Frack-Flopper? Ted Cruz’s Foe Takes Pro-Energy Stances on Campaign Trail, but His Voting Record Is Mixed

Rep. Colin Allred, a Democratic member of the House of Representatives running for U.S. Senate in Texas, has adopted pro-energy stances during his campaign that often appear to conflict with his voting record.

While Allred’s opponent, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has warned that his opponent would support a ban on hydraulic fracturing—a method of extracting oil and gas from rock formations that drives down energy prices—Allred claims he would do no such thing.

His voting record on the issue is mixed. The Democrat chided President Joe Biden for pausing the export of liquefied natural gas—after he voted against a measure to reverse the LNG export pause.

The American Energy Alliance, a pro-energy group, gives Allred a 25% score for his votes in the current Congress. Meanwhile, an environmental activist group, the League of Conservation Voters, gives Allred a 100% score.

“Fracking is incredibly important for us,” Allred, a former NFL linebacker, said at a campaign stop last month, the Houston Chronicle reported. According to the Chronicle, the Democrat said he would oppose a nationwide ban on fracking in the House, and in the U.S. Senate if he wins in November.

Yet in 2023, Allred voted against a measure to protect fracking. When the House considered HR 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act, Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., offered an amendment that would have prevented federal commissions from “finalizing, implementing, or enforcing any regulations relating to hydraulic fracturing other than those issued by the state in which the regulation is to be implemented or enforced.”

Allred voted against that amendment, which the American Energy Alliance supported.

In October 2019, Allred voted to block an amendment to protect fracking in a slate of environmental bills.

Yet, Allred did support one measure protecting fracking. In March, the Democrat voted for HR 1121, the Protecting American Energy Production Act, which would have prevented any attempt to impose a ban on hydraulic fracturing without congressional approval.

While Allred did join a small number of Democrats in supporting HR 1121, he did not join Democratic defectors in other instances.

In January, the House passed HR 21, the Strategic Production Response Act, which would have barred the administrative state from drawing on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for nonemergency reasons. That followed Biden’s decision to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to drive down oil prices in 2022 ahead of the midterm elections. Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, joined Republicans in voting for the bill, while Allred opposed it.

The Texas Democrat has also signaled his opposition to Biden’s pause in LNG exports, but he had previously voted to protect the president’s measure.

In January, Biden announced a temporary pause on LNG exports to countries without free trade agreements, a move that experts warned would drive up the price of energy and empower Russian President Vladimir Putin. (European countries relied on U.S. LNG exports in the early months of the Ukraine War as they sought energy suppliers other than Russia.) While a federal judge struck down the pause in July, the policy remained operative for months.

In February, the House passed HR 7176, the Unlocking our Domestic LNG Potential Act of 2024, which would have repealed Biden’s pause. Allred voted against the measure.

Three months later, however, Allred penned an op-ed for the Houston Chronicle calling on Biden to end the LNG pause. Allred’s campaign drew attention to the opinion column on its website.

“If we were a country, Texas would be the third-largest producer of natural gas in the world,” Allred wrote. “Natural gas directly supports well over 100,000 Texas jobs.”

“LNG is also critical to our national security and stability around the globe,” he added. “Reducing the world’s dependence on adversarial countries like Russia by providing an alternative and dependable supply of energy will make all of us safer.”

“Texas has and always will be an energy state … the best way forward is an all-of-the-above energy approach that harnesses everything from renewable energy to nuclear to geothermal to natural gas,” Allred added.

The Democrat did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment about his energy record.

Cruz, Allred’s opponent, is tied with Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., for the highest score (90%) among senators from the American Energy Alliance.

“I am a fierce advocate for American energy and Texas jobs,” Cruz told The Daily Signal in a statement Thursday. “Texans deserve a senator who puts them first and understands the importance of American energy. Since arriving in the Senate 12 years ago, I have led the fight for Texas energy and have pushed back against the Left’s radical climate agenda.”

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