Addams family actor lends voice to fracking opposition

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The actor who played the patriarch of the Addams Family says the gas drilling process known as fracking is no joke.

John Astin, a Baltimore native and comedian who played Gomez Addams, is the voice of a radio ad that supporters of a ban are broadcasting Thursday morning.

Astin says in the ad there’s nothing funny about poisoning drinking water and the air we breathe. Food & Water Watch paid for the ad.

A measure to ban fracking in Maryland is advancing in the Legislature. A bill to ban the practice already has passed the House of Delegates. A Senate panel passed the bill on Wednesday, and Gov. Larry Hogan says he supports it.

Fracking isn’t being done in Maryland now, but a moratorium on issuing permits ends in October.