ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Maryland Capitol Police on Thursday arrested 13 anti-fracking activists who blocked an entrance to the Statehouse as lawmakers made their way to the morning legislative session.
The demonstrators, who billed their effort as a “peaceful act of civil disobedience,” urged Senate leaders to allow a vote on legislation to ban fracking, a controversial gas-extraction methode technically known as hydraulic fracturing.
The bill passed the House of Delegates last week with overwhelming support, but has stalled in a Senate committee.
Dozens of other activists chanted, sang and waved signs without obstructing the State House entrance. The demonstrators included at least six faith leaders who represented Catholic, Episcopalian, Methodist, Jewish, Quaker and Unitarian groups.
“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.
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 Republican Gov. Larry Hogan. 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 is due to expire in October. Carter 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 before deciding what to do with it. But he has stated in the past that he supports the extraction method 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 Pinsky, D-Prince George’s, and Cheryl C. Kagan, D-Montgomery, both of whom support the proposed fracking ban, showed up at the demonstration Thursday 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.”
(c) 2017, The Washington Post ยท Josh Hicks
