

Commondreams.org reports [in the piece “As Clinton Equivocates on Fracking, Sanders Has One Answer: ‘No.’“] that: “Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders both claim to oppose fracking, but only one of them has plans to ban it.

“During Sunday’s Democratic presidential debate in Flint, Michigan, where environmental issues are especially critical as residents grapple with a water contamination crisis, moderators asked the candidates where they stand on the controversial gas extraction method that involves injecting chemicals and water deep underground.”

MARIAH BLAKE, mariah at mariahblake.com, @MariahCBlake

Blake, now a fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, wrote the piece “How Hillary Clinton’s State Department Sold Fracking to the World,” in 2014 for Mother Jones. She tweeted last night: “Clinton has promoted fracking overseas, even when none of the conditions she stated in the debate are met.”

Her in-depth piece stated: “Under her leadership, the State Department worked closely with energy companies to spread fracking around the globe … But environmental groups fear that exporting fracking, which has been linked to drinking-water contamination and earthquakes at home, could wreak havoc in countries with scant environmental regulation. And according to interviews, diplomatic cables, and other documents obtained by Mother Jones, American officials — some with deep ties to industry — also helped U.S. firms clinch potentially lucrative shale concessions overseas, raising troubling questions about whose interests the program actually serves. …

“During a 2010 gathering of foreign ministers in Washington, D.C., she spoke about America’s plans to help spread fracking abroad. ‘I know that in some places [it] is controversial,’ she said, ‘but natural gas is the cleanest fossil fuel available for power generation today.’ She later traveled to Poland for a series of meetings with officials, after which she announced that the country had joined the Global Shale Gas Initiative.”

Also see from Grist: “Hillary Clinton has a new tune on fracking.”