President Trump ordered a review of the economic benefits of hydraulic fracturing, aka fracking, during a weekend in which he crisscrossed Pennsylvania ahead of Election Day. He used the symbolic memorandum to magnify his support of the natural gas extraction technique used in the state’s Marcellus Shale – part of a late-stage effort to galvanize voters in the swing state.

frac operations by month

Trump ordered Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette to examine and, within 70 days, report on the ramifications of a fracking ban, including potential job losses, decreased tax revenue and impacts on consumer energy prices. On the campaign trail, Trump claimed his challenger Joseph R. Biden Jr. has promised a fracking ban should the Democrat wrestle the presidency away from Trump after Tuesday’s...