DON’T GET COCKY: Gas export pause could scramble Biden’s chances in Pennsylvania.
Democrats and labor unions in the state fear that the energy’s industry’s huge footprint there could make it a ripe target for GOP front-runner former President Donald Trump — even as environmentalists praised the move as a brave political action to protect the climate.
Biden’s reelection this year may hinge on whether he can hold the heavily working-class state he narrowly carried in 2020, which is now the second biggest natural gas producer in the country behind Texas. And while his move to reassess the climate impacts of natural gas shipments may have helped shore up support from young environmental activists, others are questioning his strategy.
Democratic Sens. Bob Casey, who is facing reelection this November, and John Fetterman, both argued the pause could hurt their state.
“Sen. Casey and I are very pro-energy, pro-job, pro-union and pro-American security,” Fetterman told POLITICO. “We stand with the president, but on this issue we happen to disagree. I am very clear. Natural gas is necessary right now. It’s a critical part of our nation’s energy stack.”
A lot of union guys who went for Trump over Hillary came home to the Democrats for Biden in 2020 but I don’t think that’s a mistake they’ll make twice.