Maryland Petroleum Council director criticizes hydraulic fracturing ban
Maryland Petroleum Council (MPC) Executive Director Drew Cobbs recently said that HB1325, which would ban hydraulic fracturing, would disallow a process that benefits Maryland citizens and go against the beliefs of most Maryland voters.
“Hydraulic fracturing has been proven safe, and Western Maryland could gain from new job creation and economic benefits,” Cobbs said. “This proposal to ban the technology not only ignores the views of Maryland voters, but could also undermine the benefits that Maryland families and consumers are already seeing today.”
In December 2016, the Environmental Protection Agency finalized a six-year national study of hydraulic fracturing and did not find evidence that the process leads to widespread systematic impacts on drinking water resources in the United States.
According to a recent poll cited by the American Petroleum Institute (API), 40 percent of Maryland citizens oppose a fracking ban, 36 percent support one and 24 percent do not know. In another poll, 51 percent of Maryland voters said they support natural gas development in the state, 22 percent oppose it and 27 percent offered no opinion on the matter.
“Our industry has a long history of providing economic and environmental benefits,” Cobbs said. “Whether it is turning your lights on, heating your home, using many different consumer products or driving your car – hydraulic fracturing has made energy more available and driven down energy costs for all Americans.”
MPC is a division of API, which represents all segments of the U.S. oil and natural gas industry.
