Lamb says Western Pa. residents feel ‘betrayed’ by fracking ban
WASHINGTON — Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Mt. Lebanon, on Friday condemned legislation that would impose by 2025 a nationwide ban on fracking, a natural gas drilling technique that helped create thousands of energy jobs in Pennsylvania while drawing criticism from environmental advocates who want to move away from fossil fuels.
Mr. Lamb, in a letter penned to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, DCalif., urged the House to reject the bill, introduced this week by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Rep. Darren Soto, DFla. The bill follows similar legislation introduced in the Senate by Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.
“If this bill were enacted — and survived likely court challenges — it would eliminate thousands of jobs in my state and likely millions across the country,” Mr. Lamb wrote. “It would also remove from our energy grid the source of power that has been most responsible for reducing carbon emissions in our country.”
Mr. Lamb suggested the elimination of fracking would have little practical impact on the fight to curb climate change. He called on Ms. Pelosi to allow a vote on
the Fossil Energy Research and Development Act, which would expand the U.S. Department of Energy’s research programs for fossil energy. Mr. Lamb co-sponsored the bill.
Those investments would include clean energy technology, carbon capture and storage, methane leak detection, and systems to reduce emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants. Much of that work likely would be performed at the National Energy Technology Laboratory in South Park.
The bill was passed by the House Science, Space and Technology Committee in July by a 22-13 vote, garnering support from three Republican co-sponsors, including Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va., and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Republican representing the Philadelphia suburbs.
It also won an endorsement from the Natural Resources Defense Council, noted Mr. Lamb, who chairs the Energy Subcommittee on the House science panel.
“Unlike a ‘fracking ban,’ the Fossil Energy Research bill would actually help us combat climate change,” Mr. Lamb wrote. “It is important that we show the American people that we believe in an energy policy that is based on science and prioritizes jobs — not one that is based on ideology and prioritizes headlines.”
“In Western Pennsylvania,” he went on, “people feel betrayed when they hear that there are any Democrats who support the elimination of jobs in our communities — good, middle-class, union jobs — and whose policies could easily lead to an increase in carbon emissions.”
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s bill would outlaw fracking across the country by 2025 and prohibit fracking within 2,500 feet of homes and schools by next year.
“Fracking is destroying our land and our water,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Thursday. “It is wreaking havoc on our communities’ health. We must do our job to protect our future from the harms caused by the fracking industry. That is why I am proud to introduce the Fracking Ban Act with @RepDarrenSoto today.”
Mr. Lamb has been outspoken in criticizing other Democrats who propose rolling back industry to fight climate change. He disagreed with Mayor Bill Peduto’s opposition, announced last fall, to any more petrochemical plants in the Pittsburgh region.
“I don’t think it’s really accurate to suggest that there’s a trade-off there between jobs and the environment,” he told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in November.
Instead, Mr. Lamb has favored boosting federal funding for energy research. In September, Mr. Lamb’s subcommittee moved forward legislation that more than triples the Energy Department’s advanced energy research budget to $1 billion by 2024.