The following Letter to the Editor is from the May 2026 issue of The Lenawee Voice. Letters should be 300 words or fewer and may be emailed to letters@lenaweevoice.com. If space is limited, preference will be given to local authors and local topics. Please include your town of residence and a phone number for verification.

Energy independence, or just more profits for the oil industry?

Energy independence is a deceptive phrase. For years the Republican party advocated for energy independence. Locally, congressmen Tim Walberg and Bob Latta both sat on the Energy Committee, and both worked to get the Nexus and Rover natural gas pipelines approved through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The goal was energy independence, but the results show the overall benefits were decidedly with the oil and gas industry.

The pipelines were built with the promise of cheap abundant natural gas, but the race to maximize profits won over the needs of average Americans. What we got was a bastardized goal to export our natural gas for the highest world price.

So, Americans will pay the highest world price because of our political system of Pay to Play! In Alaska the residents are paid a yearly royalty of $1,000 per resident for energy produced in the state. Negotiations are ongoing to raise that number to $1,500 per resident. For the rest of us, instead of using the cheapest nonpolluting energy sources available, we are stuck with a political system that serves none of us.

—­ Paul Wohlfarth, Ottawa Lake