Fact check: A president can’t ban fracking in Pennsylvania

This story is part of the WHYY News Climate Desk, bringing you news and solutions for our changing region.

From the Poconos to the Jersey Shore to the mouth of the Delaware Bay, what do you want to know about climate change? What would you like us to cover? Get in touch.

Fracking for natural gas in Pennsylvania took up significant airtime during the presidential debate Tuesday night at the National Constitution Center in Old City, especially when you consider how little influence a president has when it comes to drilling for oil and gas in the state.

In such a tight presidential race, Pennsylvania will be a hard-fought swing state. So, of course, we have to talk about fracking.

Former President Donald Trump is all for it, and at Tuesday’s debate, he claimed Vice President Kamala Harris is not.

“And she will never allow fracking in Pennsylvania. If she won the election, fracking in Pennsylvania will end on day one,” Trump said.

There’s a big problem with Trump’s statement because a president can’t “ban fracking” in Pennsylvania, only an act of Congress will accomplish that.

When you hear talk about banning fracking by a president – that is limited to federal land. And the state has virtually no federal land to frack. The Allegheny National Forest, in the north central part of the state, is the only place where federal leases exist, and they span about 850 acres.

The vast majority of leases are on private land, something a president cannot touch. The state also leases land to oil and gas development – in 2020 those leases included about 250,000 acres.

Harris, who favored a fracking ban when she first ran for president back in 2019, changed her position once she joined President Joe Biden as his vice-presidential running mate.

“Let’s talk about fracking because we are here in Pennsylvania,” she said. “I made that very clear in 2020.  I will not ban fracking. I have not banned fracking as vice president of the United States.”

To be clear, a vice president can’t ban fracking on any private or state-owned land in Pennsylvania either.

Vice President Harris did say correctly that oil and gas development has increased over the past four years under President Biden.

In January, E&E News reported that federal leases for oil and gas development also increased under Biden.

And while most voters don’t make their presidential decisions based on fracking, it’s one of those issues where you’re either for it or against it. It’s what’s known as a wedge issue, which Trump is using to define himself in contrast to Harris, as he did in the 2020 race against Biden. This will likely continue despite both parties’ support for fracking, and the fact that it’s, again, not something a president can do much about in Pennsylvania even if they wanted to.