Tipsheet

Fact-Check Time: Haley Says DeSantis Banned Fracking in Florida During 2nd GOP Debate

Mia Cathell
Mia Cathell  |  September 28, 2023 4:20 PM

At the second GOP presidential primary debate Wednesday night, 2024 candidates Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis sparred over energy policies in the Florida governor's state, specifically bans on fracking and offshore oil drilling across the Sunshine State.

CLAIM: During the back-and-forth exchange, Haley said: "What you don't need is a president who is against energy independence. Ron DeSantis is against fracking. He's against drilling." Addressing DeSantis, Haley added, "Day Two in Florida, you banned fracking. You banned offshore drilling." To which, DeSantis called Haley's comments "not true" and "just wrong."

FACTS: Prior to DeSantis taking office, on Nov. 6, 2018, the same Election Day DeSantis was elected governor, Florida voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure for a constitutional amendment ("Amendment 9") that banned offshore drilling for oil or natural gas underneath the state's territorial waters (three miles into the Atlantic Ocean and 10 miles into the Gulf of Mexico) out of fears that a spill could ruin the coastal beaches and harm marine wildlife, according to the Tampa-licensed WFLA-TV. 

The citizen-passed measure was placed on the ballot by the Florida Constitution Revision Commission (CRC), a panel of dozens of members hand-selected by the governor, legislative leaders, and the state's Supreme Court chief justice that has the power to review, propose revisional changes to Florida's constitution, and refer constitutional amendments for a statewide public vote.

As Article XI, Section 2 of the Florida Constitution stipulates, the commission's 37-member body meets once every 20 years, convening to place amendments onto the ballot for Floridians to directly vote on, a process that's billed as an opportunity for the state's residents to play an active role in democracy, per the Tallahassee-operated WFSU. Amendment 9 was a package of two constitutional amendments: a ban on offshore oil drilling and a ban on the use of vapor-generating electronic devices like e-cigarettes (vaping) in indoor workplaces. Voters could not approve one and reject the other. Voting "yes" passed both proposals.

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A constitutional amendment requires a 60 percent supermajority vote for passge. The commission-sponsored Amendment 9, which "Prohibits drilling for the exploration or extraction of oil and natural gas beneath all state-owned waters between the mean high water line and the state's outermost territorial boundaries," received 5,415,308 votes (68.92%), according to the Florida Division of Elections database. Its approval meant it became effective as an amendment in January 2019 following the election.

However, the amendment did not mention fracking.

"A constitutional amendment was passed by the people of Florida prohibiting offshore drilling, and he executed the will of the people as is his obligation as governor," Team DeSantis rapid response director Christina Pushaw countered Wednesday night.

"Ron DeSantis did not ban fracking," Pushaw pushed back, labeling Haley's allegation "an amateurish mistake."

On the gubernatorial-election campaign trail, DeSantis had vowed to "Work to Ban Fracking in the State of Florida" as part of his promise to "Protect Florida's Environment," his website said at the time. "With Florida's geological makeup of limestone and shallow water sources, fracking presents a danger to our state that is not acceptable. On day one, Ron DeSantis will advocate to the Florida Legislature to pass legislation that bans fracking in the state," the DeSantis campaign had promised back in 2018.

Shortly after DeSantis assumed office, two days into his term on Jan. 10, 2019, he issued an executive order ("Executive Order 19-12: Achieving More Now For Florida's Environment"), which included an item at the bottom of the agenda under "Section 3: Ensure Florida's Valuable and Vulnerable Coastlines and Natural Resources are Protected" that directed the state's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to push to end all fracking in Florida. The order instructed the DEP to "Take necessary actions to adamantly oppose all off-shore oil and gas activities off every coast in Florida and hydraulic fracturing [a.k.a. fracking]..."

"Our water and natural resources are the foundation of our economy and our way of life in Florida," DeSantis said in a release. "The protection of water resources is one of the most pressing issues facing our state. That’s why today I'm taking immediate action to combat the threats which have devastated our local economies and threatened the health of our communities."

Per PolitiFact's analysis on the DeSantis admin's actions against fracking: "Ultimately, what that has meant under DeSantis is that all newly issued oil and gas permits include specific provisions prohibiting hydraulic fracturing, according to a department spokesperson. In fact, no oil and gas permit authorizing hydraulic fracturing has been issued during DeSantis' administration."

Although DeSantis took actions to stop fracking in Florida, ensuing efforts to ban it have not passed the state legislature.

So far, proposed legislation that would ban fracking in Florida has been unsuccessful in every session. In 2019, a pair of bill (S.B. 7064 and C.S./S.B. 314) were drafted that would've prohibited it in the state, but both failed in Senate committees. Meanwhile, Democrat state Sen. Gary Farmer has proposed legislation that would ban fracking or limit it. But, Farmer's attemps failed.

Though he campaigned on opposing fracking in Florida, arguing that the protection of the Florida coastlines is essential to the state's tourism-centered economy, while running for president, DeSantis has said he supports the practice of fracking elsewhere.

If elected president, DeSantis signaled he would allow offshore drilling and fracking in the U.S. as long as it's not in Florida.

"We have a constitutional amendment that does not allow offshore drilling. And so that's something that we honor," DeSantis said at an August presidential campaign stop when he unveiled his economic plan to "unleash American energy independence."

"That is not saying that I think that should apply to Louisiana or Texas. So that will continue," DeSantis emphasized in a visit to New Hampshire. "And, we want them to be able to do it, and we also want them to be able to use hydraulic fracturing. It's been something that's been very effective [...] But clearly in states like Florida, because we're a coastal state, we've had oil spills. We've put that in the constitution; our voters did. And that's something as governor that I've followed and respected."

In a September speech, DeSantis said that, as president, he would "greenlight oil and gas drilling, extraction, and transportation."

DeSantis told CNN that "people have kind of misconstrued" what he's done in Florida, pointing again to Floridians enshrining environmental protections in the constitution. Reiterating that despite Florida's amendment preventing oil and gas exploration offshore, "that doesn't mean that other states shouldn't do it. It's really up to them what they want to do," DeSantis asserted.

As a Republican member of Congress, in 2013, DeSantis voted for a bill (H.R. 2728) that would prohibit the U.S. Department of Interior from enforcing any federal rules and regulations on state-level fracking operations that would undermine state authority.

As a gubernatorial candidate, DeSantis co-signed a 2017 letter, joining other Florida congressmen who comprised a bipartisan contigent of the House delegation, in "strong opposition" to the Trump administration's plans for drilling in the Atlantic Ocean.

"Opening the Atlantic to seismic testing and dilling jeapordizes our coastal businesses, fishing communities, tourism, and our national security," the letter sent to former President Donald Trump's Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke read. "It harms our coastal economies in the near term and opens the door to even greater risks from offshore oil and gas production down the road..."

RATING: Haley's claim that DeSantis banned fracking and offshore oil drilling is PARTLY FALSE, uses misleading framing, and omits important context. DeSantis's actions against fracking in Florida are more nuanced than Haley's attack purports.

On the issue of offshore oil drilling, the citizen-approved constitutional amendment passed its prohibition and became effective based on statutory procedure. As for fracking, DeSantis's campaign pledge to enact a fracking ban has not come to fruition. Effectively, no permits have authorized fracking in Florida throughout DeSantis's time in office, PolitiFact reported.

Beyond Florida, DeSantis repeatedly embraced the expansion of drilling in other U.S. states, just not at home.