Well, that didn’t take very long.
There has been a sense that Joe Biden was going to take a hard left turn as soon as he got into office. He was the moderate lure that delivered Georgia and Pennsylvania to the Democrats in 2020, and now he owes them.
So, just one weak into office, Joe Biden broke one of his most oft-repeated campaign promises: That he would not ban fracking.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed a series of executive orders that prioritize climate change across all levels of government and put the U.S. on track to curb planet-warming carbon emissions.
Biden’s orders direct the secretary of the Interior Department to halt new oil and natural gas leases on public lands and waters, and begin a thorough review of existing permits for fossil fuel development.
In addition to the pause on leasing, Biden will direct the federal government to conserve 30% of federal lands and water by 2030 and find ways to double offshore wind production by that time.
And while Biden was careful not to use the phrase “ban” and make his intent obvious, he’s accomplished just that: Stopping fracking on federal land, and killing jobs in the energy sector.
If Joe Biden is being this blatant about breaking his campaign promises a week into his presidency, imagine how far off course he’ll be a year from now.
