Extracting natural gas from Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale rock formation has become a flash point for opponents of hydraulic fracturing, better known by the shorter, more sinister name “fracking.”

In the PR battle over natural gas, the antidrilling “fracktivists” have held the linguistic upper hand since “fracking” carries negative connotations, and even sounds a bit obscene. But rather than avoiding the term, the Marcellus Shale Coalition, an industry group, has decided to embrace it.

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