- Target:
- MD Public Works, Del. Sample-Hughes, UMES Pres. Anderson, Lt. Gov. Steele,
- Region:
- United States of America
There is a proposal to construct a fossil fuel pipeline through Maryland's eastern shore, using the method of fracking. It has been researched and documented that fossil fuels release nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere which causes air pollution and global warming, resulting in climate change and more severe and frequent weather patterns.
This pollution has also been connected to health issues such as asthma, cardiovascular disease, preterm birth, and premature death. This risk is especially dangerous for minority communities who suffer at a higher rate than their white counterparts. Unfortunately, minority communities are unknowingly targeted for these polluting projects. For this project, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) is targeted.
There are solutions – alternative clean energy- solar and wind power!
Below is the background from CCAN (https://chesapeakeclimate.org/maryland/eastern-shore-pipeline/)
Two proposed pipelines would connect to bring fracked gas from Delaware into Maryland down the Eastern Shore, threatening the region’s ecosystems and drinking water supplies, and causing irreparable damage to the land and our climate.
These two pipelines are part of the Hogan Administration’s plans to spend $103 million massively increasing fracked-gas pipelines and infrastructure in the state.
This includes $30.3 million administered by the Maryland Energy Administration’s (MEA) new Maryland Gas Expansion Fund “for the expansion of natural gas infrastructure.”
Furthermore, the Hogan Administration recently approved $800,000 to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and $550,000 to the Eastern Correctional Institute to upgrade their facilities to run on fracked gas, presumably the gas carried by these pipelines. This funding is premature and being provided even as the state is facing deep budget cuts in its school systems due to the novel coronavirus.
The public has been consistently left in the dark by the Hogan Administration when it comes to these dangerous projects. But we do know that these pipelines would cross farms, forests, and countless waterways that feed into the Chesapeake Bay. They would also worsen global warming, bringing more sea level rise to the already vulnerable tidal regions of the Eastern Shore.
We, the undersigned, oppose the building out of pipelines on the Eastern Shore and request a delay in voting for the Chesapeake Utilities Project in order to develop an alternative proposal that will adhere to Maryland’s climate goals and emissions reduction goals while being both efficient, sustainable, and clean. Alternatives such as electrification through solar and wind or geothermal that will not threaten the health and wellbeing of the Eastern Shore and its citizens.
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The STOP MD Eastern Shore Pipeline petition to MD Public Works, Del. Sample-Hughes, UMES Pres. Anderson, Lt. Gov. Steele, was written by ALVETA ADDISON and is in the category Environment at GoPetition.