For Immediate Release
 

Washington, D.C. – Tomorrow, the Biden administration is expected to announce a long-awaited executive order that will temporarily pause new drilling and fracking for fossil fuels on publicly-owned lands and waters. Permanently halting new fracking on federal land was one of Biden’s clearest commitments during the presidential campaign.

In response, Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter released the following statement: 

“A pause on drilling and fracking is good news, but only if it is followed by a strong plan to permanently ban all dirty energy extraction on public lands. The simple truth is that we need to stop drilling and fracking everywhere, as soon as possible. The federal government has the power — and the moral responsibility — to get off fossil fuels, and doing so on publicly-owned land sends a positive message that the Biden administration is serious about confronting this issue head-on. Now they must prove it by making this temporary fracking pause permanent and continuing to tackle fossil fuel development and infrastructure everywhere it exists.”

Food & Water Watch in 2011 became the first national organization to call for a national ban on fracking, and in 2013 helped form and lead the national coalition Americans Against Fracking, which championed a ban on fracking on public lands.