Hillary Clinton says fracking carries risks in conservation speech

Hillary Clinton has offered mild criticism of the fracking boom that has spread across the US under Barack Obama’s presidency, drawing another small distinction with his administration.

Clinton, who has yet to declare she is seeking the presidency, kept the bulk of her speech to a League of Conservation Voters dinner in New York resolutely vanilla. But she did express concerns about the environmental costs associated with natural gas and went so far as to suggest there may be places where it was too dangerous to drill at all.

“I know many of us have serious concerns with the risks associated with the rapidly expanding production of natural gas,” Clinton told the crowd on Monday night.

“Methane leaks in the production and transportation of natural gas pose a particularly troubling threat so it is crucial we put in place smart regulations and enforce them – including deciding not to drill when the risks to local communities, landscapes and ecosystems are just too high.”

Clinton’s comments were nowhere near as sharp as her critique of Obama’s foreign policy last August, when she bluntly said the administration lacked a coherent strategy.

But they are significant because of Obama’s championship of an “all of the above” energy strategy – and because they suggest Clinton is trying to appeal to voters concerned about fracking.

Clinton’s speech was otherwise notable for the degree to which she avoid mentioning any controversial topics – much like her address to an energy conference in Nevada during the summer.

She made no mention of the Keystone XL pipeline – the most politically weighted decision awaiting Obama. She made no mention of Arctic drilling, or coal. She even avoided the word “fracking”.

But the distinction was evident. Over the years Obama has regularly boasted about the expansion of oil and gas production under his watch, due to fracking, much to the frustration of campaign groups.

The president even touted the expansion of natural gas during his milestone June 2013 speech on climate change.

Natural gas produces far greater greenhouse gas emissions than originally thought because of methane leaks.

Most environmental groups now dismiss the idea that natural gas could serve as a bridge to a clean energy future – as Obama once claimed, and as Clinton repeated on Monday

“If we are smart about this and put in place the right safeguards natural gas can play an important bridge role in the transition to a cleaner energy economy,” she said.

Elsewhere Clinton’s remarks hewed very closely to Obama’s positions on climate and environment.

She called for a strong defence of the new rules cutting carbon pollution from power plants, which form the central pillar of Obama’s climate action plan.

Clinton offered praise for Obama’s leadership in international climate negotiations, especially last month’s agreement between the US and China to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

She also borrowed a page from many of Obama’s recent speeches, taking a swipe at Republican climate denial. “The science of climate change is unforgiving – no matter what the deniers may say,” she said.