During the campaign's of both President Donald Trump and Vice President Joe Biden, the energy industry, specifically fracking in states such as Pennsylvania have been a major area of contention. Donald Trump has claimed that Joe Biden will destroy the energy industry, banning fracking in Pennsylvania and pushing towards only renewable energy. The issue here is that in Western Pennsylvania, fracking makes up a large portion of the job market. Many in the industry compared it to the steel industry in the 19th and 20th centuries, everyone knew someone who worked in it.
Biden's plan is one in which new fracking will be limited, and a push for increased jobs in wind and solar energy. Those who agree with his principles argue that thousands of similar paying jobs to that of the fracking industry will open up. These will range from jobs requiring a high school diploma, to some upper level jobs requiring masters or bachelors degrees. Jim Spencer, a businessman who manages wind and solar farms in the area, predicts that they future will hold fracking alongside an increase in renewables. He recognizes the large scale employment that comes with building and managing the renewable farms. On the other hand though he thinks that for when the sun is not shining or the wind not blowing, natural gas can keep things running. Spencer is more so of the mindset that coal will be phased out, as both other options are cheaper.
Trump and many of his Republican supporters are fearful of Biden's plan with the fracking industry. They are unsure whether to trust him and the Democrats, as they believe their policies will greatly reduce the scale of fracking. That means less jobs for them, lower wages, and a reason for mass exodus from the region. To them, the fracking industry has provided opportunity in a rural and otherwise unprosperous place. In the end it seems many Pennsylvanians are hedging their bets that there will be some sort of combination of renewables and fracking, regardless of the candidate.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-battleground-pennsylvania-fracking-and-renewables-compete-to-be-the-future-of-energy-11603979272
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