Tony, in West Side Story, uttering the name Maria, styled it “the most beautiful sound I ever heard … all the beautiful sounds of the world in a single word…”

Marcellus Shale is, to many in Pennsylvania’s northern tier, the most beautiful sound they ever heard in two words. That sound is frequently the jingling of cash in the register, although it is most likely that they are seeing big bills that don’t jingle but do change lives.