Three years ago, Governor Martin O'Malley established a commission to study whether natural gas can be safely extracted from the Marcellus Shale, which runs under Garrett and Allegheny Counties. WYPR's Christopher Connelly talks with Fraser Smith about the study and the accompanying politics, as Maryland's next governor will decide whether to allow hydraulic fracturing in the state.
Christopher Connelly is a political reporter for WYPR, covering the day-to-day movement and machinations in Annapolis. He comes to WYPR from NPR, where he was a Joan B. Kroc Fellow, produced for weekend All Things Considered and worked as a rundown editor for All Things Considered. Chris has a master’s degree in journalism from UC Berkeley. He’s reported for KALW (San Francisco), KUSP (Santa Cruz, Calif.) and KJZZ (Phoenix), and worked at StoryCorps in Brooklyn, N.Y. He’s filed stories on a range of topics, from a shortage of dog blood in canine blood banks to heroin addicts in Tanzania. He got his start in public radio at WYSO in Yellow Springs, Ohio, when he was a student at Antioch College.