Thursday, January 24, 2013
State Sen. Karen Montgomery (D-Montgomery) said she believes fracking creates "severe environmental problems."
Two bills to ban a controversial method of extracting natural gas from underground rock deposits known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, will move through the Maryland General Assembly this year. Del. Shane Robinson, a Democrat from Montgomery Village, introduced the House version Thursday, a ban that would go into effect next October if approved by lawmakers. State Sen. Karen Montgomery, a Democrat from Brookeville, will sponsor the Senate version. “Maryland should not invest taxpayer money into funding studies about fracking — those resources should instead be put towards renewable energy,” said Robinson. “We need not look further than our neighbors in Pennsylvania to see the kind of destruction fracking is capable of bringing to …
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
State delegates offer differing opinions on whether a process used to extract natural gas from underground rock deposits has a place in Maryland.
- GOVERNMENT
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Wednesday, January 16
By Jessica Wilde for Capital News Service ANNAPOLIS – Members of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network gathered outside the Maryland State House last week to advocate for a proposed moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a process used to extract natural gas from rock deposits below ground. Sen. Jamie Raskin, D-Montgomery, plans to introduce the Senate bill. “My stance on fracking can be summed up in the phrase, ‘No studies, no fracking,’” he said. “I don’t think we should frack until we have questions answered.” But Delegate Wendell Beitzel, R-Garrett, thinks Maryland should go ahead and drill. “I think the Maryland Department of the Environment has adequate regulations in place,” he said. “It has the potential for having a huge…
Thursday, March 15, 2012
…and why should you care?
People are talking about Fracking. The country’s largest fracking site, a 350 million-year-old formation called the Marcellus Shale, spans the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland. So what is fracking? And why should you care? Hydraulic fracturing has been around for decades. Oklahoma-based Natural Gas producer Chesapeake Energy explains that “Hydraulic fracturing is a proven technological advancement which allows producers to safely recover natural gas and oil from deep shale formations.” On the other hand, The Environmental Working Group (EWG) explains that now, natural gas producers are deploying a new gas drilling method called high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing to release gas locked in …
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
The commission's proposed law change would make it easier for landowners to sue natural gas drillers in Maryland for contaminating ground water through hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking."
- GOVERNMENT
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Wednesday, December 14, 2011
By Greg Masters, Capital News Service A commission tasked with advising Maryland on possible shale gas production supports a change in the law that would make it easier for landowners to bring claims against drillers regarding water contamination and other damages near hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," sites. The new law, which commission chair and Towson University professor David Vanko said has "pretty broad support" from the commission, would shift the burden of proof to energy companies by creating a "rebuttable presumption" that drilling activity causes certain kinds of damages occurring close in time and proximity to natural gas operations. "I think (asymmetry of resources) always has been an issue in litigation, particularly …
William Spears
5:56 pm on Wednesday, February 20, 2013
I have not seen any valid evidence that proves fracking is dangerous when properly done and monitored. Until that happens bans are idiotic and should not be done. Provide real, unbiased evidence, if that is even possible these days, that fracking is a real problem and can't be done safely and then go ahead with the ban, but not until that is done. Same goes for gun control laws, prove they … more ›