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To the editor:
A decade ago, the oil and gas industry predicted 450,000 jobs would be created in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virgina, the result of a boom in production.
But data released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis shows that in 22 counties in these three states, employment rose 1.6 percent while job gains nationally were 9.9 percent. In seven eastern Ohio counties -- Belmont, Carroll, Guernsey, Harrison, Jefferson, Monroe and Noble -- there was a net job loss of more than 8 percent. You can read about this in a new report from the Ohio River Valley Institute.
The jobs didn't materialize. Driving around the Tri-State Area, I see almost no sign of prosperity. I know a few people who got jobs, but I know many more who live paycheck to paycheck because the growth in output didn't stay in local economies.
All we got was increased heavy truck traffic and damaged roads. Meanwhile, the rest of the world is waking up to the looming environmental disaster of single use plastics. And this is on top of the damage done to surface waters and aquifers. One day water will be more highly prized than either oil or gas. Don't allow yourself to be persuaded by the energy lobbyists. All the plastic we see scattered along our roads is pure profit for them.
John Rucki
Amsterdam