New Maryland Governor Gets “Ban Fracking” Message

By Elisabeth Hoffman and Margaret Flowers, www.popularresistance.org

When Gov. Larry Hogan took office Wednesday, protectors of Marylanders’ air, water, soil, health and climate were in attendance. By our presence and signs, we let the new governor know from Day 1 that fracking is not safe for Maryland.

During the inauguration, about 20 people stood in the cold and, eventually, the snow — including folks from BXE (Beyond Xtreme Energy), who turned the PA inauguration, Maryland’s  inauguration and a monthly FERC meeting Thursday into a 3-day roadshow.

We ended up in an area the state police (or other police agency) had designated for protesters. Officers said they were expecting protesters — and we were duly photographed by men with earpieces — but it was a good spot. We were behind the smallish crowd there for the inauguration, facing the stage (but not visible to the new governor because of trees). Many people had to walk by us, coming and going. We didn’t yell — we stood with our signs and answered questions. We were cordial, and we got some thumbs up and thanks.  As we were the only opposition around, several reporters and TV folks talked to us.

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Fracking: Snake Oil for Marylanders

By Elisabeth Hoffman, ClimateHoward

We have until Feb. 9 to tell the state’s Department of the Environment (MDE) what we think of proposed regulations for fracking in Maryland. And we have only to look at the “assumptions” listed in the regulations to know they are little more than snake oil, offering no protections from this industry.

Here are three key assumption used for these regulations:

E(1).  “There will be positive economic impacts to environmental consultants and laboratories for the additional work that will be required by the regulations.”

Of course, we will also see “positive economic impacts” for physicians who treat people complaining of rashes, headaches, shortness of breath or hair loss. As some of the chemicals used in fracking and the emissions from well pads and compressors are known endocrine disrupters and carcinogens, we might years hence also see “positive economic impacts” for oncologists or hospitals treating babies with birth defects. These regulations are positive only in the sense that hurricanes are positive for builders and car crashes are positive for lawyers.