Thursday, March 14, 2013
Contact:
Jenny Chang, jenny.chang@sierraclub.org, 202-495-3020
Yesterday, Illinois’ Speaker of the House, Michael Madigan, voiced support for legislation that would call for a two year moratorium on fracking in that state.
Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune released the following statement in response:
“The Sierra Club is encouraged by Speaker Madigan’s support for a fracking moratorium in Illinois. The Sierra Club maintains that a moratorium is the best way to proceed right now, ensuring that public health and the environment are fully protected from the dangers of fracking.
“Legislation that regulates fracking, even if it contains some elements worthy of support like HB2615, cannot make the residents of Illinois safe. A moratorium is essential because we don’t know the extent of what can go wrong with fracking, and we don’t have a full understanding of the potential threats to public health. The regulatory bill in Illinois just addresses a subset of the known problems. It will not make fracking safe and clean.
“And important for our climate, we need to keep as much natural gas in the ground as possible. We oppose opening up new landscapes to drilling when we need to put all of our efforts into developing renewable sources of energy like wind and solar, and doubling down on energy efficiency. Across the nation, we’re showing we can trade dirty fuels for clean energy. Change is happening, and it’s up to us to keep that momentum going if we want to save our climate.”
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