News Opinons Politics

Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez Push Bill to ‘Ban Fracking Nationwide’

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 Announces Deal to ‘Substantially Lower the Price of Ground Beef’
Chinese Man Charged with Illegally Voting in US Election and Trying to Frame Someone Else
Two US Army Corps of Engineers employees among 8 killed in Alaska charter plane crash
WATCH: Deputies hunt wanted man through cornfield after high-speed chase caught on camera
Black voters rip Dems over taking them for granted in El-Sayed’s backyard: ‘Hush us up’
Trump-appointed judge blocks blue state’s crackdown on ICE detention center
Breaking: Supreme Court Sides with Trump on White House Ball Room Construction
NY Knicks Owner Turns Against Kathy Hochul, Gives Big to Republican Opponent
ICC president decries being sanctioned by US: ‘Demise of international rule of law’
Appeals court upholds Letitia James subpoena block as DOJ vows to appeal to Supreme Court
Trump to transform spaceflight from spectacle to status quo targeting 3 launches per day
Revealed: The ‘Gentlemen’s Agreement’ That Kept Devastating Karmelo Anthony Evidence Out of Court and What that Evidence Was
Surprise election upset shows hating Trump is no longer enough as Democratic voters turn to new playbook
Surrogate Mom and Baby Flee to TX for Protection as Bio Parents Sue Her for Refusing to Abort Baby
Karmelo Anthony fights for new trial as lawyers clash over unwritten deal that shaped case

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.”

See also  Appeals court upholds limits on warrantless ICE arrests at churches

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 Announces Deal to ‘Substantially Lower the Price of Ground Beef’
Chinese Man Charged with Illegally Voting in US Election and Trying to Frame Someone Else
Two US Army Corps of Engineers employees among 8 killed in Alaska charter plane crash
WATCH: Deputies hunt wanted man through cornfield after high-speed chase caught on camera
Black voters rip Dems over taking them for granted in El-Sayed’s backyard: ‘Hush us up’
Trump-appointed judge blocks blue state’s crackdown on ICE detention center
Breaking: Supreme Court Sides with Trump on White House Ball Room Construction
NY Knicks Owner Turns Against Kathy Hochul, Gives Big to Republican Opponent
ICC president decries being sanctioned by US: ‘Demise of international rule of law’
Appeals court upholds Letitia James subpoena block as DOJ vows to appeal to Supreme Court
Trump to transform spaceflight from spectacle to status quo targeting 3 launches per day
Revealed: The ‘Gentlemen’s Agreement’ That Kept Devastating Karmelo Anthony Evidence Out of Court and What that Evidence Was
Surprise election upset shows hating Trump is no longer enough as Democratic voters turn to new playbook
Surrogate Mom and Baby Flee to TX for Protection as Bio Parents Sue Her for Refusing to Abort Baby
Karmelo Anthony fights for new trial as lawyers clash over unwritten deal that shaped case

See also  Recalling a political analyst whose insight would have risen above the midterm elections din

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 Announces Deal to ‘Substantially Lower the Price of Ground Beef’
Chinese Man Charged with Illegally Voting in US Election and Trying to Frame Someone Else
Two US Army Corps of Engineers employees among 8 killed in Alaska charter plane crash
WATCH: Deputies hunt wanted man through cornfield after high-speed chase caught on camera
Black voters rip Dems over taking them for granted in El-Sayed’s backyard: ‘Hush us up’
Trump-appointed judge blocks blue state’s crackdown on ICE detention center
Breaking: Supreme Court Sides with Trump on White House Ball Room Construction
NY Knicks Owner Turns Against Kathy Hochul, Gives Big to Republican Opponent
ICC president decries being sanctioned by US: ‘Demise of international rule of law’
Appeals court upholds Letitia James subpoena block as DOJ vows to appeal to Supreme Court
Trump to transform spaceflight from spectacle to status quo targeting 3 launches per day
Revealed: The ‘Gentlemen’s Agreement’ That Kept Devastating Karmelo Anthony Evidence Out of Court and What that Evidence Was
Surprise election upset shows hating Trump is no longer enough as Democratic voters turn to new playbook
Surrogate Mom and Baby Flee to TX for Protection as Bio Parents Sue Her for Refusing to Abort Baby
Karmelo Anthony fights for new trial as lawyers clash over unwritten deal that shaped case

See also  Appeals court upholds limits on warrantless ICE arrests at churches

Similarly, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has vowed to ban fracking “everywhere”:

Story cited here.

Share this article:
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter