Photo by Maryland Daily Record
The Sun recently printed a letter from Brigitte Jacobson of Baltimore ("Ban harmful fracking, Senator Conway,"Feb. 16). Ms. Jacobson and a group of like minded friends had a meeting scheduled with their state Senator, Joan Carter Conway of Baltimore's District 43, to talk about the fracking issue in Maryland. Senator Conway was a no-show for the meeting, and none of her staff had stayed to take the meeting for her. As a fellow constituent of Ms. Conway's, I have to ask why did she decided to get into public service in the first place? What lofty goal or what impulse made her get involved and want to be an elected representative? If it was to serve her constituents who voted for her and to represent the interests of all of Maryland's citizens when she chairs her committee responsible for environmental issues in this state, she is doing a poor job. In a recent poll, over 70 percent of Baltimore voters said they want to ban fracking. Every statewide poll has the margin at about 2 to 1 against fracking. Over the past five or six years, she has been presented with hours and hours of testimony from medical practitioners, researchers and other professionals about the documented safety hazards and risks associated with fracking. She has publicly acknowledged that she believes there are problems with fracking, yet she persists in her stance that she "will not ban fracking," and she uses every political maneuver she can come up with to hold the door open for fracking, which she now proposes with her bill SB 862. Her constituents don't want fracking. The majority of the people who live in Garrett County who will have to live with it don't want fracking, the people who own 2nd homes and go there to vacation and recreate from around the state don't want fracking. Who elected her ? Who is she working for? When did facts, common sense and reason stop being a part of her job and responsibility? Embracing Senator George Edwards' desire to extend fracking, and Delegate Wendell Beitzel's "drill, baby, drill," and Gov. Larry Hogan's "all of the above" stance on energy may not be the best or safest political strategy for her. I know that it's not working for me. Showing up for meetings she schedules with constituents might do her some good. We're not your enemy. Unless that's how you see us.