Dear Editor,

In 2009, while working full-time, my husband Ray and I decided to start a side business delivering waste management services for the construction and oilfield industries, other local businesses, and community and special events.

We started with 10 portable toilets, one slide-in tank on the back of an old pick-up truck and an ancient septic truck we fixed up. Now, it’s our full-time job.

Today, thanks to our 50-plus oil and gas customers and a reputation that wins repeat business, we are fortunate to be able to employ 15 people, service three states and, among other equipment, have a fleet that includes a water truck, two dump trucks, eight service trucks and three septic/black water haulers. Our oilfield customers and our local communities have been vital to our success.

Unfortunately, the growing opposition to new and existing oil and gas projects from the Biden Administration and anti-business activists now threaten that good fortune and what has become our livelihood.

The Administration halted new oil and gas leases on federal lands (which a federal judge has since blocked for now), squashed the Keystone XL gas pipeline project, and is encouraging agencies to scale back investments in oil and gas projects.

Closer to home, the drive to spark economic development in our three-state region via Marcellus Shale production has been hurt by cancellation of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the slowing or halting of other projects after increasing opposition from state regulators and activists who like to oppose any kind of real economic activity.

Don’t get me wrong. We are in favor of efforts to reduce emissions that contribute to global warming, and do our part. But the current effort to reach net-zero emissions by some date decades away is simplistic. It doesn’t recognize that we must continue to use abundant and reliable natural gas and other traditional fuels while we figure out what is going to help keep our lights on and our cars and trucks running.

Fossil fuel opponents forget that renewables just comprised 21% of the electricity generated in 2020, and the U.S. Energy Information Administration calculates that that percentage won’t even double until 2050, falling far short of the 100% renewables goal by then. In addition, I wish someone would explain how curbing the use of plentiful natural gas for electricity will keep us from avoiding brownouts and blackouts when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow.

Frankly, we’re happy that 15 state attorneys general have sued the Biden administration over its suspension of new oil and gas leases on federal land and water because of the effect it will have on employment and lost revenue.

And we’re also pleased that Gov. DeWine on July 1 signed legislation forbidding local governments from banning natural gas, making Ohio the 17th state to protect consumers in that manner.

My husband and I were able to leave our full-time jobs and devote all our energies in Litman Enterprises.

We think we’ve made a genuine difference in serving our local communities and the tri-state area.

But any contraction in the oil and gas industry will hurt the financial well-being of our customers, and the thousands of people they employ.

Doing this on purpose, through a ban that only makes a handful of activists happy, is a bad idea, verging on spiteful.

The planet is important but people and families should matter more.

That’s what’s missing from the political agendas of activists and the politicians who aim to please them. There’s a better way, and we hope President Biden — or someone else –leads us to it, rather than toward a path of intentional harm.

Amy Litman

Co-founder

Litman Enterprises

Sardis