The contested environmental record of Josh Shapiro is the subject of a new national spotlight.

 

Possible choice for vice president As AG, Josh Shapiro was a staunch opponent of hydraulic fracturing. Environmentalists contend that he has courted the oil and gas business while serving as governor.

It was meant to be a time of triumph. Five months prior, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro made an announcement about a new energy plan at a Scranton union hall. The administration hailed the proposal as a “bold vision for Pennsylvania’s energy future.”

However, a sharp question from a local of a Pennsylvania community that gained notoriety over 14 years ago for water contamination linked to hydraulic fracturing stopped his address.

“When will you be returning to Dimock?” Ray Kemble enquired prior to being led away. “There is no water in my home. You threw us under the bus knowing it.

 

As part of a plea deal made in 2022 between then-Attorney General Shapiro and the firm in question, Coterra Energy, the public water line for inhabitants of Dimock was granted. Some people of Dimock still lack access to safe running water two years later. Kemble is not only upset about the water line; the day after the agreement was revealed, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection quietly decided to waive a 12-year fracking ban in the town, enabling Coterra to resume drilling there.

Since Shapiro is allegedly on Vice President Kamala Harris‘ short list of possible running partners, Kemble and other Dimock residents want the American people to know what went wrong and why they feel that the governor failed them.

In a recent interview, Kemble recalled trying to gain an answer from Shapiro in Scranton and said, “He couldn’t even look at me.” And he is aware of who I am.

He’s been working for industry, after all. What the fuck are these people?

The governor was attorney general at the time. In addition, Bonder stated, “The Governor and his Administration have been working hard to fulfill these promises and keep providing for the people of Dimock.”

A Coterra representative stated that the business “strives to follow best practices, exceed industry standards, and to continue to be a valuable community partner” in a statement at the time of the settlement. The water poisoning in Dimock was highlighted in the 2010 documentary “Gasland.” A resident was seen setting his tap water on fire in one instance.

Although Kemble and the other Dimock locals who supported Shapiro during the settlement press conference were unaware that the drilling prohibition was ending, they assumed Shapiro must have known because of the timing of their appearance. Kemble claimed, “He paraded us around like puppets.”

Shapiro has faced criticism from Pennsylvanians in public multiple times this year, including the Scranton incident. These people believe that Shapiro supports fossil fuel interests.

Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper, challenged him in March regarding his endorsement of hydrogen fuel hubs in Pennsylvania, one of which will be dependent on natural gas that has been fracked. In the same month, three campaigners against climate change were detained outside the governor’s Harrisburg office while they tried to speak with him about his views on the issue and his connections to the oil and gas sector.

Many environmental activists in the state are dissatisfied with Shapiro’s record as governor, citing his management of Dimock, his plan for economic development backed by the American Petroleum Institute, and his affiliation with the fracking company CNX Resources. His harsh stance against oil and gas companies throughout his tenure as attorney general only serves to compound that disappointment.

According to a new fact sheet released this week by Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania, Shapiro has “radically changed his environmental policy priorities and began to court fossil fuel companies” since taking office in 2023. This is a “startling reversal on climate issues.”

The Pennsylvania Conservation Voters celebrated the election of a “environmental champion” to the governorship in February 2023. Shapiro’s economic plan was criticized by the same group less than a year later, calling it “a repackaging of the fossil fuel industry’s playbook in Pennsylvania.” Meanwhile, Shapiro’s “shared goal” of “leveraging our state’s abundant natural gas resources to help accelerate economic growth” was approved by the Pennsylvania branch of the American Petroleum Institute.

A thorough grand jury report on fracking in Pennsylvania was one of Shapiro’s most notable achievements as attorney general and a major factor in environmentalists’ hope for his administration. In 2020, it came to the conclusion that the state government had not done enough to “properly protect the health, safety, and welfare of its citizens” throughout the fracking boom, confirming locals’ long-standing worries.

Two of Shapiro’s environmental accomplishments, according to David Masur, executive director of PennEnvironment, an environmental research and advocacy group, are his work as attorney general on fracking and his response to the 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, which happened on the state border.

He claimed that “his response to East Palestine came across as aggressive.” And it was appropriate for his attorney general position, which is to act as the “cop on the beat,” ensuring that wealthy interests do not oppress common Pennsylvanians.