Protester Ann Bristow talks to a
Maryland Capitol Police officer while being arrested for blocking the entrance
to the Maryland State House in Annapolis on March 16. Protesters are asking the
state Senate to ban fracking in Maryland. (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post)
The Washington Post
By Josh Hicks and Ovetta
Wiggins
March 16, 2017
Maryland Capitol Police arrested about a dozen
anti-fracking activists who blocked an entrance to the State House on Thursday
and called on Senate leaders to allow a vote on a bill to ban fracking, a
controversial gas-extraction method.
The bill easily passed the House of Delegates last
week, but has not moved out of a Senate committee.
“We cannot love God with all our heart if we destroy
God’s creation . . . nor can we frack and love our neighbor as
ourselves,” said Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action
Network and a Sunday-school teacher at a Presbyterian church, who was among
those arrested. Dozens of other activists chanted, sang and waved signs.
The protest came four days before “crossover day,” the
date by which bills must pass out of at least one chamber to have a realistic
chance of landing on the desk of Gov. Larry Hogan (R).
Participants said they were concerned that state Sen.
Joan Carter Conway (D-Baltimore), who heads the Senate Education, Health and
Environmental Affairs Committee, will not allow a vote on the ban bill in time
for that deadline.
A two-year state moratorium on fracking, technically
known as hydraulic fracturing, is due to expire in October. Conway has proposed
legislation that would extend the hold for two years and require each county
and Baltimore to hold voter referendums next year on whether to ban the
practice locally.
Hogan said Wednesday that he would review any fracking
bill that passes out of the legislature. But he has stated in the past that he
supports fracking, with strict safeguards to protect public health and the
environment.
Maryland’s Department of the Environment proposed
hydraulic fracturing regulations last year that would bar drilling in four
watersheds and require four layers of steel casing and concrete around fracking
wells to prevent water, gas and other fluids from migrating to other areas.
Hogan said the rules would be the most stringent in the nation.
Sens. Paul G. Pinsky (D-Prince George’s) and Cheryl C.
Kagan (D-Montgomery), both of whom support the proposed fracking ban, showed up
at the demonstration to cheer the activists’ efforts.
“Taking a stance is crucial,” Pinsky said. “There’s an
old phrase, ‘Dare to struggle, dare to win,’ and I think that applies today.
Keep up the struggle.”
Also Thursday, the state Senate approved a paid sick
leave bill by a vote of 29 to 18, a veto-proof majority, a day after Hogan (R)
said he would veto the measure if it reaches his desk. Four Democrats joined
the Republican senators voting against the bill….
To access the COMPLETE news,
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario