More Prominent Democrats Rebuke “Keep-It-In-The-Ground” Goals as “Not Possible”
Thursday July 28, 2016
This week, POLITICO hosted a panel discussion at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, which was famously interrupted by “Keep-It-In-The-Ground” (KIITG) activists who were angry that just about every prominent Democrat on the stage supports fracking.
One of them was Iowa Congressman Dave Loebsack who had this to say about KIITG’s goals:
“We can’t just flip a switch and say ‘no more fossil fuels, now it’s all renewables.’ That’s not practical, it’s not possible.”
Congressman Loebsack’s comments echo those of Obama Science Advisor John Holdren who recently said, “The notion that we’re going to keep it all in the ground is unrealistic.” They are also right in line with Clinton campaign chair John Podesta, who called KIITG activists “completely impractical.”
Another voice of reason at the Politico event was Former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell who was office while the Marcellus shale revolution was just taking off. The governor was quick to point out that fracking and natural gas are not only beneficial, but also necessary. As Gov. Rendell said,
“But if you regulate it [fracking] well, it can be a valuable source of the economy and good for the environment.”
As the former governor pointed out, the switch to natural gas produced through fracking for energy generation has improved air emissions significantly in the United States. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, thanks to the increased use of natural gas, U.S. carbon dioxiode (CO2) emissions from power generation were the lowest in 27 years in 2015. Gov. Rendell elaborated on th...