Bernie Sanders hits Clinton on fracking

Bernie Sanders would ban fracking as president, according to a new campaign advertisement released Monday.

“Do Washington politicians side with polluters over families?” the national television commercial asks. “They sure do, because Big Oil pumps millions into their campaigns. Bernie Sanders is the only candidate for president who opposes fracking everywhere.”

Sanders is attempting to move to the left of Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton on environmental issues.

{mosads}The Sanders campaign accused Clinton of shifting her stance on the “extreme and risky” process of hydraulic fracturing, known in shorthand as fracking. It also accused Clinton of being a “latecomer” to opposing the Keystone XL pipeline.

The Clinton campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

During a campaign appearance Monday in New York, where fracking has been banned, Sanders attacked the controversial process of drilling for oil and gas.

“The growing body of evidence tells us that fracking is a danger to our water supply, our most precious resource,” Sanders said. “It is a danger to the air we breathe. It has resulted in more earthquakes. It is highly explosive. And it is contributing to climate change.”

“If we are serious, we need to put an end to fracking not only in New York and Vermont, but all over this country,” he continued.

Hydraulic fracturing is the process by which a mixture of water, sand or gravel and chemicals are injected at high pressure into cracks or fissures underground to break apart rock in an effort to extract oil and natural gas.