it's almost irreversible.

irrelevant if she's actually flip-flopped or not, because in the same vein of saying that she now supports fracking, she's still celebrating the Inflation Reduction Act and certainly celebrating the same climate policies that we've seen coming out of the Biden-Harris administration for the last four years. So the record has certainly not changed.

And what we're seeing is Kamala Harris celebrating the IRA, which has poisoned our energy markets in the way that we do baseload energy generation, which has certainly been disrupting price signals, raising prices for consumers. And she even said recently in an interview that you don't have to ban fracking to do all the work that you need to do to have a clean or green energy economy. And to me, that's the quiet part out loud. She's probably right. You don't have to ban something that you can essentially regulate out of existence and

So whether that's something like green energy subsidies from the Inflation Reduction Act, whether that's been a liquefied natural gas or LNG pause, or whether that's been through administrative actions like the EPA putting draconian regulations on carbon-emitting power plants, it's death by a thousand cuts. And that's what we're seeing. We're seeing an emphasis on climate alarmism from the same person that

said she would get rid of the filibuster to pass the Green New Deal. We're seeing climate alarmism from the same vice president who stood by Joe Biden the last four years where we've seen our energy prices go up and we've seen the threat to grid reliability certainly increase. So that's what I'm seeing when I'm looking at the landscape of energy policy coming from Kamala Harris right now. Now, when you say energy prices have gone up, can you put that into context for us? How much have they gone up and in which sectors?

Sure. Well, when you ask voters, and we have polling that we've conducted at the Commonwealth Foundation, when we ask Pennsylvanians, you know, when you're thinking about energy and you're thinking about candidates, you know, what's the most important thing to you? And it's inflation. They say that energy affordability is one of the most important things that they're thinking about when they're choosing a candidate. 78% of Pennsylvanians said that energy affordability was going to be top of mind when thinking about who they're choosing. And that's a bipartisan supermajority. I mean, it's

78% of the electorate, but it was 81% Democrats, 68% independents, 81% Republicans. They're feeling inflation in their pockets and in the pocketbook. And of course, it's going to be reflected in their energy bills, and they're certainly feeling it. Now, speaking about fracking specifically, how would it specifically affect Pennsylvanians if fracking were either banned or restricted through regulation?

Yeah, I mean, Pennsylvania is the second largest producer of natural gas in the country. And Pennsylvanians are very aware of the impact that fracking has on their economy. So, I mean, if fracking were to end, it would be a tremendous economic burden on the state. You're talking tens of thousands of jobs being lost. And Pennsylvanians, I mean, they support fracking and they support the natural gas industry. And polling's reflected that. I mean, 74%

of Pennsylvanians. When we asked them, would you support expanding infrastructure to transport natural gas and to expand natural gas infrastructure, 74% said yes, they would. When we asked them, do you support expanding the energy developments, that's specifically talking about the production or fracking specifically, 75% said they did. And again, that's bipartisanly across the board, Democrats, Independents, and Republicans.

So not only is it literally vital to the state's economy and to the energy sector jobs in Pennsylvania, but Pennsylvanians are also aware of how critical it is for their state. Now, is Pennsylvania similar to other upper Midwest states in that way, or is this very specific to Pennsylvania this year?

I mean, certainly when you're looking at the Marcellus Shale play region, it's obviously condensed in the western part of Pennsylvania, but you're also looking at parts of Ohio, certain parts of West Virginia, New York, if they still were allowing a robust fracking and natural gas environment there, which they're certainly not. So I would say...

Pennsylvania is definitely the epicenter of this debate around fracking. And, you know, Pennsylvania is it's the keystone state, but it's also the keystone to American energy security. And we need Pennsylvania natural gas if we're ever going to have energy independence. And certainly if we want to break into global markets with LNG, we're going to need Pennsylvania natural gas to do it. Now,

Now, I want to ask you about EVs. A recent Pew poll found that three in 10 Americans are willing to buy a fully electric vehicle. EV adoption has been a major priority for the Biden-Harris administration. How is this initiative playing with Midwestern voters like those in Pennsylvania? Yeah, our polling in Pennsylvania reflects that. I mean, Pennsylvanians are not sold...

on EVs, there was only about 5% of the respondents to our poll who said they would ever consider purchasing an EV as something to protect the environment. And when you're thinking about, again, what voters are thinking about, 68% felt that it should be a higher priority for the federal government to ensure affordable energy, while only 32% believed

that combating climate change should be a top priority. And EVs are certainly a part of the net zero goals that we're seeing come out of the environmental left. Specifically about EVs, we asked Pennsylvania likely voters, how likely are you to consider purchasing an EV the next time you purchase a vehicle? And 59% said not likely.

And they listed high costs as the number one issue, which I think reflects what we've seen across the board in our polling when we've been talking to Pennsylvanians that high costs inflation is certainly the number one issue across the board as they're coming up to the November election. Now, what about climate change? How has that been polling with voters and what are the trends there?

Yeah, well, I just mentioned, I think Pennsylvanians, certainly energy affordability is skyrocketing above anything considering climate change. And we conducted a poll early in the year and we asked them about environmental concerns. Our polling showed that while they obviously care about the environment and they want clean air, clean water, the idea of affordable energy and reliable energy was a top concern over combating climate change.

And they also felt that they would rather take personal interventions in their life over excessive government regulation and excessive government red tape. And our recent polling showed that most Pennsylvanians feel that overregulation and government red tape has actually not only prevented energy and environmental projects from thriving, but they believe that that's also increasing their electric costs. Now, let's contrast this with President Trump's proposed energy policy. What has he said he's going to do?

Well, I mean, I think the idea of a fracking ban certainly would not come from a President Trump. I mean, he seems to understand the need for American energy security, and he seems to understand what something like natural gas and hydraulic fracturing can provide to that. So, I mean, there's definitely a difference. I think the emphasis there policy-wise seems to be more on affordable energy, seems to be more on American energy security. Although, you know, there has been some interesting, you know, developments in the debate that we had with J.D. Vance and Tim Walz. We saw both

J.D. Vance and Tim Walz supporting things like solar protectionism. And this sort of goes in the vein of Trump's views on tariffs and the idea of solar protectionism and sort of trying to onshore solar production. It sounds good, but I think economically have similar impacts to what the Inflation Reduction Act would do. So I would hope that both

candidates would avoid things like protectionist style policies or central planning when it comes to energy policy. But on the whole, I think you have one side that is focused on policies that are going to try to bring about American energy security and independence, and another side that is certainly trying to put climate alarmism or environmental, draconian environmental policies and prioritizing those over affordable energy.

Now, last thing, you mentioned in your op-ed that 86% of Pennsylvanians believe American energy independence is essential. Do you think that translates to other states as well? Or is Pennsylvania particularly robust on that metric? Obviously, Pennsylvania is unique in the sense that it's an energy producing state. So we're talking about these are specific jobs that people have and whether they are working themselves in the energy sector or it's friends or family, they know and have a deeper connection to energy production.

Pennsylvania is definitely going to be unique in that regard. But I think across the board, I'm sure that Americans across the country are concerned about American energy security, American energy independence. And I think because of the fracking issue has been brought front and center in this current election cycle, it's certainly on people's minds. While there is something unique about how Pennsylvanians think about fracking,

and when making decisions about their candidates. This obviously is because of inflation across the board. This is literally touching the pocketbooks of every American across the country. I'm sure they're all concerned and thinking about American energy security and independence in a similar way as Pennsylvanians are thinking about it. All right. Well, Andre, thank you so much for coming on today. Yeah, thank you so much for having me. That was Andre Beliveau, Senior Manager of Energy Policy at the Commonwealth Foundation. And this has been a Saturday edition of Morning Wire.