Don Lemon Confronts Fetterman On History Of Fracking Opposition: ‘To Be Clear’

Don Lemon Confronts Fetterman On History Of Fracking Opposition: ‘To Be Clear’

Harold Hutchison on November 1, 2022

CNN host Don Lemon confronted Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania over past opposition to fracking Tuesday morning.

“In 2018, when running for lieutenant governor, you said, ‘I don’t support fracking at all and I never have,’” Lemon asked Fetterman, who is running for the Senate seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. “So, to be clear, Lieutenant Governor, do you support fracking now?”

“Yes. No. The — all of the — all of the reservations that I had with fracking were all about the environmental concerns, and Pennsylvania passed some of the strongest environmental regulations, and that has now, you know, means that — I’ve been very supportive of fracking because energy independence is critical, and that gets more and more important, given in light of the Ukraine war, to make sure we can’t be a hostage to a nation like Russia,” Fetterman responded. “Again, it was all about the environmental issues, and, again, after the regulations passed, it’s a no-brainer to support fracking and I’ve been very strong supporter of fracking.”

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In addition to the 2018 comments in an interview with Real Progressives, Fetterman also expressed opposition to fracking in an unsuccessful Senate campaign in 2016 and called for a “moratorium” on the procedure until certain changes were made.

“I support a moratorium on fracking until 2 conditions are met: an extraction tax, & the strictest enviro regulations in this country,” Fetterman tweeted on Feb. 4, 2016.

Fracking is short for hydraulic fracturing, which is using liquid and minerals to develop oil and gas from shale formations, according to the Independent Petroleum Association of America.

“What has changed since 2018 when you said that you didn’t support it?” Lemon asked.

“I’ve never taken any money from the industry and I’ve always believed that it’s very a environmental concerns and it’s also very critical, energy independence as well, and it’s part of supporting fracking, and now that we are doing it in a more — or in a stronger environmental kinds of regulations,” Fetterman said.