Thanks to the tireless work of our strong, growing, statewide grassroots movement, we are closer than ever to passing legislation to put a moratorium on fracking in Maryland: On Monday night, senators voted overwhelmingly to pass an amended moratorium bill that would guarantee this dangerous form of gas drilling stays out of Maryland through at least October 1, 2017.
This marked the first time that a fracking moratorium bill has gotten a vote — let alone passed — on the Senate floor in the history of our five-year campaign. This is undeniably because of the constant grassroots pressure you’ve put on our state senators. As WBAL reported on Friday, “opponents of fracking seem to have out-demonstrated, out-lobbied and outdone those who support the controversial process.”
Where are we headed next? The Senate-passed bill, SB 409, was amended (see the full update below), and differs from the moratorium bill passed two weeks ago by the House. The bill now heads back to the House for final approval before it can move on to Governor Hogan’s desk.
Here’s the next step you can take: Click here to email Governor Hogan. Tell him that Marylanders deserve protections against fracking — and we need a moratorium now!
Even if Gov. Hogan signs a fracking moratorium into law, we know our fight is far from over. While the Senate moratorium bill guarantees that no fracking permits can be issued in Maryland for two and a half years, it was changed in ways we don’t like. A provision establishing a new panel to review health and economic studies was cut. The bill also now requires draft regulations currently under review by the Hogan administration to be completed by October 2016, giving legislators a year to review them while the moratorium remains in effect. We know that there is no peer-reviewed evidence that fracking can be effectively regulated. This moratorium would give us two and a half years to make that case to the General Assembly.
Know this above all: Your action has created a tipping point. Legislators are moving the fracking moratorium bill forward now because of the tidal wave of grassroots pressure we’ve brought to Annapolis from all corners of Maryland.
If we push this bill over the finish line and on to Gov. Hogan’s desk, we will have passed legislation that guarantees NO gas company can drill into our soil for two and a half years.
As Nadine Grabania, co-owner of Deep Creek Cellars in Western Maryland, put it:

This moratorium would mean two more years of my loved ones not being on the road with thousands of those trucks. It’s two more years of being able to operate my tourism-sector business. Two more years of being able breathe our mountain air without having to go to the doctor with worsening asthma.

It’s also guaranteed time in which we WILL organize and educate an even bigger, bolder grassroots movement.
Take action now by emailing Gov. Hogan: Tell him that Marylanders deserve protections against fracking — and we need a moratorium now!
We are closer than ever to achieving something we’ve never had before in Maryland: Legislation that puts an explicit, binding moratorium on the gas industry and their efforts to frack in Maryland.
And, with your help, we’ll keep pushing — over these final few days of the 2015 General Assembly and until our communities are fully protected from the many harms of fracking!