PITTSBURGH – Stephen Moore believes the U.S. economy would still be in the midst of the Great Recession of 2008-09 if natural gas companies did not advance horizontal drilling and fracking techniques.
“How in the world can you be against fracking,” Moore, chief economist for the Heritage Foundation think tank, said Wednesday during the during the Shale Insight 2014 conference in Pittsburgh.
“This is the industry that is, quite literally, carrying the rest of the economy on its shoulders,” he said. “Without these incredible innovations in the energy industry, there would be no economic recovery.”
Moore questioned President Barack Obama’s energy policies, saying he believes Obama and fellow Democrats are determined to entirely eliminate the use of fossil fuels.
“He is not a president who is in favor of this industry,” Moore said.
Later, former White House Press Secretary Dana Perino spoke on a variety of topics, notably the pivotal Nov. 4 midterm elections that will determine whether Republicans or Democrats control the House and Senate. She predicted Republicans to hold control of the House, while assuming a majority in the Senate by a count of 51-49.
Perino also said while former Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is the prohibitive favorite to gain the Democrat nomination for president in 2016, there is no guarantee that she will run.
“The Democratic Party has changed. It has moved, quite far, to the left,” Perino said. “If Hillary Clinton decides not to run, it is going to be a fun clown show to watch.”
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