In a letter Tuesday, Nate Boring wrote that lawmakers should create laws that bolster natural gas drilling, not restrict it, because the drilling increases economic growth.

Jobs are created but not for Pennsylvanians, as many workers come from Texas or other states. These out-of-state workers also displace local residents in terms of housing, as renters increase their monthly fees exorbitantly because they know gas companies can and do pay these prices. Many low-and middle-income families cannot afford this and must move or risk becoming homeless.

While natural gas companies do see an increase in revenue, little if any money goes to the people whose properties are leased for drilling or the state itself because current laws tax the companies so little.

Boring cites natural gas as a cleaner-burning fuel but doesn’t describe the dirty process of gas extraction. Hydraulic fracturing, a common extraction method, forces thousands of gallons of water filled with toxic chemicals into the ground. Drilling fluids from this process have contaminated Pennsylvania waterways and residential drinking water in the past.

Regulations should be more restrictive, not less. Even better for people and the environment, gas drilling should be banned all together.

Lisa Shaffer Rebersburg