Two weeks ago, more than 300 hundred activists joined hand-in-hand on a bridge spanning the Potomac River, uniting West Virginia and Maryland in solidarity against TransCanada’s proposed fracked-gas pipeline under the Potomac.
The power and beauty of this moment brought me to tears and filled me with hope. When we are united, we can fight Big Oil and Gas and truly WIN!
Now that we’ve joined hands, it’s time to roll up our sleeves and stop this pipeline once and for all!
Chesapeake Climate Action Network, alongside other members of the “No Potomac Pipeline” coalition, will be holding community meetings throughout Western Maryland and West Virginia over the next couple weeks. Join us to learn the next steps in stopping the Potomac Pipeline! (Keep reading for meeting location/date details.)
After our historic fracking ban victory, Maryland is once again being threatened by fracked gas. TransCanada — the same company behind the Keystone XL pipeline, and who spilled over 16 thousand gallons of crude oil on South Dakota farmland — is trying to build a pipeline that would transport fracked gas between Pennsylvania and West Virginia. They want to do this with the shortest, cheapest, and most dangerous route possible. The “Eastern Panhandle Expansion” project would cut underneath the Potomac River that serves as the source of drinking water for millions of residents in our state and beyond.
Already, the oil companies are suing landowners to force the pipeline through their farmland. This pipeline would threaten the health of our drinking water and well-being of our communities. It would also deepen our dependence on dirty fossil fuels and fracking for years to come. By trying to force a pipeline through Sleepy Creek, Back Creek, and underneath the Potomac, we know that they are putting our families, our water, and our climate at risk.
We’re not going to let this happen.
Join us at a community meeting to learn how to stop this pipeline. During the meetings, we will talk about ways that we can raise our voices in our local communities, reach out to our neighbors, and make sure that our local elected leaders hear loud and clear that Marylanders say NO to the Potomac Pipeline.
Join us to learn how you can become part of a pipeline-free future for West Virginia and Maryland! Follow the links below to RSVP.
Eastern Panhandle: Wednesday, November 1, 6:30 pm in Martinsburg WV
Frederick County: Monday, November 6, 6:30 pm in Frederick MD
Washington County: Wednesday, November 8, 6:30 pm in Hagerstown MD
Western Maryland: Sunday, November 12, 4:00 pm in Frostburg MD
From Standing Rock to Hancock: Camp Out To Oppose The Potomac Pipeline!
From Standing Rock to Hancock, Maryland, citizens are rising up to resist fracked-gas pipelines in their communities. That’s right: Western Maryland is now under threat from a Dakota-esque pipeline. It’s being proposed by the infamous energy giant TransCanada of Keystone XL fame.
TransCanada — the same company that recently spilled over 16 thousand gallons of crude oil on South Dakota farmland — now wants to build a pipeline that would transport fracked gas between Pennsylvania and West Virginia.They want to do this with the shortest, cheapest, and most dangerous route possible. The Eastern Panhandle Pipeline expansion project would cut through Hancock, Maryland and underneath the Potomac River that serves as the source of drinking water for millions of residents in our state and the DC suburbs.
We are not going to allow this to happen.
This summer, we are forming a resistance to stop the Pipeline under the Potomac. We will do this by staging camp outs along the C&O Canal throughout the summer to draw attention to the many groups, concerned citizens, and elected officials who are opposed to endangering the drinking water of millions for a pipeline that wouldn’t even benefit Maryland citizens. We’ll be calling on Governor Hogan to deny the permit that would allow TransCanada to drill under the Potomac in Maryland.
We were able to ban fracking in Maryland because each one of you dedicated your time, your energy, and your activism to protect Maryland from fracking. Now it’s time once again to roll up our sleeves and call on Governor Hogan to complete the fracking ban — which means stopping this pipeline!
Sign up to camp out today for a frack-free future tomorrow.
Here are the details:
Weekend 1
Date: Friday/Saturday, June 30-July 1
Location: McCoy’s Ferry Campground
Start Time: 12:00 pm
Sponsoring Organization: Potomac Riverkeepers
Organizational Contact: Brent Walls, Brent@potomacriverkeeper.org
Weekend 2
Date: Saturday, July 8th
Location: McCoy’s Ferry Campground
Start Time: 1:00 p.m.
Sponsoring Organization: Food and Water Watch
Organizational Contact: Rianna Eckel, reckel@fwwatch.org
Weekend 3
Date: Friday, July 14th
Location: Paw Paw Campground
Start Time: 2:00 pm
Details: Join for a splashing good time in the Potomac River at the Paw Paw Campground along the C&O canal. Bring your family and friends to a great swimming hole on the Potomac and enjoy some hot dogs and hamburgers. Stay the night at the campgrounds and hear more about our fight against the pipeline under the Potomac. The following morning there will be a guided talk of the Paw Paw Tunnel by the National Park Service. The goal is to have enough people at this event to stretch across the Potomac River from Maryland to West Virginia to show that we stand as a united front.
Sponsoring Organization: Potomac Riverkeepers
Organizational Contact: Brent Walls, Brent@potomacriverkeeper.org
Weekend 4
Date: Friday, July 21st
Location: C&O Canal Boat Launch (just past the 120 mile marker)
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Sponsoring Organization: Eastern Panhandle Protectors
Organizational Contact: Laura Steepleton, lnsteep@gmail.com
Weekend 5
Date: Friday, July 28th
Location: Antietam Creek Campsite
Start Time: 12:00 p.m.
Sponsoring Organization: Chesapeake Climate Action Network
Organizational Contact: Brooke Harper, brooke@chesapeakeclimate.org
Weekend 6
Date: Saturday, August 5th
Location: McCoys Ferry Campground
Start Time: 1:00 p.m.
Details: Activities will include our outings program: hiking, bike tours, etc. – Highlighting our Climate Parents program.
Sponsoring Organization: The Sierra Club Maryland Chapter
Organizational Contact: Zack Gerdes, Zack.Gerdes@mdsierra.org
Click here to sign up for a campout weekend — or email the organizers (listed above) directly!
Baltimoreans Call for Action on Oil Trains on Derailment Anniversary
On June 13, 2016, a freight train traveling from Philadelphia to Cumberland derailed inside the Howard Street Tunnel next to MICA’s campus. Twelve of the derailed cars were designed to carry liquefied petroleum gas but were thankfully empty at the time. The remaining car that derailed was carrying acetone. The incident took over 24 hours to clear.
At the time of last year’s derailment, I lived just a few blocks away and awoke that morning to numerous alerts about the incident from concerned friends. Knowing that explosive crude oil has traveled this exact route in Baltimore, I was terrified about the potential devastation due to a derailment. Thankfully, there were no injuries or leaks, and most of the cars that derailed were empty. But the incident begs the question, “what if?” What if that train had been carrying explosive crude oil?
Yesterday, residents of Baltimore’s crude oil train blast zone, MICA representatives, Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke, and labor and environmental advocates rallied to commemorate the 1-year anniversary of this train derailment and to discuss the public health and safety threats posed to Baltimoreans by dangerous crude oil trains.
During the rally, MICA faculty member Valeska Populoh reflected on last year’s derailment: “The incident has raised my concerns about the transport of hazardous materials on these rail lines so close to our campus and the surrounding community, the potential threats to health and safety that these pose, as well as the potential for disruption of traffic and daily life in this central part of Baltimore in the event of another derailment.”
165,000 Baltimoreans live, work, and go to school in the oil train “blast zone” — the area that could be directly impacted if a crude oil train derailed and exploded. Baltimore has had too many close calls with freight trains. In addition to last year’s derailment next to MICA, there was the infamous 2001 derailment in the Howard Street Tunnel, which caused a fire and water main break that effectively shut down the city for a week. In 2013, a freight train exploded in Rosedale and broke windows, shook nearby buildings, and slowed traffic throughout the region. And in 2014, the retaining wall on 26th St collapsed, sending parked cars, streetlights, and large chunks of sidewalk onto the CSX tracks below.
All of these incidents occurred on the route that crude oil trains have been known to take through Baltimore and are examples of just how close Baltimore has come to a catastrophic incident.
During Tuesday’s rally, David McClure, President of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1300, said, “Each day our 2,500 MTA workers transport the people of Baltimore to work, school, the doctor, or wherever they need to go. And our riders’ safety is our number one priority. I repeat, it’s our number one priority. And now it’s time for the City Council to put the safety and health of the people first. It’s time to put a stop these trains from carrying dangerous crude oil and other hazardous cargo travelling through these densely-populated neighborhoods before we have a disaster on our hands.”
Ulysses Archie, an urban farmer and community advocate, spoke on Tuesday as a concerned father. He highlighted the forty Baltimore City Public Schools that are located within the blast zone and noted that tens of thousands of children, including his boys, are endangered by crude oil train traffic in the city.
The rally came a few days after members of the Baltimore City Council and Maryland General Assembly toured South Baltimore neighborhoods that are threatened by crude oil train traffic. On Friday, June 9th, community leaders concerned about the potential for a catastrophic explosion led the elected officials on a tour of Mt Winans, Westport, and Curtis Bay and saw some of the most vulnerable points in Baltimore’s infrastructure for a derailment and explosion.
While it is up to the federal government to ultimately ban the transport of crude-by-rail, local and state officials can take steps to protect Marylanders from this public health and safety threat. In Baltimore, the City Council can prevent the construction of new and the expansion of existing crude oil train terminals in order to limit oil train traffic within the city. Port cities across the country have been taking the lead on fighting fossil fuel infrastructure through zoning authority, and Baltimore can too. At the state level, the General Assembly can pass legislation focused on emergency preparedness, transparency, and proof of insurance for crude-by-rail incidents.
CCAN is working hard with our partners in the Baltimore City Council and in the Maryland General Assembly to protect Marylanders from crude-by-rail traffic. Sign the petition to the Baltimore City Council urging action and get involved with our local campaign!
In Historic Move, Maryland Public Service Commission Approves Two Offshore Wind Farms
The Maryland Public Service Commission today awarded offshore wind renewable energy credits (ORECs) to two projects, bringing what will become the nation’s largest offshore wind farms to Maryland’s shores. The two projects will bring 368 megawatts of wind energy capacity, together yielding over $1.8 billion of in-state spending, spurring the creation of almost 9,700 new direct and indirect jobs and contributing $74 million in state tax revenues over 20 years, according to the PSC.
Mike Tidwell, Executive Director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, stated:
“After years of visionary advocacy from citizens and businesses across Maryland, the state’s Public Service Commission today approved two major offshore wind farms off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland. These wind farms will be truly pioneering facilities, leading Maryland and the nation toward a 21st century economy that combats climate change and creates jobs in droves at the same time.
The Chesapeake Climate Action Network commends the PSC for correctly assessing the economic, health, and environmental gains integral to these projects. Major thanks must also go to the Maryland General Assembly for passing landmark legislation in 2013, which created incentives and guidelines for offshore wind development. And major credit must go to former Governor Martin O’Malley (D) and his staff who, for years, lead this fight with a vision filled with climate urgency, a sense of social justice, and a devotion to sustainable and vibrant economic growth. This major move toward offshore wind power would not have happened without Governor O’Malley.
Now CCAN is optimistic that the PSC approval today will quickly lead to near-term construction of nearly 400 megawatts of offshore wind. This marks the real start toward an extensive offshore wind industry that will one day soon stretch from Cape Cod, MA to Cape Hatteras, NC and provide as much as a third of the East Coast’s electricity
CONTACT:
Denise Robbins; Chesapeake Climate Action Network; denise@chesapeakeclimate.org; 608-620-8819
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Baltimore City Council Takes a Stand for Offshore Wind and Onshore Jobs
On May 8th, the Baltimore City Council resoundingly passed a resolution in support of offshore wind development in Maryland. Baltimore City Councilwoman Sharon Middleton introduced the resolution, which was co-sponsored by 14 of the 15 City Councilmembers, urging the Public Service Commission to approve one or both of the offshore wind farm proposals currently under consideration.
Before Monday’s vote, over 20 Baltimore residents, local elected officials, and environmental advocates rallied in front of City Hall to show support for offshore wind development and the Baltimore City Council resolution. Supporters displayed art created by local artists and activists for the Peoples Climate March, which many attended the previous weekend in Washington, DC.
The Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) is currently reviewing two proposals for offshore wind projects off Ocean City, Maryland. These two proposals present Maryland, and Baltimore in particular, with the opportunity to become a hub for the growing offshore wind industry. US Wind plans to build a 748-megawatt offshore wind farm, and Skipjack Offshore Wind proposes a 120-megawatt project. Both applicants have named Sparrows Point in Baltimore County as the site of a future assembly and manufacturing plant for their operations.
The Public Service Commission found that development, construction, and operation of the first phase of the US Wind project (248 megawatts) would create 7,050 jobs over 20 years and generate an estimated $1,354 million in economic activity for the state. The Public Service Commission also found that development, construction, and operation of the Skipjack project would create 2,635 jobs over 20 years and generate an estimated $536.4 million in economic activity for the state. Much of the economic activity created by both projects would take place in Baltimore City and Baltimore County.
Not only would offshore wind projects create jobs and economic activity in Maryland and in Baltimore, a commitment to offshore wind energy would also displace polluting sources of energy, many of which are located in and around Baltimore, improving air quality across the state and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
As an urban center and a port city, Baltimore has high potential for being heavily impacted by climate change. State and local efforts to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and invest in clean, renewable energy like offshore wind are important contributions to overall emissions reductions.
The Public Service Commission must decide by May 17th whether or not to approve the proposals. If approved, these offshore wind projects could bring thousands of family-sustaining jobs to the Baltimore area, reduce Maryland’s reliance on fossil fuels, and limit air pollution.
By passing this resolution on Monday, Baltimore City took a stand in support of offshore wind, family-sustaining jobs, and a stable climate. Now it’s up to the PSC to approve offshore wind in Maryland. Stay tuned!
EmPOWER Maryland energy efficiency bill becomes law
Legislation expected to create nearly 70,000 jobs, grow economy and save businesses billions of dollars.
The EmPOWER Maryland energy efficiency legislation championed by businesses and environmental organizations has officially become law.
EmPOWER Maryland helps homeowners and businesses reduce energy waste by offering them technical assistance and incentives to take steps such as installing new appliances, sealing air leaks, and optimizing manufacturing production lines.
Gov. Hogan declined to sign the bill, but he didn’t veto it either, and it passed by a veto-proof margin. As a result, it officially became law at midnight this morning.
See reactions from other business and environmental organizations below
So far, the energy efficiency program has saved utility customers $1.8 billion on their electric bills. According to recent, independent research by the American Council for an Energy Efficiency Economy, the extension is expected to:
- Create more than 68,000 over the next decade, with most of the jobs in construction and services.
- Save ratepayers $11.7 billion because of reduced energy consumption.
- Add $3.75 billion to Maryland’s gross domestic product.
“The new services EmPOWER Maryland provides will create jobs, save ratepayers money and strengthen our economy,” said Brian Toll, Policy Chair with Efficiency First Maryland. “Everyone who pays an electricity bill will benefit.”
Supporters of the bill include major trade associations, businesses, and environmental groups including Union Hospital, Schneider Electric, MGM Resorts, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, the Maryland Alliance for Energy Contractors, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Earthjustice, and the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, among others.
Quotes
James McGarry, Maryland & DC Policy Director, Chesapeake Climate Action Network: “The cheapest and cleanest form of energy is the kind that is never used, thanks to energy efficiency and conservation. This bill will create good-paying jobs in energy efficiency, and help us transition to a clean energy future where our environment is protected for future generations.”
Michael Giangrande, Chairman, Maryland Alliance for Energy Contractors: “As someone who works in energy efficiency, I see firsthand how EmPOWER Maryland is creating jobs and improving people’s lives by saving them money, making their homes more comfortable and keeping electricity costs down.”
Deron Lovaas, Senior Policy Advisor, for the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Urban Solutions program: “This is an amazing accomplishment for one of our nation’s most forward-thinking states. EmPOWER Maryland is an example of how common-sense policies like energy efficiency can win support no matter whether you’re a liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat.”
Jessica Ennis, Senior Legislative Representative, Earthjustice: “Clean energy solutions like EmPOWER Maryland are critical to ensuring that we have clean air to breathe and clean water to drink.”
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CONTACT: Denise Robbins; denise@chesapeakeclimate.org; 240-396-2022
Offshore Wind Is A Fair Development Opportunity In Baltimore
For far too long, Baltimore has been forced to bear the burden of failed development that pollutes the city, causes disproportionate health impacts, and forces residents out of their communities. But now, offshore wind presents the city with an opportunity to become a manufacturing hub for clean energy.
South Baltimore is host to a slew of polluting and dangerous developments, including a 200-acre coal pier, medical waste incinerator, and numerous chemical and pesticide plants. It is also home to a crude oil shipping terminal. “Bomb trains” carrying explosive crude oil from North Dakota travel through the city, and many stop at the NuStar Energy Storage Terminal in Fairfield to transfer oil from rail to barge in order to ship it to refineries in the Northeast.
From 2013 to 2014, over 100 million gallons of crude oil were transported into Baltimore by rail to be offloaded and shipped to refineries. Transporting crude by rail puts 165,000 people in the “blast zone” in Baltimore – the area that could be directly impacted if a train were to derail and explode. Bakken crude oil is highly volatile and transporting it by rail has had devastating consequences, most notably the 2013 derailment and explosion in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec that killed 47 people and leveled the town.
There have been close calls in Baltimore in recent years. Last June, a train carrying acetone derailed in the Howard Street Tunnel right next to the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) — my alma mater. A school parking lot was filled with emergency vehicles for over a week while the derailment was contained. Last month, eight cars on a CSX freight train derailed on a sharp curve in Frederick County. While nothing spilled, the train was carrying hazardous materials and was traveling the same route that crude oil trains have been known to take to reach Baltimore.
And two weeks ago, a fire broke out in a scrap yard in Fairfield just across the street from the oil train shipping terminal there. The fire was contained, but once again, Baltimoreans were faced with a terrifying “what if” scenario had the fire reached the terminal.
These close calls, along with the string of derailments, fires, and explosions caused by oil trains across the country, demonstrate that transporting crude by rail is an unacceptable gamble that endangers people who live, work, and go to school near the tracks.
Meanwhile, it is clear that Marylanders are ready for clean energy.
Last month, the state held two public hearings in Berlin and Annapolis where residents showed up in droves to voice their support for offshore wind farm proposals.
Throughout the three-hour hearing in Berlin, person after person got up in front of the packed auditorium to speak about how offshore wind will help clean Maryland’s air, provide a reliable source of renewable energy, and create thousands of jobs across the state. Union members were a strong presence at the hearing, from piledrivers to carpenters, all of whom stand to benefit from the potential manufacturing and construction jobs across the state. And as a Baltimorean, talk of repurposing Sparrows Point into a wind turbine manufacturing hub was particularly exciting.
Instead of continuing to invest in failed development that brings polluting and dangerous materials like explosive crude oil into the heart of the city, Baltimore has an opportunity to become a central hub for clean energy jobs and fair development. Offshore wind offers one exciting pathway for a just transition in Baltimore where the city can move away from the polluting, dangerous fossil fuel industries of the past and become a clean energy powerhouse.
Tell the Public Service Commission to approve offshore wind in Maryland to help make this fair development future a reality in Baltimore.
Image at top from Sandia National Laboratories.
Maryland Fracking Ban To Become Law, With Nationwide Implications
Senate passes bill with GOP governor support, following six years of grassroots resistance across the state of Maryland
ANNAPOLIS – With game-changing support from Republican Governor Larry Hogan, the Maryland state Senate Monday night gave final approval to a bill to forever ban the practice of fracking in Maryland. This move culminates years of protests against fracking for gas from landowners, health leaders, and environmentalists. It also sets a nationally significant precedent as other states grapple with the dangerous drilling method.
Maryland will now become the first state in America with proven gas reserves to ban fracking by legislative action. New York has banned the drilling process via executive order. Vermont has a statutory ban but the state has no frackable gas reserves at present.
The Maryland ban is sending political waves across the East Coast and the nation. From Virginia (where leaders have imposed or proposed local bans at the county and municipal level) to the state of Florida (which is looking to follow Maryland’s statewide ban), the “keep-it-in-the-ground” movement is gaining new bipartisan steam even as President Donald Trump recklessly works to approve disastrous pipelines like Keystone XL.
“Let the news go forth to Congress and the White House: fracking can never be done safely,” said Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “The Republican governor closest to DC – Larry Hogan of Maryland – has joined scientists and health leaders in agreeing that fracking must be banned. This is a win for Marylanders and for citizens nationwide as we move away from violent fossil fuels and toward sustainable wind and solar power.”
With Senate passage late Monday night, the Maryland bill will now be sent to Gov. Hogan’s desk in the next few days for signing.
The push to ban fracking in Maryland began six years ago as gas companies swarmed into western Maryland to tap the Marcellus Shale basin. This is the same pool of gas that has been widely fracked in Pennsylvania and West Virginia with negative consequences. But then-Governor Martin O’Malley (D) imposed a temporary moratorium before any drilling occurred. Over the years, the movement for a permanent ban came to include farmers, doctors, students, faith leaders, environmental groups, and others – constituting the largest statewide grassroots movement ever seen in Maryland on an energy issue. Former member of the House of Delegates Heather Mizeur was a leading figure in sparking the statewide ban effort. With time, multiple counties and cities in the state banned fracking locally and public polling consistently showed growing support for a statewide ban. Finally, earlier this month, with overwhelming support among Democratic lawmakers, even the previously pro-fracking Republican governor saw the wisdom of a ban.
The Chesapeake Climate Action Network has been honored to play a leading role in this campaign along with our friends in the Don’t Frack Maryland Coalition, including Food and Water Watch, Citizen Shale, Engage Mountain Maryland, the Sierra Club, the Maryland League of Conservation Voters, Physicians for Social Responsibility and many others.
The Maryland fracking ban bill also could not have succeeded without the extraordinary leadership of Kumar Barve (D-Montgomery County) and David Fraser-Hildago (D-Montgomery County) in the Maryland House of Delegates. The same must be said of Bobby Zirkin (D-Baltimore County) and Paul G. Pinsky (D-Prince George’s County) in the Maryland Senate. But Senator Zirkin, more than any other legislator, fought tirelessly for the fracking ban and refused to compromise on the road to this historic victory.
CONTACT: Denise Robbins; denise@chesapeakeclimate.org; 608-620-8819
Maryland just passed a fracking ban. I'm weeping.
This is it: We have officially made history.
Last night, the Senate voted 35 to 10 to ban fracking statewide in Maryland. The bill will be sent to Governor Hogan’s desk to be signed in a matter of days. We are now the third state to ban fracking and the first state with gas reserves to pass a legislative ban. This is the most environmentally significant bill that Maryland has ever passed. Period.
As I write this, I can barely see the computer screen as my eyes keep welling up with tears. This has been the most personal, grueling, and gratifying campaign that I have ever worked on.
As a Western Marylander, the stakes on this campaign were enormous. If we failed, we would have opened up my family’s land and community to the dangers of fracking — contaminating our water, risking birth defects in our children, and scarring the natural beauty of Western Maryland.
Today, we proved that grassroots power can overcome partisan politics and Big Oil and Gas if we organize and work together for a common purpose.
Today, we proved that together, we can overcome anything.
When I first began this campaign, I learned about my grandfather’s activism in Western Maryland. He led sit-ins to bring racial integration to local restaurants and community pools in Frostburg. He did this to protect his seven sons and one daughter so that they could live a life that was just and free of harm. When I began organizing in Frostburg, I carried his spirit with me.
And today, I can proudly say I carried on his legacy of protecting his family. But we could not have done it without each of you. You gave your time, your efforts, and your passion to secure a better future for my family and for all of Maryland. From the start, each of you worked to build a movement that secured this victory.
Thank you to the residents of Frostburg, where over 800 of you signed petitions and hundreds of you rallied and urged your city council to ban fracking.
Thank you to the citizens of Bel Air, who rallied in the freezing cold and told your city council all you wanted for the holidays was for them to ban fracking.
Thank you to Frederick County activists, who met with your local officials and did not relent until they supported a statewide ban.
Thanks to each of you in Friendsville and across Western Maryland, who were met with harsh criticisms and shouted down by your legislators for standing strong to keep your communities safe from fracking.
Thank you to the countless local officials who stood up against fracking in Anne Arundel County, Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Charles County, College Park, Friendsville, Frederick County, Frostburg, Greenbelt, Mountain Lake Park, Montgomery County, and Prince George’s County.
Thanks to each of you who called, wrote your legislators, lobbied in Annapolis and were part of the rally where over a thousand people took to the streets in Annapolis to demand an unfractured future for generations to come.
Thank you to the “Annapolis 13” who were peacefully arrested and helped carry the message to our state Senate that we would not compromise on a ban.
And thanks to each of you who had unwavering faith that sometimes David can beat Goliath. You pushed forward the notion that grassroots organizing can truly change the world.
Because it has.
Please take a moment to thank each and every one of our legislators who cast a “yes” vote after YOU made your voices heard.
Thank them for representing our voices in Annapolis and making sure we have a frack-free future.
Arrests in Annapolis
Today, 13 faith leaders and western Maryland residents were arrested.
They were arrested because there is a threat looming over all our communities, as the moratorium on fracking in Maryland is set to expire this October.
They were arrested because we are at a crucial moment in Maryland history, as the Maryland House of Delegates passed a bill to ban fracking and the Maryland Senate looks to do the same.
They were arrested because this is the moment we need to stand up and send a clear message: Maryland needs a statewide fracking ban NOW.
It was immeasurably inspiring. Our activists were handcuffed, loaded into police vans, and sent to jail, where they spent hours and hours before being released. (At the time of this writing, more than 7 hours after the arrests, they haven’t been released yet).
Right now, we need to carry on the work of our friends by sending our message to the Maryland Senate. Here’s most important thing you can do right now: Call Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. Tell him to support a fracking ban.
Here’s what to say: “My name is ____ and I live in ____. I support those arrested this morning protesting fracking. Please support only a total ban on fracking in Maryland, and bring the fracking ban bill up for a vote in the Senate.”
Now, here are some highlights from today’s events.
The morning started with inspiring speeches from our faith leaders. Including this one, from Unitarian Universalist Reverend Terence Ellen, who connected fracking to global warming and extolled the virtue of fighting for a fracking ban:
Then, activists moved across the street to stand on the steps of the State House, all the while chanting songs and cheers about standing strong in the fight against fracking:
Finally, as Maryland legislators began filing into the State House, it was time for the arrests. The people willing to get arrested moved to the right of the steps, to block the entrance of the statehouse. Dozens of others who joined for the action stood across the street in solidarity and support.
Food & Water Watch documented the arrests:
Thirteen were arrested in total. After the arrestees were taken away, the rest of the activists continued to rally and cheer for a fracking ban.
Here’s the winner for best costume (come on, you didn’t realize there was a costume contest? There’s always a costume contest).
All of this was to send a clear message. We will not back down. We will not give up. We will keep up the fight until the Maryland General Assembly places a statewide fracking BAN and protects our public health, our water and our climate.
Now, time to keep on fighting.