Pennsylvania's Marcellus shale was a blessing when it's natural gas reserves were discovered over a decade ago and we continue to reap its benefits today. From the local economic impact we see here in Susquehanna County to the cleaner air we're experiencing as natural gas end use continues to overtake traditional fuels. Millions of Americans are benefitting from this resource every day, and the Susquehanna County Career and Technology Center (SCCTC) is no different.

The SCCTC works to train students in a wide range of careers including cosmetology, automotive technology, massage therapy and welding technology, just to name a few. Thanks to partnerships with local natural gas companies in the region like Cabot Oil and Gas, our welding students recently got to work on a project for the company where they built a plunger lift training unit for the company. Projects like these help to teach the students about other career paths they might not have thought about pursuing after graduation.

Collaborations like the one with Cabot are a clear example of the benefit we provide to students and the local community. SCCTC is providing a growing, professionally trained, homegrown workforce to an industry that will be here for decades to come. In fact, last year our welding program had two students pass their API test for pipe welding. One student went on to work as a pipeline welder for Linde and the other was accepted in the boilermakers union. Both of these opportunities are typically rare for an 18 or 19 year old especially since pipeline welders on average make $80,000 a year.

Domestic natural gas development provides families with low-cost energy and high-paying jobs. Only by expanding natural gas access and use will we create more competitive jobs for Northern Tier Pennsylvania residents and Americans across the country.

Sincerely,

Alice M. Davis, Ph.D., Executive Director, SCCTC

The military-industrial complex not only describes the mutually supportive relationship that Pres. Eisenhower warned about fifty years ago: it also defines the pathology of paranoia. This illness is characterized by imagined enemies, against whom military protection is always insufficient.

The MIC syndrome is both progressive and addictive. It increases in severity until, like a street-corner habit it becomes impossible to support. That's where we're at.

Think not? Look at the numbers. The 2017 budget for the US was $603 billion. For China, it was $151 billion, and Russia's was $61 billion. The US's budget is 2.8 times the combined total of China's and Russia's budgets.

But that's too close for comfort. The president topped off this year's military allowance with $700 million to make it 2.9 times that of China's and Russian's military dollars.

And what about the never-ending Middle Eastern wars that justify the US's out-of-control military expenditures?

The war in Afghanistan is the spending ground for this affliction. This seventeen-year conflict has cost a total of $841 billion, plus $2 trillion in interest payments on government bonds to finance the fracas with goat herders. Now add a couple of trillion more for the life-long medical care of thousands of vets. Last, add the unknown cost of dark-world mercenaries, and you get something like $6 trillion.

Now you might ask, What, pray tell, did we get for $6 trillion?

Years before Trump become president, he called for a complete withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying it was a waste of money and lives. But now, as president, he finds that campaign promises are as easily made as broken.

Doing a 180, Pres. Trump has sent an additional 4,000 men to Afghanistan. This brings the total troop deployment in country to 19,300. But can anyone seriously expect that 19,300 troops can do what 98,000 servicemen could not do in 2010?

Afghanistan is a landlocked nation. The only practical way to haul supplies into that shore-less country is by a 1,000 mile-long land route. This jacks-up the cost of everything from toothpaste to Tomahawks. Think about shelling out $470 for a gallon of gasoline. Let's see. That's $6,000 to fill up my car.

Similarly, the cost of maintaining a single soldier in that parched patch of land is $2.3 million per man, per year. Multiply that by our current troop deployment. That's more than $44 billion per year.

Here's another pesky question: Can we afford to maintain 1.3 million active service personnel against ISIS that numbers about 1,500 in Afghanistan? Nevertheless, the president plans to augment the active duty roaster by 26,000. Can't be too safe.

Does it make any sense to have almost 800 military bases in 70 nations? Some of these outposts are mini-Americas, with apartment houses, pizza parlors, movie theaters, shopping malls, swimming pools, and parks. Transplanting America doesn't come cheap.

Pres. Trump pledged to balance the budget in 10 years through a boost in revenue produced by economic growth and deep cuts in spending. But he's off to a rocky start with a budget that adds $1 trillion to the steeple-high deficit of $22 trillion.

And remember that $1 trillion infrastructure plan to rebuild roads and bridges? Well, it shrunk to $200 billion. States and private businesses are footing the other $800 billion. To which they say, "Who, me?"

The oft-repeated answer to budgetary overspending is to cut entitlements such as Social Security or Medicare.

Here's the kicker. There is not, nor has there ever been any need to slash entitlements. There is sufficient revenue to decrease the deficit, fund the yearly cost of the $1 trillion infrastructure plan, have an affordable tax cut and keep the entitlement programs.

But to do this, we have to break our addiction to an insanely over-budged military, say goodbye to Afghanistan, wave sayonara to ISIS, cut way back on active duty personnel, and start closing a few hundred military bases.

Going cold turkey is out of the question. We'll have to do it judiciously, slowly to wean ourselves off an economy warped by military spending. It won't be easy.

There are hundreds of politicians who depend on contributors for their re-election war chests from manufactures of military goods. The producers of military hardware will make common cause with generals and admirals. All these, the pols, the manufacturers, and the brass will form a united front and declare a jihad against spending chops to protect their interests.

But we've got to break the MIC addition, or the addiction will break the US.

Sincerely,

Bob Scroggins, New Milford, PA

Two decades ago, my hometown was struggling to thrive. There were no high-paying jobs available, and the only way to have a family-sustaining career was to move away. That all changed with the Marcellus Shale boom. Now, our area is flourishing thanks to an abundance of Pennsylvania-produced natural gas.

As a Susquehanna County Career and Technology Center student, I am learning how natural gas infrastructure projects bring more benefits, including jobs, to local communities. I recently worked on a valve cutaway project for Cabot Oil and Gas. This and many other projects bring with them significant economic benefits and well-paying jobs that ensure my community will continue to flourish.

Natural gas is a pillar of the U.S. economy. Companies are more competitive, thousands of jobs are being created and hardworking Americans now have more money in their wallets. In Susquehanna County, natural gas is a blessing that has given us a chance at the American dream.

We need to provide more Americans a chance at high-paying careers, and the natural gas industry gives them that opportunity. By supporting infrastructure projects, we help others rise up and revive communities across Pennsylvania.

Sincerely,

Jake Peters, Welding Student, Springville, PA