To the Editor:

Re “Boom in Energy Spurs Industry in the Rust Belt” (front page, Sept. 9):

Clean energy’s crucial role must not be overlooked in any discussion about the resurgence of manufacturing jobs in the Midwest’s energy sector.

In Stark County, Ohio, for instance, at least 15 companies involved in the wind energy supply chain employ hundreds of workers who manufacture parts like turbine blades, bearings for gear boxes and custom hinges.

In Canton, the county seat, wind technicians working on projects like these earn an average yearly salary of more than $86,000, according to a 2012 Natural Resources Defense Council report.

These jobs — and thousands more like them in Ohio’s growing solar and energy efficiency industries — do more than just expand the Midwest’s manufacturing base. They also undercut the need for hydraulic fracturing in the Utica Shale formation in the first place.