WE BANNED FRACKING IN MARYLAND!
By Devorah Stavisky
Don’t Frack Maryland Campaign Coordinator
MaryPIRG Students
Environmental regulations have been facing rocky shores lately. Especially when it comes to drilling rocks for natural gas by way of fracking. We’re excited about the precedent Maryland set this week by passing a permanent ban to hydraulic fracturing!
Two years ago natural gas companies first proposed fracking in Maryland, which lead to the State Legislature passing a moratorium, a temporary ban on fracking, that would have expired this October. That’s why this legislative session was so important—if not for the passing of this permanent ban, fracking would have started in Maryland.
We were apprehensive about Governor Larry Hogan’s stance on fracking because he previously stated that fracking was a ‘goldmine’ for the state. However, after much pressure, Governor Hogan declared two weeks ago that he supported a full and permanent ban on fracking in Maryland. His complete 180° regarding his stance on fracking testifies to the power of the power of people to hold our government accountable.
We are so proud of the hard work and enthusiasm from our volunteers and organizers who got their hands dirty to pressure Maryland into saying Frack No!!
How did we win?
- Our Don’t Frack Maryland Campaign partnered with the Student Government Association’s Student Sustainability Committee to host call-in nights for students to contact their representatives and advocate for a permanent ban on fracking.
- Our volunteers collected 1,428 petitions targeted at Governor Hogan and state legislators to show students’ support of a permanent ban on fracking. And in doing so, we started conversations with thousands students about the dangers of fracking and how to protect Maryland’s sustainable future.
- MaryPIRG students made announcements in 41 classes and talked to nearly 4600 students in those classes about our work to pressure Gov. Hogan into keeping Maryland frack free.
- We also hosted tables on campus to recruit students to call their state representatives.
- Through social media and text banks, we outreached to over 900 people about the statewide march to ban fracking in Annapolis, right outside of legislators’ offices on March 2nd hosted by the state coalition to ban fracking.
- We brought 22 students to a lobby day in Annapolis to talk directly with representatives about banning fracking in Maryland, drop off information about fracking’s hazards, and show off our shoeboxes of petitions.