Rendell: 'I don't apologize at all' for fracking

Marie Cusick Bio Recent Stories As the Harrisburg reporter for StateImpact Pennsylvania, Marie Cusick covers energy and environmental issues for public radio stations statewide. She’s also part of NPR’s energy and environment team, which coordinates coverage between the network and select member station reporters around the country. Her work frequently airs on NPR shows including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition. Since 2012, Marie has closely followed the political, social, environmental, and economic effects of Pennsylvania’s natural gas boom. Her work has been recognized at the regional and national levels– honors include a Sigma Delta Chi Award from the Society of Professional Journalists and a national Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio Television Digital News Association. Previously, Marie was a multimedia reporter for WMHT in Albany, New York and covered technology for the station’s statewide public affairs TV show, New York NOW. In 2018, she became StateImpact’s first FAA-licensed drone pilot.

AP Photo/Matt Rourke

Editor's Picks

Former Governor Ed Rendell is walking back comments he made last month at the Democratic National Convention, when he said he’d “made a mistake” putting economic gains ahead of environmental protection in the early days of the state’s Marcellus Shale gas boom.“I don’t apologize at all,” he recently told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . “I’m a strong advocate of continuing to frack.”The Democrat was governor from 2003 to 2011 and oversaw the beginning of Pennsylvania’s drilling boom. StateImpact Pennsylvania first reported his remarks “We didn’t regulate well construction and …. frack water as well as we should,” Rendell said at a panel discussion during the DNC. “We cured that in 2010 and we haven’t had any significant incidents since.”When asked by the Post-Gazette about the leaks, explosions, and accidents that have occurred since 2010, Rendell said there have not been many, compared to the early days.“Anything you do you’re going have some problems,” he told the paper.Rendell did not respond to requests by StateImpact Pennsylvania to clarify his views.