Fracking in Florida: Where does DeSantis stand on the issue?

Amid all the claims, interruptions and verbal sparring at Wednesday’s second Republican presidential debate, there was a big fracking confrontation between former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over the latter’s views on the practice and its use in his home state.

“Energy security is national security," Haley told the audience at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. "What you don't need is a president who is against energy independence. Ron DeSantis is against fracking, he is against drilling."

As the two candidates talked over each other, DeSantis responded “that is not true,” adding that:

“Our voters enacted a constitutional amendment that doesn't allow," he said before being interrupted. "They voted it in, that's what we did. Onshore we do do it in Florida."

Fracking is a hot-button topic, especially for environmentalists. On one hand, the practice allows for more oil and natural gas to be produced domestically, strengthening America's independence from international fossil fuel markets. On the other, it has been known to contaminate groundwater and induce localized earthquakes.

Here’s what we know about fracking and DeSantis’ views about it.

What is fracking?

Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” as it is more commonly known, is just one method in the broader process of unconventional development of oil and natural gas, according to the Independent Petroleum Association of America.

According to the IPAA, fracking is a proven drilling technology used for extracting oil, natural gas, geothermal energy, or water from deep underground. The organization states that it has been safely used in the United States since 1947.

More than 1.7 million U.S. wells have been completed using the fracking process, producing more than seven billion barrels of oil and 600 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Put simply, hydraulic fracturing is the process of injecting liquid and materials at high pressure to create small fractures within tight shale formations to stimulate the production and safely extract energy from an underground well after the drilling has ended and the rig and derrick are removed from the site.

The process takes about three to five days, on average, to complete from start to finish. Once the fracturing operation is finished, the well is considered “completed” and is now ready to operate.

Although the IPAA on its website cites two dozen scientific studies stating that the process doesn’t threaten groundwater and very rarely causes earthquakes, the process has been long criticized by environmental organizations for its harmful impacts.

The Natural Resources Defense Council states on its website that process “poses serious threats to our health, environment, and climate future.”

The NRDC cites evidence that fracking consumes a “massive amount” of water. In the United States, the average can run between 1.5 million and 9.7 million gallons of water to frack a single well, according to the United States Geological Survey.

Fracking operations can strain resources in areas where freshwater supplies for drinking, irrigation, and aquatic ecosystems are scarce, the organization states. Water used for fracturing is too contaminated to return to its source without extensive treatment and so typically is disposed of deep underground, where it is removed from the freshwater cycle.

What is Gov. Ron DeSantis’ view on fracking?

On the campaign trail last month, DeSantis said that he supports offshore drilling and fracking in the country, but he has spoken out against it in Florida previously.

At Wednesday’s debate, DeSantis accurately noted that Florida voters passed a constitutional amendment banning offshore oil and gas drilling in state waters in 2018, the same election in which he was elected governor.

Before the amendment passed, Mr. DeSantis had spoken out against fracking in Florida during his run for governor, offering a statement on his campaign website touting his “proven track record in supporting measures to ban offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

“Florida has seen firsthand the dangers that off-shore drilling can bring to our beaches and shorelines,” the statement added. “Starting day one, DeSantis will utilize his unique relationship with President Trump and his administration to ensure that oil drilling never occurs off Florida’s coastlines.”

Within days of his election as governor, DeSantis issued an executive order directing the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to take “necessary actions to adamantly oppose all offshore oil and gas activities off every coast in Florida and hydraulic fracturing in Florida.”

Although the executive order meant that new oil and gas permits had to include provisions forbidding the use of fracking, pre-approved fracking still occurs.

During his presidential campaign, DeSantis has said he supports ramping up oil and gas drilling in the U.S., as well as the excavation of other natural resources. At a stop earlier this month at a Texas oil rig, he pledged to "green light oil and gas drilling extraction... I will demand faster approvals than any president in history," according to multiple media reports.

Referencing actions in Florida at a speech in Louisiana, DeSantis stated "that is not saying that I think that should apply to Louisiana or Texas and all that—so that will continue. And we want them to be able to do it, and we also want them to be able to use hydraulic fracturing."

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Fracking in Florida becomes hot-button topic at Republican debate