Tipsheet

If Biden and Harris Have Their Way, 19 Million Jobs Would Be Eliminated

California Sen. Kamala Harris (D) and former Vice President Joe Biden are now the official Democratic Party ticket for the 2020 presidential election. One thing that's important to remember as we head into November: both Harris and Biden have promised to ban fracking, which would be a blow to millions of Americans across the country.

"No more, no new fracking. And, by the way, on the Recovery Act, I was able to make sure we invested $90 billion dollars in making sure we brought down the price of solar and wind that is lower than the price of coal," Biden said back in March during a debate with Sen. Bernie Sanders. "That's why not another new coal plant will be built."

"There's no question I'm in favor of banning fracking," Harris said during a town hall last September. "And starting with what we can do on day one with public lands, right? And then there's gotta be legislation. This is something I've taken on in California. I have a history of working on this issue."

"We just have to acknowledge that the residual impact of fracking is enormous in terms of health and safety of communities," the senator said.

According to the Global Energy Institute, if fracking were banned between 2021 and 2025, 19 million Americans would be out of jobs and the United States' GDP would drop by $7.1 trillion. Not only that but energy prices would go through the roof, "with natural gas prices rising by 324 percent, causing household energy bills to quadruple and the cost of living to increase by $5,661 for the average American. By 2025, the price of gasoline would double and government revenues would plummet by almost $1.9 trillion."

What do these two plan to say to energy workers in places like Pennsylvania? "Sorry, you're SOL?"