What if there were a new extraction method that would tap into astronomical levels of energy sources, save money and lives, lower the nation’s environmental impact, and trigger the left? This might seem like a deus ex machina from some dystopian picture depicting doomsday, but you do not need to produce a Hollywood ending for this scenario. We have it in this thing called reality. It is called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking: The process of blasting a concoction of water, sand, and chemicals into a well to break rock formation and release enormous supplies of energy.
What the Frack, Democrats?
Several months into the primaries, and we have learned quite a lot about the Democratic candidates. One candidate wants to guarantee the right to abortions for men. Another presidential hopeful proposes free health care and education for illegal immigrants. A long-shot contender aims to give every American free money just for breathing. But many of the top-tier Democrats have another idea: Ban fracking.
Bernie Sanders
The party has made climate change the centerpiece of the Democratic platform, in addition to Orange Man Bad. As a result, all the rivals are trying to one-up each other to see who can appease militant activists and sacrifice dreams of eternal economic growth to Patron Saint of Global Warming Greta Thunberg the most. How dare you!
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) have put forward proposals that would impose a nationwide prohibition on fracking. Forget states’ rights, economic growth, and private property – banning is how we do this, baby.
Should a Democrat retake the White House next year, could he or she even achieve such a pie-in-the-sky pipe dream? It depends on two things: the makeup of the Senate come 2020 and how the executive branch is managed.
First, a President Warren or a President Sanders could get Democrats in the Congress to submit and pass anti-fracking legislation. While it might be doable in the House, it would be nearly impossible in the Senate if the Republicans maintain control of the chamber, plus some Democrats come from states that are heavily involved in fracking and would risk losing voter support over the issue.
Second, Sen. Harris has been clear that if she becomes president, she will rule with an iron fist and adopt a Pen and Phone 2.0 model. Harris has not been shy that she is ready to wield the power of the presidency any way she can if she does not get her way through the constitutional route. So, a President Harris could, for example, employ executive action by banning fracking on public lands, though there would be a lot of legal challenges. Also, this would only be a temporary solution because a Republican successor could reverse the executive action.
Either way, you know that the Democratic Party is no longer a serious or realistic political entity when it promises to impose a nationwide ban on the very tool that has made the US energy independent. From lower gasoline prices to foreign policy leverage, fracking has yielded tremendous rewards for a country that had to bow down to Saudi kings for decades and cave to the OPEC cartel.
Fracking Our Way to Prosperity
In January 2019, Liberty Nation reported that the US had become a net energy exporter for the first time in more than 70 years. Despite promise after promise from Republican and Democratic administrations, the US finally kicked its foreign energy addiction and became self-reliant, as well as a global energy king. How did this happen? The shale-oil revolution, courtesy of fracking.
Over the last 12 months, natural gas prices have crashed 30%. This might not be a positive trend for futures traders and producers, but households are seeing their energy bills drop by as much as $300 per year. With natural gas prices anticipated to hover in the $2 per million British thermal units (btu) range for many years to come, consumers in both the US and abroad can expect lower energy bills.
So, what about the environment? Experts say that the long-term impact is unclear, but for now, fracking has led to fewer carbon emissions and a decline in air pollution. This is evident in the data that shows CO2 emissions are at their lowest levels since the early 1990s, which is a remarkable feat because we were told that the only way to achieve this is through public policy, signing on to virtue-signaling global accords, and taxing cow emissions.
The Plight of Pandering
Two scenarios could be unfolding in the Democratic Party. Democrats might genuinely want to restrict fracking to appease a bunch of whiny teenagers, no matter how foolish such a policy would be. Or, this is a political strategy of pandering for votes now and hoping the public forgets about the donkeys’ campaign promises over the next few years. For the sake of the nation’s energy independence and economic growth, the American people might hope that progressive politicians break their promises.
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