Mode of Program Participation
Community Organizing and Educational Programming
Participation Type
Paper
Presentation #1 Title
Banning Fracking in Maryland: An Appalachian Case Study
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
In 2015, the Maryland General Assembly adopted a two-year moratorium on hydraulic fracturing (also known as “fracking”) in Maryland to allow time to study its impacts. In the interim, municipal and county governments in the state began to adopt ordinances to ban fracking in their jurisdictions. Such efforts have been especially important in the Marcellus Shale region of Appalachian Maryland, the largest community of which is Frostburg, a college town with historic roots in coal mining. There a grassroots group of citizens organized to advocate for the passage of a municipal ban on fracking. This presentation will describe their efforts and highlight key lessons learned about organizing in the face of power dynamics in local and state government as well as in the media within the Appalachian region and beyond.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Kathleen Powell is professor of social work at Frostburg State University where she teaches courses in community organizing and social change. She has been a long-standing activist on a variety of social justice issues.
Ann Bristow, is a professor emeritus in the Department of Psychology at Frostburg State University and represented the Savage River Watershed Association on the state of Maryland’s Marcellus Shale Safe Drilling Initiative, a commission convened by the former governor to investigate the risks and benefits of fracking.
Nina Forsythe is a published poet who leads creative writing workshops for children. She is a board member of Citizen Shale, a Western Maryland grassroots organization that was formed to oppose fracking in the state.
Banning Fracking in Maryland: An Appalachian Case Study
In 2015, the Maryland General Assembly adopted a two-year moratorium on hydraulic fracturing (also known as “fracking”) in Maryland to allow time to study its impacts. In the interim, municipal and county governments in the state began to adopt ordinances to ban fracking in their jurisdictions. Such efforts have been especially important in the Marcellus Shale region of Appalachian Maryland, the largest community of which is Frostburg, a college town with historic roots in coal mining. There a grassroots group of citizens organized to advocate for the passage of a municipal ban on fracking. This presentation will describe their efforts and highlight key lessons learned about organizing in the face of power dynamics in local and state government as well as in the media within the Appalachian region and beyond.
