The controversial method of natural gas production known as hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking" has emerged as a key campaign issue in the 2024 US presidential race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, given its importance to voters in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. The state’s embrace of new fracking and drilling techniques in the first decade of the 21st century kicked off a boom in natural gas extraction which has pushed the state's annual production higher than Canada or Qatar. There are currently close to 13,000 active so-called "unconventional" gas wells across the state, according to data from Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection. Scientists, environmentalists, and public health experts around the world have called for fracking to be banned, citing the health and climate impacts of the fracking phase of the extraction process, and the long-term environmental damage caused by the continued burning of fossil fuels.
