To the editor:

A recent article in Kiplinger’s Personal Finance disclosed a current trend known as reshoring, or insourcing, resulting in the repatriation of some manufacturing jobs back to the US. A survey by Michigan State University disclosed that 40 percent of US manufacturers surveyed reported a reshoring trend in their industries.

Why the trend? Rising wages in China, expensive shipping costs due to high oil prices, and the cost of factory powering natural gas is far cheaper in the US.

This renaissance could produce 2.5 to 5 million manufacturing jobs in the US by 2020.

The purpose of my commentary is to point out that the huge increase of natural gas supplies is a key and vital ingredient in the process of reshoring jobs to the US. The increase in natural gas inventories is being driven by horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Energy developers are capable of using both technologies while having a minimal impact on the environment. Are there environmental concerns with the fracking process? Yes. Can the concerns by mitigated with EPA oversight and responsible development? Also a yes. Extreme environmentalists who protest this development do not concern themselves with the reality of our economic and energy needs, or with the improved process.

As an example, the development of the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania supports nearly 140,000 jobs. The Pennsylvania EPA works closely with the developers to insure environmental compliance, and the developers welcome the oversight. This results is a balance between environmental concerns and the development process.

Abundant natural gas creates creates good jobs in the extraction process, supports the reshoring trend, is the cleanest-burning conventional fuel, reduces costs for Americans to heat their homes and also generates electricity from natural gas.

Responsible natural gas development is necessary for our economic growth and energy independence, and can provide the bridge needed to fuel America as we move towards producing sustainable energy via renewable sources.

Francis X. Smith

Loveland