November is right around the corner! It’s about time for that wonderfully American event of voting for our President, Vice President, and other small things here and there. In 2020, it would seem as if this election would carry more weight than past elections have. You would be right, in a sense. We are empowered to know what weight is being carried.
Joe Biden has been around for a long time. This fact has been repeated ad nauseam. Now, he is throwing support behind eliminating fossil fuels. Sort of. There’s no telling what he actually wants. He has said many things over the past few years, though, and we can try and figure out where he stands (or assume he is bad at thinking on the spot). For example, he has mentioned banning fracking, banning new fracking, and more. On the other hand, his own website simply mentions not allowing new oil and gas permitting on public land, and tighter regulations for emission control in the oil and gas industry.
Before we move too far, let’s address one thing: no one in the media or in politics seem to have any idea what fracking is. In a 2019 Democratic Primary debate, CNN’s Dana Bash poses the following question to Joe Biden: “Just to clarify, would there be any place for fossil fuels, including coal and fracking, in a Biden administration?” Seems like a good, easy softball of a question. But a cursory glance at the question indicates that no one knows what they are talking about. Fracking is not a fossil fuel. Fracking is a process to enhance oil production. Of course, it would be way too much to expect a presidential candidate to be able to respond appropriately, and Joe Biden continued: “No, we would — we would work it out. We would make sure it’s eliminated and no more subsidies for either one of those, either — any fossil fuel.” See the transcript cited below for the full available text from that debate. He is saying that he would want to eliminate subsidizes for coal (a fossil fuel) and fracking (a process) and any fossil fuel.
It’s strange that one party actively accuses the other of denying science, yet they continue to address fracking as a fossil fuel when there is no way that fracking can possibly be a fossil fuel. Another double standard. Absolutely disgusting.
Now let’s take a step back and look at the big picture. Of course, everyone would want the world to run perfectly. That in itself will take years to do, many more years than what Joe Biden would like to see in his plan while also staying economical for the United States. A fully electric infrastructure would be fantastic, if it were possible. But it’s not. Windmills, turbines, solar panels, etc. all require oil in some way, shape, or form to be either made, operable, or both. On a personal level, people who live on the Gulf Coast should realize how important oil and gas is when the power goes out during a storm, and they run a generator to keep the AC on and the refrigerator running. In a general sense, we use products made from or with oil and gas every day. Many city buses, which reduce emissions and serve a public good, are run off of natural gas.
We can start a transition away from oil and gas, but we will never be able to get rid of it. And we shouldn’t want to, not quickly, because the price for going electric fast could be more than we can all afford in the grand scheme of things. We definitely should not elect leaders who would encourage a swift move in a dangerous direction.
Sources:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/23/politics/biden-fracking-fact-check/index.html
Bayou Observant 
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