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Praying for climate change: we ‘waited too long’
President Biden has signed executive actions related to combating climate change, including raising climate change as a national security issue.
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The claim: Biden bans hydrofracking
A Jan. 25 Facebook post denounced fact-checkers for misjudging a Trump campaign over President Joe Biden ending the hydrofracking.
The report is a meme that compares a headline from a Washington Post fact-checking article published in October to a January 20 piece on the conservative opinion website Townhall, written by Katie Pavlich.
In the “Trump campaign promotes false claim that Biden will end up with hydrofracking”, the Post gave the Trump team the claim that Biden will eliminate the hydrofracking of “Four Pinnochios”.
Below the headline of the Facebook post is the comment “And look what Biden is doing”, with arrows pointing to Pavlich’s article headline “Biden Administration: Yes, We Are Follow Through With a Fracking Ban” to refute the false assessment.
“Where did those ‘fact checkers’ go,’ reads the caption.
USA TODAY released the poster for comment.
Fracking, the process of extracting natural gas from the earth by drilling, was a recurring theme during the presidential debates in 2020. No heading in the claim tells the full story of Biden’s hydrofracking policy.
More: Fact check: Marines did not greet Joe Biden before he was sworn in, according to protocol
Did Biden propose a ban on hydraulic fracturing?
The Biden campaign highlighted the dangers posed to the environment by fossil fuel mining in a $ 1.7 billion Clean Energy Revolution proposal, according to the campaign’s website.
But during the last presidential debate on October 23, then-Democratic presidential candidate Biden said he would not eliminate all fracking.
“I do exclude the ban on fracturing because the answer we need is: we need to switch other industries to finally reach a full zero emission by 2025,” he said, according to a transcript. “What I will do with hydrofracking over time is make sure we can capture the emissions of the hydrofracking. Take up the emissions of gas. We can do it and we can do it by investing money. It is a transition after that. “
Despite Biden’s statement, former President Donald Trump has accused him of declaring war on the oil industry, the US reported TODAY in October.
More: Why the Biden and Trump campaigns both claim to have won the final presidential debate in 2020
A December 2019 report issued by the Global Energy Institute of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates that a ban imposed in 2021 will cost the U.S. economy 19 million jobs and the gross domestic product with $ 7.1 billion will decrease.
Temporary moratorium on oil and gas leases
The Washington Post article quoted in the meme checks a Trump campaign ad that uses Biden audio bites to falsely claim he will ban all hydraulic fracturing.
The Townhall article refers to the statement of press secretary Jen Psaki on January 20 about Biden’s executive action to place a temporary moratorium on oil and gas leasing only in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
It states that Psaki has confirmed that President Biden will follow the campaign promises to ban new fracturing on federal soil. The article repeats an exchange between a reporter who asks if the White House is still planning to terminate new oil and gas leases for federal land, and Psaki, who replies: “We do and the leases will be reviewed by our team. ”
The order was a precursor to an executive order on Jan. 27 that disrupted new leases on public lands and foreign waters, according to The White House.
More: Fact test: Joe Biden wants to eliminate new hydraulic fracturing permits, not all hydraulic fracturing
The article does not mention Trump’s accusations of the campaign era against the president’s policy on hydraulic fracturing.
USA TODAY issued Townhall for comment.
Biden reiterated his position on the practice and committed himself to the review and restoration of the oil and gas rental program in his comments on January 27th.
“Let me be clear, and I know it always comes to the fore: we are not going to ban hydrofracking. We will protect jobs and grow jobs, including through stronger standards, such as controlling methane leaks and union workers willing to install the changes, ‘he said.
The administration of Biden did not follow a ban on hydraulic fracturing, as stated in the claim.
Our rating: false
We rate this claim FALSE, based on our research. A Facebook claim that Biden is following a ban on fracking refers to an article from a conservative opinion website noting the Biden government’s recent environmental action. Biden has signed two executive orders to place a temporary moratorium on new oil and gas leases on public lands and foreign waters, but he has not banned fracking. The president said he would not put an end to hydrofracking in remarks made by the White House.
Our sources for fact checking:
- The Washington Post, October 7, 2020: ‘Trump campaign promotes false claim that Biden will end up with hydrofracking’
- City Hall, January 20: “Biden administration: Yes, we follow a ban on disruption”
- Townhall, visited on January 30: “Townhall.com – the leading conservative and political opinion website”
- USA TODAY, October 23, 2020: “Debate Transcript: Trump, Biden Final Presidential Debate Moderated by Kristen Welker”
- USA TODAY, October 25, 2020: “Why the Biden and Trump Campaigns Claim to Win the Final Presidential Debate in 2020”
- The White House, January 20: “Press briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki, January 20, 2021”
- Biden Campaign Website: “THE PRAYER PLAN FOR A CLEAN ENERGY REVOLUTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE”
- The White House, January 27: “Remarks by President Biden before signing executive actions on tackling climate change, job creation and restoring scientific integrity”
- US Chamber of Commerce Global Energy Institute, gained access on January 30: “WHAT IF … HYDRAULIC FRACTURING IS BANNED?
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