Joseph R. Biden on Thursday said he does not support an immediate ban on hydraulic fracturing for natural gas, or fracking, saying it’s an important business in battleground states like Pennsylvania and Ohio.
“Fracking has to continue because we need a transition,” Mr. Biden said at a CNN town hall. “There’s no rationale to eliminate, right now, fracking.”
Mr. Biden has laid out an energy proposal to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
Mr. Biden, under pressure during the Democratic primary to disavow the practice, said at a March debate, “No more — no new fracking.”
His campaign said afterward that he misspoke and that his position remained consistent: no new fracking permits on federal land.
He said Thursday that he doesn’t think the far-reaching “Green New Deal” is “too much.”
“I have my own deal — I’ve laid it out in great detail,” he said.
