Joe Biden's presidential campaign is asking several TV stations in Pennsylvania to stop airing an ad from a pro-Trump Super PAC that the campaign says inaccurately represents Mr. Biden's position on fracking.
A letter sent to the stations from the campaign and dated Aug. 17 takes issue with an ad from America First PAC that claims Mr. Biden would "eliminate fracking" and "kill up to 600,000 Pennsylvania jobs" in the process.
In the letter, M. Patrick Moore Jr., deputy general counsel for the Biden campaign, wrote that those two claims have been "debunked," that Mr. Biden's platform is not to eliminate fracking and that even if it was, there are only about 20,000 people who work in the oil and natural gas industry in Pennsylvania.
“It is notable, too, that the news programs shown to your viewers have debunked these claims," Mr. Moore wrote. "Yet, you continue to accept advertising dollars to allow [America First Action] to spread them further. This incongruence is a disservice to your viewers and a misleading business practice."
“We ask for the prompt removal of these advertisements," the letter reads. "We will not stand by and allow [America First Action] to lie to Pennsylvanians about Joe Biden.”
The ad has been aired on at least one Pittsburgh station.
The campaign's attempt to correct the record over Mr. Biden's position on fracking underscores a theme of 2020 presidential politics in Pennsylvania, where Republicans have made it a frequent talking point to warn voters of the Democrat's apparent disdain for drilling and his plans to do away with it completely.
But the campaign, in the letter, said Mr. Biden "decidedly does not" plan to "eliminate fracking," and instead wants to ban "only new oil and gas permits, fracking included, on federal land" — which it says would have no impact on permits that have already been issued and would not apply to fracking done on private or state-owned land, where most fracking takes place. And while the PAC's ad claims that Mr. Biden's ban would kill up to 600,000 jobs in Pennsylvania, the letter noted that a fact check by the Philadelphia Inquirer of the same claim found that 20,146 people are currently employed in the state's oil and natural gas industry.
The 600,000 jobs figure, the Inquirer reported, came from a 2019 report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Energy Institute, which said that it calculated the number by using software that “tracks monetary transactions within the economy between different industries, the government, and households," but didn't explain the math further.
America First began airing the ad Aug. 12 as part of a $7.5 million summer investment, and pointed to a few things as evidence for its claims.
In a release at the time, America First noted that Mr. Biden's running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, said in a CNN Town Hall last September when she was running for the Democratic nomination, "There is no question, I'm in favor of banning fracking."
The PAC also pointed to statements made by Mr. Biden, including when he conceded in a debate last December that he'd be willing to "sacrifice" growth in oil and gas in order to transition to a greener economy.
"The answer is yes, because the opportunity for those workers to transition to high-paying jobs ... is real," Mr. Biden said, adding that "we have to make sure we explain it to those people who are displaced, that their skills are going to be needed for the new opportunities."
At no point in his debate answer did he propose a total ban on fracking.
On other occasions, Mr. Biden has referenced eliminating fossil fuels — which the PAC emphasized.
“I guarantee you. We’re going to end fossil fuel,” he told an environmental activist last September.
His campaign has sought to clarify his stance at times, issuing a statement last year to Bloomberg that said Mr. Biden is “committed to achieving a 100% clean energy economy and net-zero emissions by 2050” and “supports eliminating subsidies for coal and gas and deploying carbon capture sequestration technology to create economic benefits for multiple industries and significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions.”
Julian Routh: jrouth@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1952, Twitter @julianrouth.
First Published: August 18, 2020, 4:46 p.m.
