Nearly 400 state and local officials call for ban on new fracking permits

Nearly 400 state and local elected officials from across the country signed a letter calling for an outright ban on new federal permits for fracking and fossil fuel infrastructure after the Biden administration imposed a temporary moratorium on such permitting on federal lands.

The letter, signed by more than 375 officials and released Tuesday, also called on the federal government to end fossil fuel industrial subsidies, revoke oil and gas permits for sites within 2,500 feet of homes or schools and “support a just transition to clean energy for workers and communities impacted by fossil fuels.”

The letter, addressed to President Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), further calls for a nationwide fracking ban by 2025.

“Local elected officials have their fingers on the pulse of their communities, and can speak better than anyone about what kind of future everyday Americans are demanding. Their collective statement today is clear: It’s time for our leaders in Washington to tackle the climate crisis now, not later. This means halting fracking and fossil fuel projects, period,” Wenonah Hauter, executive director of the advocacy group Food & Water Watch, said in a statement.

“We can ban fracking in the City of Denver, but if we don’t do this at a national and international scale, we will continue to destroy our habitability on our planet,” Denver City Councilman Chris Hinds, one of the signers, said in a statement. “We’re trying to do our part here in Denver, but we need members of Congress and President Biden to do their part too.”

The letter comes the week before the president is set to outline the U.S.’s new nationally determined contribution to greenhouse gas emissions at a White House-hosted summit of world leaders on April 22. The administration has not yet announced an end date for the permitting moratorium.