Pennsylvania Democrats Speak to the Importance of Fracking

January 29, 2020

John Fetterman, the current Democrat Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, is a proud progressive. He campaigned on his support for single-payer health care, and endorsed Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary in 2016. But, even he knows the importance of fracking to Pennsylvania’s communities.

In a recent interview with The New York Times, Fetterman said:

In Pennsylvania, you’re talking hundreds of thousands of related jobs that would be — they would be unemployed overnight…Pennsylvania is a margin play. And an outright ban on fracking isn’t a margin play.

Bill Peduto, the current Democrat Mayor of Pittsburgh, joined Fetterman in this interview. He expressed a similar view:

Mr. Peduto said “the Warren-Sanders, ban-all-fracking-right-now” position would “absolutely devastate communities throughout the Rust Belt”…“If a candidate comes into this state and tries to sell that policy, they’re going to have a hard time winning,” he said.

In Western Pennsylvania, fracking hasn’t just brought back jobs – it has brought back good-paying, unionized jobs that don’t require a college degree. In these towns, unemployment is at decade lows and home values are soaring. Regardless of one’s party affiliation, these are positives that can’t be ignored and certainly can’t be taken away from Pennsylvanian families.

Hopefully presidential candidates can realize that real Americans care about more jobs, higher salaries, and providing for their families – not political revolution. If they can realize that, they’ll realize just how important the gas and oil industry is to the American economy and American communities.