State Rep. Jamie Boles and several House Republicans traveled to Pennsylvania to learn more about fracking in preparation for the possibility of gas drilling coming here to North Carolina.

We are in a very powerful position to scrutinize how this industry has done business in other states and make new rules for how they propose to do business here.

North Carolina is a virgin state right now, and the gas companies want to come here with promises of money and jobs.

The problem is, they want us to change our environmental laws so they are able to do business as usual and not be accountable for their actions.

We’ve all heard the stories of homeowner’s wells being polluted by the chemicals used to inject into the Earth in order to extract the gas; there’s enough documentation now to pay attention. Enormous amounts of water are needed to inject into the wells, the source of which is an important issue for North Carolina, which has been declared a drought state.

The overall behavior of these companies is lack of accountability. North Carolina needs to be in the driver’s seat if we decide to allow gas drilling. Let’s demand accountability, cleaner practices, provide protection to our citizens and, above all, we must protect our water.

Sally Larson

Eagle Springs