Kiley Bense | Inside Climate News

Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor has sought to regulate natural gas development and embrace it at the same time, a sharp contrast to his approach to fracking as attorney general.

Materials released under the state’s Right to Know Act underline the political balancing act facing Gov. Josh Shapiro as he solicits views on the state’s membership in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. But many are unhappy with the secrecy surrounding his advisory “working group.”

Already infuriated by a decision to allow drilling in a town with tainted water, onetime supporters are questioning Josh Shapiro’s commitment to environmental issues.

Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor, now running for U.S. Senate, supported carbon caps when he was mayor of Braddock and a fracking moratorium during his unsuccessful 2016 Senate campaign. Now, Fetterman balances the “existential threat” of climate change with a need for “energy security.”