Maryland Delegate Introduces Moratorium, Before Fracking Begins

A member of the Maryland House of Delegates, David Fraser-Hidalgo (Democrat from Montgomery County) will host a news conference today to propose a bill that slaps a moratorium on Marcellus Shale drilling in the state--before such drilling has even begun. This is rich on many levels. First, Marcellus drilling would only happen in 1 1/2 counties at the far western edge of the state. Second, Fraser-Hidalgo sits his rear-end in Montgomery County, a Washington, D.C. suburb--at the opposite end of the state. Third, a commission made up of many his fellow Democrats evaluated fracking for *four* years, and outgoing Democrat Gov. Martin O'Malley recently green lighted fracking--with arguably the strictest rules anywhere (see Maryland Gets Ready to Frack! Gov O’Malley Files New Regulations). All of that is not good enough for Mr. Fraser-Hidalgo. Fortunately Maryland now has a new Republican governor, Larry Hogan, and Fraser-Hidalgo's bill, if it passes, will be DOA on Hogan's desk...

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