Despite the threat of earthquakes and flammable drinking water and contaminated rivers, the Maryland General Assembly this week failed to pass a bill protecting Marylanders from the worst dangers of hydraulic “fracking” for natural gas. Our lawmakers failed to pass a simple bill that would have funded basic safety studies before any such drilling would be allowed in our state. How did this failure happen? The answer is simple: the American Petroleum Institute happened.
In one of the most appalling acts of special interest lobbying ever seen in Annapolis, the American Petroleum Institute (API) used money and closed-door access to subvert the popular will and safety of Marylanders. Because of API, the Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee in the Senate never voted on the fracking safety bill (HB 1204/SB 798). Tragically, the bill passed in the House March 20th by a vote of 88-49 but never got a vote in the Senate.
And this isn’t the only fracking-related bill API killed. It also thwarted efforts to achieve proper taxation on leased drilling properties and to protect landowners from getting ripped off by energy companies.
Of course, thanks to calls and emails from people like you, we put up a good fight to get all these bills passed and to stop Big Oil and Big Gas from harming our state. We’ve lost this year but Governor Martin O’Malley’s executive order, which delays fracking until a study is complete in Maryland, is still in place.
So we still have time to come back next year and pass the suite of legislation needed to protect Marylanders from this controversial process and potentially ban the practice entirely.
Meanwhile, please give thanks to Delegate Heather Mizeur, a true hero in the Maryland General Assembly and the leader of the charge for these fracking bills. And, look for an email tomorrow that will let you know how your local delegate voted on the fracking study fee bill.
Finally, stay tuned for more action on fracking. We are taking a few steps back to figure out our strategy leading up to next year’s general assembly session. We’ll be back, and we’ll win.
