Banning U.S. fracking ‘would have major implications on the market for the U.S. economy, for jobs growth and everything, and [it’s] not good news for energy security…’
That’s the reaction from Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, to major U.S. presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s proposal to ban the extraction practice from day one if elected.
A few of her party rivals have similar ideas about idling the controversial practice of fracking.
Read: Where the 2020 Democrats stand on climate change
The relatively newly successful method of extracting fossil fuels has pushed the U.S. to near the top of global oil CL00, +2.51% production, threatening to unseat Saudi Arabia. And it has limited a global reliance on Russia for much of its natural gas NG00, +3.53% , which is also collected from the process.
“Up to recently, before the U.S. shale gas revolution, Russia was the country which was dominating alone the gas markets,” the Turkish economist Birol told the cable channel. “With the U.S. coming into the picture, there is a choice, there are options for the consumers, better for energy security, for diversification.”
Proponents of the method cite its boost to U.S. energy independence and the risk to higher transportation costs if the technology goes away. Critics point to land abuses, evidence of groundwater pollution and methane leakage, in addition to the climate effects of fossil-fuel use overall.
Birol told CNBC that a ban on fracking as proposed by Warren and Democratic competitors Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Kamala Harris would have “major implications” for the U.S. energy industry. More broadly, most candidates looking to challenge Donald Trump in 2020 have said they’ll push to ban new fossil fuel leases on public lands.
Read: Half of the 2020 Democratic front-runners favor a carbon tax
“Just banning [fracking] would not be good news, not only for Americans but for Europeans,” Birol told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” during the World Energy Conference. His IEA works as a data firm and represents the market interests of 30 member countries.
“I think climate change is serious issue — the oil industry, gas industry have to be part of the solution, rather than being the problem or a barrier,” he added.
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