RFK Jr's campaign walks back promise to ban fracking following backlash

FIRST ON FOX: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s presidential campaign is softening his promise last week to ban fracking, saying that he would instead support a "phase out."

"Mr. Kennedy recognizes that an immediate and total ban on fracking would devastate the US economy, and is therefore unrealistic," the campaign told Fox News Digital. "He favors a gradual phase-out of the practice, starting with the removal of subsidies and a moratorium on new exploration." Thomas Catenacci is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.

"He believes that fracking, at least in most locations, will no longer be viable when the practice does not receive direct or indirect subsidies, and instead is exposed to the free market," the statement continued. "Existing productive oil and gas fields will only be phased out as suitable alternatives are available, so that people and the economy can transition smoothly to new technologies."