41 / 66
39
Chapter Four: The Coal Industry
Coal miners taking a lunch break more than 2 miles below ground, in 1910.
Since the start of the Industrial Revolution and the discovery of North American
coal reserves, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, coal has been a huge part
of the energy business and a way of life for millions of people. Over this period, its
uses spread to iron and steel making, railroad locomotives, factory furnaces, ovens
and kilns, home heating, and countless other consumer uses. In 1882, coal powered
North America’s first plant to generate electricity for public users—Thomas Edison’s
Pearl Street Station in New York. That was the beginning of coal’s massive use by the
electricity industry.
A Century of Coal
By 1920, total US coal production had reached almost 700 million tons (630 million
metric tons), about two-thirds of today’s level. At that time, the United States had