Allison Fisher

In coverage surrounding Vice President Kamala Harris’ August 29 CNN interview, national cable news networks CNN and MSNBC repeatedly framed Harris’ shifting position on fracking as a problem for her campaign in key battleground states — echoing a line of right-wing attacks against the Democratic nominee and framing the issue as part of the election horse race while ignoring important context.

Fox News is helping the right elevate fracking as a supposedly major election issue by continuing to litigate Kamala Harris’ position even after she and her campaign have stated that she no longer supports a ban on the natural gas extraction procedure. By keeping the focus on Harris’ position, Fox is distracting from important context about the controversial technique and its relevance to voters.  According to Axios, shortly after Harris announced her bid for the presidency, Republicans started “circulating Harris' endorsement of a fracking ban during her short-lived 2019 White House run — even though she walked it back after becoming President Biden's running mate.” Then, during the August 29 joint CNN interview with Harris and running mate Tim Walz, one of the first questions from Dana Bash was about her position on fracking, with the CNN anchor describing it as “a pretty big issue, particularly in your must-win state of Pennsylvania.” An analysis by Media Matters found that from July 27, whe

During the September 6 edition of Anderson Cooper 360, CNN chief climate correspondent Bill Weir spoke directly to Pennsylvania voters who live in a fracking community. The segment challenges the notion not only that the 2024 presidential election in Pennsylvania is won or lost based on a candidate’s position on fracking, but also the notion that those living in the shadows of fracking wells support the practice. By addressing the well-documented health and environmental issues and speaking directly to those most impacted by the practice, Weir provided context to why fracking is not the litmus test the media would have audiences believe.   Fracking has made Pennsylvania the second largest natural gas-producing state in the U.S., and its status as a swing state has elevated fracking as an election year issue during the past decade — even as Weir points out “fracking provides only a fraction of the state's 6 million jobs.” Right-wing media in particular have pushed the narrative that support for a ban

During the September 19 edition of Fox News’ Fox & Friends, host Ainsley Earhardt falsely claimed that the fracking industry supports “423,000 jobs in the state of Pennsylvania.” There is no credible evidence to support this figure. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, direct oil and gas production jobs in Pennsylvania numbered about 12,000 in 2023.

Interviewing Sen. John Fetterman, Meet the Press host repeats industry claim about fracking jobs in Pennsylvania

The September 23 edition of CBS Evening News looked at how the Inflation Reduction Act is benefiting a Republican district in Georgia whose representative voted against it.

During The New York Times’ “Climate Week NYC” discussion with Heritage Foundation president and Project 2025 architect Kevin Roberts, reporter David Gelles outlined the right-wing initiative’s regressive approach to climate change and the environment. Gelles also noted that Project 2025's call to dismantle climate action comes as the world is already experiencing the consequences of a warming climate, pointing out that a record number of people in the Phoenix, Arizona, area were killed by extreme heat this year alone. Roberts responded by pointing to Heritage Foundation research claiming that there has been a “reduction in climate deaths — climate-related deaths — over the last century by 98%.” Not only is this a red herring argument used by climate deniers to downplay the climate crisis, but that reduction is reportedly due in part to improved forecasting, which is done by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency Project 2025 has called to dismantling.

On September 30, the MSNBC Morning Joe hosts called out Donald Trump for criticizing the Biden administration's response to Hurricane Helene while repeating right-wing media climate denial during a rally in Pennsylvania on Sunday. Trump referred to climate change as “one of the great scams of all time” and suggested it has fallen off the national stage “because people aren't buying it anymore.” Right-wing media have a long history of denying climate change, particularly as it relates to extreme weather events like hurricanes.  Hurricane Helene was super-charged by warm ocean temperatures “made at least 300 times more likely by climate change.” Its destruction has left millions without power and killed at least 90 people across five states. Trump is reportedly heading to Georgia today to survey the damage, while both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have confirmed they will visit the storm site when their trips would not interfere with response efforts. In addition to Trump’s

The October 1 CBS vice presidential debate between Sen. JD Vance of Ohio and Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, which was moderated by network anchors Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan, featured a key segment about climate change that stood out from previous debates in three important ways: The issue was featured early in the debate, instead of being relegated to an afterthought. The questions continued the vital trend of moving away from asking candidates whether they believe in climate change and instead asking about their plan to address its reality. Finally, moderators included a rare (albeit brief) fact-check reinforcing the truth that climate change is happening now.

Misinformation related to the ongoing response to Hurricane Helene, which has created widespread devastation across six states and left at least 232 dead, is disrupting relief operations, and a number of local and state officials are calling on bad actors and the Trump campaign to stop spreading the lies. The Sunday morning political shows attempted to address this hurricane misinformation with varying degrees of success. With the exception of Fox News Sunday, all the shows rightly pointed out the threat misinformation and unfounded conspiracy theories pose to the response efforts while flagging some of the most prevalent lies polluting these efforts. The most prevalent misinformation has centered on the distribution of Federal Emergency Management Agency aid, specifically the false claims that federal assistance is limited to $750 per affected individual and that FEMA funds are lacking due to spending on immigrant assistance. Bad actors have also pushed an overarching falsehood that the response has been a f