Dear Editor:

In a recent edition, there were two letters to the editor from our local legislators. One was from a local senator and the other was from a local representative. In the response from the senator, he stated the facts why he voted for the recent Marcellus Shale bill, a bill that strips power from local communities to protect themselves from drilling activities. The bill requires local governments to allow gas operations in all zones, including residential and agricultural areas with few restrictions.Furthermore, the new law only requires drillers to disclose some information about the chemicals they use, but it applies only to certain types of drilling and prevents much of the information from disclosure to the public. Since most of the information about the chemicals is kept secret, the new law makes pollution legal.The facts are that the senator voted the way the special interest groups asked him to vote and that he received numerous campaign contributions from the political action committees or PACs associated with the drilling industry. The senator did not act in the best interest of the people in his district.The senator did present his version of the facts about his drilling vote. However, the senator did not present his version of the facts about the Boy Scouts. If the senator is going to give his version of the facts about his voting record, he may want to give his version of the facts about his involvement with the local Boy Scout troop that was also mentioned in the letter. An election is here and the senator should want to explain all the facts about himself.Now, about the local representative who I have known all of my life, when did he ever follow the rules? This is not the first time that he has been accused of making degrading remarks about or to a woman. It has been reported that some women have had nasty phone calls from him in regards to their involvement with political careers.So here we have our two local politicians with almost 30 years in the political arena. They do deserve credit for saying what they think that you want to hear. They are made from the same mold but yet so different. One is an educated political wimp and the other is an uneducated political thug. You choose the title to place over them.They presented their version of the facts in their letters. They gave their explanations to make them look like the good guys and the others like villains. My conclusion to these responses and knowing them the way that I know them is to say that if bull manure were dynamite, these two could blow up the universe.John H. SchickramTamaqua