Coal - A Historical Perspective

Although it had been used to create energy for centuries, the first large-scale use of coal occurred during the Industrial Revolution in England from the mid-eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth centuries. At that time the sky was filled with billowing columns of black smoke, soot covered the towns and cities, and workers breathed the thick coal dust swirling around them. Most people then were not concerned with environmental issues because the Industrial Revolution meant jobs to the workers, and factory owners had little desire to control the pollution their factories were creating. In addition, environmental and public health considerations were not as well understood as they are today.

In the United States early colonists used wood to heat their homes because it was so plentiful and coal was less available. Prior to the Civil War (1861–65), some industries used coal as a source of energy, but its major use began with the building of railroads across the country. After the Civil War ended, the United States began to expand its railway system westward and increase its manufacturing capacity. Coal became such a fundamental part of American industrialization that some have called this era the Coal Age. As in England, Americans considered the development of industry a source of national pride. Photographs and postcards of the time proudly featured railroad trains and steel mills with smokestacks belching dark smoke into gray skies.

By the early twentieth century coal had become the major fuel source in the United States, accounting for nearly 90% of the nation's energy requirements. As oil began to heat homes and offices, however, and the growing number of cars used gasoline, coal's dominance declined. By the end of World War II (1939–45), it accounted for only 38% of the energy consumption. Coal fell further out of favor as an energy source in the 1950s and 1960s as oil became more attractive as a cleaner fuel for heating homes and businesses. The decline of coal use continued, with coal producing as little as 18% of the energy used during some years in the early 1970s because of concerns about environmental pollution and the emergence of nuclear power as a promising energy source.

By 1973, however, Americans recognized they could no longer rely on imported oil for their energy. The OPEC oil embargo clearly demonstrated the nation's heavy reliance on foreign sources of energy and its potentially crippling effect on the American economy. Consequently, the nation revived its interest in domestic coal as a plentiful and economical energy source.

After the 1973 embargo, coal and nuclear fuel received more attention, especially in the electric utility sector. In 1977 President Jimmy Carter called for a two-thirds annual increase in national coal production by 1985. He also asked utility companies and other large industries to convert their operations to coal and proposed a ten-year, $10 billion program to encourage domestic coal production. In 2003 more coal was produced within the United States than any other form of energy, generating 22.3 quadrillion Btu and 32% of all energy produced. (See Figure 1.4 in Chapter 1.) Coal was the second largest source of energy consumed in the United States in 2003, after petroleum.