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Climate warrior or energy booster? Both sides wonder

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Little time to finesse policies with the election so near

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One thing is clear: She no longer backs a fracking ban

By Jarrett Renshaw

PHILADELPHIA, Aug 14 (Reuters) - In the 25 days since

Vice President Kamala Harris entered the race for the White

House, she has kept energy executives guessing.

Is she the climate and anti-pollution warrior who was

attorney general of California? Or the pragmatic Number Two in

the Democratic Biden administration that oversaw record U.S. oil

production and exports.

In speeches over the last week, she has mentioned the word

climate seven times, but the words energy, fracking and oil have

yet to cross her lips.

Opinion polls show broad support for tackling climate

change, especially among younger voters. But her campaign aims

to avoid alienating either side. Several aides describe her plan

on controversial energy issues as one of strategic ambiguity.

The goal is to attract voters in battleground states like

Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin where elections are

decided. There, blue-collar workers rely on extractive, power

and manufacturing industries and often back Republican policies

that seek to maximize and prolong fossil fuel output.

Harris' Republican rival in the Nov. 5 election already has

voiced his view. In an interview with billionaire Elon Musk on

Monday, Donald Trump called Harris a "radical left lunatic." He

questioned the urgency attached to climate change.

In five of her speeches the last week, she uttered the same

10-word phrase in the context of Trump, saying: "He intends to

surrender our fight against the climate crisis."

Harris' late entry to the presidential race has given her

little time to finesse policies. One campaign official, when

asked about specific policy proposals, observed: "We barely have

campaign signs."

TOEING THE BIDEN LINE MORE CLOSELY

The Harris campaign declined to provide specific answers to

detailed questions about her energy policy and how her past

statements align with her current approach, but suggested that

she would adhere more closely to the policies of the Biden

administration than some of her policies in California or when

she first sought the presidency in 2019.

President Joe Biden talked tough on fighting Big Oil but did

little to restrict fossil fuel output. U.S. oil and gas output

have reached record highs under his administration, and top

energy companies Exxon and Chevron ( CVX ) both made record profits.

Unlike governments in Europe, Biden never imposed a windfall

tax on the earnings those companies made when oil and gas prices

soared after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

As vice president, Harris has supported Biden's landmark

climate legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

"As president, Kamala Harris will finish implementing the

IRA and the bipartisan infrastructure law and build on their

successes," a campaign spokesperson said, referring to

legislation that contains lucrative clean energy subsidy

programs.

She and Biden have sought to expand offshore wind energy and

other renewables with lease auctions and subsidies, striking a

contrast with Trump, who has criticized offshore wind and other

clean energy technologies and regularly states his support for

the fossil fuel industry.

HARRIS NO LONGER FAVORS A FRACKING BAN ON FEDERAL LANDS

The Harris campaign has clarified her position on one issue.

She no longer supports a ban on fracking on federal lands. Biden

tried and failed to impose that ban, which was contested by

several states and blocked by a federal judge in Louisiana.

In 2019, Harris outlined a detailed energy and climate

platform that supported the ban and opposed all new fossil fuel

infrastructure projects.

As a U.S. senator and presidential candidate in 2019, Harris

supported a Democratic resolution to create a "Green New Deal,"

a sweeping progressive effort to shift the country toward

renewable energy.

As California attorney general from 2011-2017, Harris won

multimillion-dollar settlements with oil majors Chevron ( CVX ) and BP

over pollution violations from underground fuel storage tanks.

Stephen Brown, an energy consultant and former lobbyist with

Tesoro, who had a large refining footprint in California, said

Harris had not engaged constructively with the oil and gas

industry during her years on Capitol Hill from 2017-2021.

"I can't say that we were tremendously welcomed in her

office by either her or her staff, and so there wasn't a lot of

engagement," he said. "So fast forward to what it is today, and

it's sort of an open book. It's an open question."

In Pennsylvania - a must-win state for both Harris and

Trump, locked in a close race - she has won the endorsement of

all the major labor unions.

The state is the nation's second largest producer of natural

gas and hopes to capitalize on increased demand from Europe for

liquefied natural gas, or LNG, exports. Biden paused all new LNG

export permits earlier this year and the Harris campaign

declined to say whether she will lift the pause and encourage

new facilities.

Rob Bair, president of the Pennsylvania State Building &

Construction Trades Council, whose members work in the state's

power plants, refineries and natural gas fields, said he had

spoken with the Harris team and is confident she will pursue an

"all the above" energy policy, but he acknowledged some clarity

would help him to persuade members to vote for her.

"Would it be great if she came out and said, 'I love

fracking, I want LNG exports, I want more nuclear facilities'?

Sure, but that's not realistic," Bair said.

The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, an

influential refining trade group, has embarked on an 8-figure ad

campaign in battleground states on the potential pitfalls of

electric vehicle mandates.

"Until the vice president says otherwise, we have to believe

she still stands for everything that was in her 2019 policy plan

and for every policy she cosponsored as a senator," said Chet

Thompson, AFPM President and CEO.