To: Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and Governor Larry Hogan
Gov. O'Malley: Protect Marylanders’ health from fracking!
If fracking were to start in Maryland now, we’d be the next guinea pigs for testing the gas industry’s impacts on people. The public health study released on August 18 by your administration shows that fracking could cause significant short- and long-term harm to the health of Maryland communities, and especially to children and the elderly. Just as concerning, the report only scratches the surface of the potential risks due to limited time, scope, and available data.
Governor O’Malley, I urge you to extend the state’s fracking moratorium until and unless there is clear, scientific evidence that fracking would NOT cause significant harm to our health.
Governor O’Malley, I urge you to extend the state’s fracking moratorium until and unless there is clear, scientific evidence that fracking would NOT cause significant harm to our health.
Why is this important?
Everywhere fracking is happening, from Texas to Colorado to Pennsylvania, the health of people is suffering -- from children with unexplained nosebleeds, to babies born with birth defects, to workers sickened by exposure to toxic, tiny silica particles.
In Maryland, we don’t have fracking -- for now. And we need to speak out now to keep it that way.
A three-year fracking review process that Governor Martin O’Malley put in place in 2011 is set to conclude in the next few months, potentially leaving Marylanders with no protections against drilling. In mid-August, as part of this process, the O’Malley administration released a study on the potential health impacts of fracking in Maryland, triggering a public comment period through October 3rd.
Among many significant dangers, the report warns that fracking is highly likely to harm Marylanders’ air quality -- exposing people to toxins linked to cancer, birth defects, and respiratory illnesses. Rushed and underfunded, the study also leaves many critical questions about the risks to our health unanswered.
Join us in calling on Governor O'Malley to protect our health by keeping Maryland's fracking moratorium in place. Let’s make sure this message is heard loud and clear: If fracking were to start in Maryland now, we’d be the next guinea pigs for testing the industry’s impacts on people, and that’s wholly unacceptable. Sign the petition by the October 3rd deadline!
In Maryland, we don’t have fracking -- for now. And we need to speak out now to keep it that way.
A three-year fracking review process that Governor Martin O’Malley put in place in 2011 is set to conclude in the next few months, potentially leaving Marylanders with no protections against drilling. In mid-August, as part of this process, the O’Malley administration released a study on the potential health impacts of fracking in Maryland, triggering a public comment period through October 3rd.
Among many significant dangers, the report warns that fracking is highly likely to harm Marylanders’ air quality -- exposing people to toxins linked to cancer, birth defects, and respiratory illnesses. Rushed and underfunded, the study also leaves many critical questions about the risks to our health unanswered.
Join us in calling on Governor O'Malley to protect our health by keeping Maryland's fracking moratorium in place. Let’s make sure this message is heard loud and clear: If fracking were to start in Maryland now, we’d be the next guinea pigs for testing the industry’s impacts on people, and that’s wholly unacceptable. Sign the petition by the October 3rd deadline!