On March 6, the Maryland Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs committee gave an unfavorable report on the Maryland Hydraulic Fracturing Moratorium and Right to Know Act of 2013 (SB601/HB12274) in a vote of 6-5. The bill’s lead sponsor Delegate Heather R. Mizeur issued the following press statement:
“The Senate committee vote is a disappointment, because it is not an accurate reflection of how Marylanders feel about fracking. Seventy-six percent of western Marylanders, fifty percent of Republicans, and ninety-five percent of Maryland’s African-American community want strict safety studies before fracking. Only our moratorium approach can guarantee that outcome.
Ironically, yesterday’s vote came in the same week that Governor Cuomo and the New York General Assembly moved one step closer to a two-year moratorium on fracking until studies are complete.
I remain hopeful that Maryland will adopt the same approach, because western Maryland should not have to accept toxic spills, polluted drinking water, and lost tourism jobs as the cost of doing business in Maryland.”
(For more about the vote read here.)
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