Marylanders divided on fracking

Marylanders remain divided on the issue of banning a controversial natural gas extraction process.

A poll released Monday by the Sarah T. Hughes Field Politics Center at Goucher College found that 43 percent of those surveyed said they support or strongly support a ban on the process commonly referred to as fracking.

A worker adjusts hoses during a hydraulic fracturing operation at an Encana Corp. oil well, near Mead, Colo. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

“The public sentiment on this issue is far from decided,” said Mileah Kromer, a political science professor and director of the poll.

Roughly one-third of those responding to the question this year said they oppose a ban. The response is similar to Goucher’s polling in October 2014.

Two years ago, the same poll found that 52 percent of those surveyed supported a ban.

Those numbers were in advance of the 2015 General Assembly session which saw the passage of a moratorium law requires the Maryland Department of the Environment to draft regulations for fracking by Oct. 1 and to not issue permits or allow drilling before Oct. 1, 2017.

The department has already announced that it will not meet next month’s deadline.

In the meantime, a number of lawmakers are vowing to introduce legislation in January that would permanently ban the process in Maryland.

So are people who once supported a permanent ban of the controversial process now softening their position?

Kromer said it’s likely the 2015 legislation moved the issue to the back of people’s minds. About 47 percent of those surveyed said they had heard little to nothing about the issue.

“Out of sight out of mind,” Kromer said, adding that she expects the coming session will activate advocates on both sides of the issue to do more to shed new light on the issue.