An anti-fracking bill crafted by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) aims to end the practice altogether, making it illegal “on all onshore and offshore land in the United States” by Jan. 1, 2025.
Left-wing actor Mark Ruffalo teased the bill last week, allowing Sanders to jokingly knock him for “ruining the surprise” of the new fracking legislation.
“I don’t mind if @MarkRuffalo spoils his own movies. But please, don’t ruin the surprise of our new legislation with Rep. @AOC, @SenJeffMerkley and @RepDarrenSoto,” Sanders wrote with an accompanying clip of the Avengers actor evidently “spoiling” the upcoming legislation:
Trump eyes action on Greenland, setting up White House face-off with Denmark
Tax fight puts California on collision course as billionaires leave for red states
Teachers union slams ‘Trump regime,’ claims ICE murdered Minneapolis agitator in message to supporters
Florida paraglider survives 500-foot plunge into ocean
Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett Makes Troubling Concession to Transgender Activists During Oral Arguments
Trump administration projects united front as president weighs Iran options
House Republican recognizes transgender Dem Sarah McBride as ‘the gentleman from Delaware’
Trump signals long road ahead in Venezuela in his boldest interventionist move yet
Trump faces Venezuela war powers uncertainty as he lobbies GOP rebels
Bill Maher Issues Perfect Response to Fellow Celebs Wearing Anti-ICE ‘Be Good’ Pins
ICE head says agents facing ‘constant impediments’ after migrant seen ramming cars while trying to flee
Venezuela releases multiple American citizens from prison following military operation
Rand Paul says GOP colleagues ‘don’t give a s‑‑t about these people in the boats’: They ‘say they’re pro-life’
DOJ says ‘no basis’ for civil rights investigation into Minneapolis ICE officer killing
GOP senator suggests Fed chair Powell resign now to dodge potential criminal indictment
I don't mind if @MarkRuffalo spoils his own movies. But please, don't ruin the surprise of our new legislation with Rep. @AOC, @SenJeffMerkley and @RepDarrenSoto.
I don't want the dirty fracking industry CEOs to know what hit them. pic.twitter.com/OBbQnpOHsy
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 30, 2020
The bill, according to the Hill, aims to end fracking altogether, revoking permits for “wells where fracking takes place and that are within 2,500 feet of a home, school or other ‘inhabited structure’” beginning February 1, 2021. It would also “immediately prevent federal agencies from issuing federal permits for expanded fracking, new fracking, new pipelines, new natural gas or oil export terminals and other gas and oil infrastructure.”
It would make the practice, which Ocasio-Cortez has identified as the “leading contributor to our climate emergency,” illegal by January 1, 2025.
“Fracking is a danger to our water supply. It’s a danger to the air we breathe, it has resulted in more earthquakes, and it’s highly explosive,” Sanders said in a statement, according to the Hill. To top it all off, it’s contributing to climate change.”
“If we are serious about clean air and drinking water, if we are serious about combating climate change, the only safe and sane way to move forward is to ban fracking nationwide,” he continued.
Trump eyes action on Greenland, setting up White House face-off with Denmark
Tax fight puts California on collision course as billionaires leave for red states
Teachers union slams ‘Trump regime,’ claims ICE murdered Minneapolis agitator in message to supporters
Florida paraglider survives 500-foot plunge into ocean
Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett Makes Troubling Concession to Transgender Activists During Oral Arguments
Trump administration projects united front as president weighs Iran options
House Republican recognizes transgender Dem Sarah McBride as ‘the gentleman from Delaware’
Trump signals long road ahead in Venezuela in his boldest interventionist move yet
Trump faces Venezuela war powers uncertainty as he lobbies GOP rebels
Bill Maher Issues Perfect Response to Fellow Celebs Wearing Anti-ICE ‘Be Good’ Pins
ICE head says agents facing ‘constant impediments’ after migrant seen ramming cars while trying to flee
Venezuela releases multiple American citizens from prison following military operation
Rand Paul says GOP colleagues ‘don’t give a s‑‑t about these people in the boats’: They ‘say they’re pro-life’
DOJ says ‘no basis’ for civil rights investigation into Minneapolis ICE officer killing
GOP senator suggests Fed chair Powell resign now to dodge potential criminal indictment
Critics of Sanders have defended the practice, warning that its elimination would “spike household energy costs and hurt farmers and manufacturers.”
American Petroleum Institute spokeswoman Bethany Aronhalt told the Hill:
Banning a safe, successful method of developing energy would erase a generation of American energy progress and in the process destroy millions of U.S. jobs, spike household energy costs and hurt farmers and manufacturers.
“Thanks to fracking, the United States is the global leader in reducing carbon emissions,” Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) tweeted in response to the announcement:
Sanders has long maintained the need for the elimination of fracking, promising to ban it during his presidential bid in 2016.
“If I win, we are going to ban fracking all across this country,” Sanders said at the time.
That call has carried over to his current presidential campaign as well. In September, Sanders called on his colleagues to support a ban.
“Any proposal to avert the climate crisis must include a full fracking ban on public and private lands,” Sanders stated, dismissing “safe fracking” as “pure fiction”:
Trump eyes action on Greenland, setting up White House face-off with Denmark
Tax fight puts California on collision course as billionaires leave for red states
Teachers union slams ‘Trump regime,’ claims ICE murdered Minneapolis agitator in message to supporters
Florida paraglider survives 500-foot plunge into ocean
Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett Makes Troubling Concession to Transgender Activists During Oral Arguments
Trump administration projects united front as president weighs Iran options
House Republican recognizes transgender Dem Sarah McBride as ‘the gentleman from Delaware’
Trump signals long road ahead in Venezuela in his boldest interventionist move yet
Trump faces Venezuela war powers uncertainty as he lobbies GOP rebels
Bill Maher Issues Perfect Response to Fellow Celebs Wearing Anti-ICE ‘Be Good’ Pins
ICE head says agents facing ‘constant impediments’ after migrant seen ramming cars while trying to flee
Venezuela releases multiple American citizens from prison following military operation
Rand Paul says GOP colleagues ‘don’t give a s‑‑t about these people in the boats’: They ‘say they’re pro-life’
DOJ says ‘no basis’ for civil rights investigation into Minneapolis ICE officer killing
GOP senator suggests Fed chair Powell resign now to dodge potential criminal indictment
NEW: @BernieSanders calling on all Democratic candidates to support a full fracking BAN on all public and private lands. pic.twitter.com/YMbFEp26nP
— Anthony Adragna (@AnthonyAdragna) September 4, 2019
Similarly, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has vowed to ban fracking “everywhere”:
On my first day as president, I will sign an executive order that puts a total moratorium on all new fossil fuel leases for drilling offshore and on public lands. And I will ban fracking—everywhere.
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) September 6, 2019
Story cited here.
