When Vice President Kamala Harris was a Democratic presidential candidate in 2019, the then-senator supported a ban on hydraulic fracturing and spending trillions of dollars on a “Green New Deal” to bring greenhouse gas emissions to net zero. Harris ultimately backed off her anti-fracking position, and the Biden administration never supported the other measures.
Bracewell’s Scott Segal told the Houston Chronicle, “Those issues were shelved completely when (Harris) joined the Biden-Harris ticket because it was clear the combination of centrist forces that allow a Democrat to win nationally cannot accept those left-leaning policies.”
“Even if she wanted to return to those energy policies, I don’t think it’s possible given congressional dynamics now,” Segal said.
Segal added that Harris might well increase environmental enforcement actions against the oil and gas sector – like she did as California attorney general – if elected in November.