In case you didn’t already hear the good news, Governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan, just signed a bill that permanently bans fracking in his state – one more sign that US environmental groups and State representatives aren’t backing down from a confrontation with US Pres. Trump’s on his recent bid to rollback US climate change policy.
Two years earlier, Maryland imposed a moratorium on fracking so that the state could continue studying the environmental impact of injecting high-pressure mixtures of chemicals and water under large swaths of land where deposits of shale rock are found (not a bad idea).
But when the legislative debate turned back to whether to ban fracking indefinitely or put another two-year moratorium in place, sustained pressure from local environmental groups succeeded in convincing the General Assembly to decide on an indefinite statewide fracking ban. A round of applause, if you will!
The bill was signed into law on April 4, 2017, only weeks after the Gov. Hogan announced his plans to support a fracking ban during a news conference on March 17, 2017.
Maryland now becomes the third US state to prohibit the hydraulic fracking for natural gas, following on the heels of the state of New York which banning the practice in 2014 and Vermont in 2012.
Read the full story here.
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For more information on Conservation Council’s response to Hydraulic Fracking in New Brunswick:
- Read our story on the effects of fracking chemicals on marine life: Researchers: Even low levels of chemicals in fracking wastewater harmful to fish, here. (Jan 25, 2017)
- Read our statement on NB decision to extend fracking moratorium: CCNB’s Lois Corbett on NB government’s decision to extend fracking moratorium indefinitely, here. (May 30, 2017)
- Read our backgrounder on fracking in New Brunswick in our Spring EcoAlert 2016, pg. 6-7, here.