I write this letter in response.

• Author: Byron, Norma Powell
• Position: Energy Security - Letter to the editor

I write this letter in response to Lawrence Farrell's June 2012 editorial, "New American Oil Boom: Will it Slow DoD's Renewable Energy Momentum?"

Outside the defense sector, renewable energy technologies are being adopted at a very rapid rate. This is readily apparent driving through the countryside. Large wind farms are visible throughout the Midwest, California, Texas and increasingly Pennsylvania.

One recent survey found that Americans by and large favor renewable energy solutions to fossil fuels The reasons are two-fold: Americans want to be self-reliant for their energy and, perhaps more surprising, they have discovered that wind mills, solar panels, fuel cells and other alternative energy devices are manufactured in great proportions here in the United States.

By purchasing and installing these systems to provide for our own energy needs, we keep the money circulating in this country and put labor back to work in well-paid manufacturing jobs. According to the Pew Foundation, currently there are twice as many U.S. jobs in "green tech" compared to the fossil fuel industry. This rapid...