Harris' 'mixed messages' on natural gas production could cost her pivotal Pennsylvania

Energy industry leaders are pushing for Vice President Kamala Harris to clarify her stance on fossil fuel production in the final days of the presidential race, citing fears that she would restrict production and add on to four years of confusing policy under President Biden.

These concerns reached a fever pitch last week after senior campaign climate adviser Camila Thorndike said in an interview that Harris has no plans to promote fracking in office. The remarks, since walked back, sparked backlash and criticism from Republicans and industry groups, who re-upped their calls for clarity from the vice president. 

Harris did little to assuage voters in her town hall event Wednesday night. She denied that she had previously endorsed a fracking ban while seeking the presidency in 2019 - when she said there was "no question" she is in favor of banning fracking - and instead pointed to her recent endorsement of the practice. 

Instead, one statewide industry group said, her remarks have only inspired "more fracking confusion." 

Harris "continues to give mixed messages about her position on fracking - an issue central to voters in battleground states like Pennsylvania," a spokesperson for Grow America's Infrastructure Now Coalition told Fox News in a statement. 

While Harris has said she would "not ban fracking," the group said, "there is a distinct difference between not banning fracking, and promoting energy production."

Winning Pennsylvania may require an embrace of fossil fuel production. The state is the second-largest natural gas producer in the U.S. and boasts a gas industry that supports more than 120,000 state jobs and adds roughly $41 billion annually to the state's economy.

"It's obvious that the pathway to the presidency goes through Pennsylvania," Amanda Eversole, the chief operating officer of the American Petroleum Institute, told Fox News earlier this month. 

Harris, to date, has ignored calls to clarify her exact policy positions on energy production, which was a heated topic during the Biden administration. 

Her recent stump speeches in Pennsylvania have leaned heavily on the historic levels of U.S. oil and gas production reached under President Biden - despite the fact that this production was in large part a response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The U.S. Oil and Gas Association described Harris's view on social media as the latest "change in her prior, prior, position." 

Republicans also used it to seize on their wins in Pennsylvania, where Democrats have struggled to gain momentum in recent weeks-- including both Harris and down-ballot candidates, such as Sen. Bob Casey.

When asked for a comment Wednesday, a spokesperson for former President Donald Trump's campaign seized on Thorndike's recent remarks, telling Fox News in a statement that they only "cement the reality" that "the only candidate in this race who will unleash Pennsylvania energy to cut utility bills and fuel American growth is [Trump]."

Former U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry also criticized the interview and the confusion swirling around Harris's policy positions so close to Election Day.

"With the election less than 2 weeks out, the recent comments from Harris' climate director are concerning," Perry told Fox News in a statement.