The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has released a report on the potential impact on the economy if proposals by the Democratic presidential candidates to ban fracking ever took effect.
Issued by the Chamber’s Global Energy Institute, the report titled “What If…Hydraulic Fracturing Was Banned”, drew an immediate reaction from Senator Pat Toomey, and from Congressman Glen G.T. Thompson, whose 15th District includes Indiana County.
In a response on Twitter, Toomey called the report “scary”. He called on the Senate to pass his bill declaring that no president has the authority to ban fracking on private land, saying such a ban “would devastate the U.S./PA economies.”
Thompson says banning fracking “…makes little sense”, and accused “liberal presidential hopefuls” of paying “nothing more than lip service” to activists. Thompson points out that the courts have prohibited federal regulation of fracking on private lands.
The Chamber report says Pennsylvania would lose 609,000 jobs between 2021 and 2025 if fracking was banned. It would reduce our state’s gross domestic product by $261 billion, and the cost of living for the average Pennsylvanian would increase by $4,654, while income would fall by $114 billion. There would also be $23.4 billion less in state and local tax revenue.
The report quotes Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders, and others all saying they would ban fracking.
