Whenever I hear someone talk about proposals I think about marriage. I suppose that the metaphor works in this case too.

I have proposals that could lead to a successful marriage between Lawrence County and Prosperity. I want our county to be prosperous and I have a proposal to make the marriage work!

First, have you ever heard of Marcellus shale? Sounds like someone’s aunt doesn’t it?

Well, no, but it could be the Mother Load of natural gas.

Beneath West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York lies a shale formation with enough natural gas to make the region second only to Texas in terms of supplying consumers with the clean-burning fuel.

In fact, if the Marcellus shale formation is fully developed, it has the potential to create over 300,000 jobs between 2011 and 2020 and result in more than $6 billion in local, state, and federal taxes.

The value of the gas reserves could be as high as $2 trillion at current prices. That’s a lot of prosperity. Some might say, “Hey that’s not in Lawrence County!”

I’d say, “Right, but if we act now we can add natural gas lines in Lawrence County and take advantage of clean, cheaper fuel; provide support services for all of this energy development activity, plus enjoy the increased tax revenue from the locals who work for all of this energy expansion.” I say that’s sweet Prosperity!

Second, I believe we should add more sewer lines to our current network. Some would say, “We can’t afford the ones we have now.”

That may be true, but increased volume lessens the total cost of purification. In other words, the more volume we can process (Yes, I’m talking sewer water.) then the cheaper per unit it goes.

We can find revenue for increasing the sewer lines throughout the county and expand our sewer treatment facilities through grants and alternative support and improve our infrastructure for new homes, businesses and even manufacturing.

We need not resort to taxes. Seems to me we need to take action to marry Prosperity.

Finally, I’m all for education. Someone might say, “Well, sure you are, you’ve been teaching at the university for over 20 years.”

True, but it is more that. If you take someone fishing and they can catch a fish, you can share it and be happy for a few hours.

But, if you teach someone to fish, they can live a happy life. We need an educated work force in order to lead prosperous lives.

Not only English, math and science, but I’m talking about skills we can use in the Marcellus Shale, trucking industry, railroad, river transportation, timber, health care, technology and tourist industry. Let’s dream and do!

I have a proposal. Let’s improve our infrastructure, look to the future and wed Lawrence County to Prosperity.

We can all enjoy the noise and fury of growth, development and success. With some planning, vision and hard work, we can do this!

We will all smile at the wedding of Lawrence County and Prosperity.

David M. Lucas, Ph.D. is a professor at Ohio University Southern.