Toxic legacy: : The environmental impact of the manufactured gas industry in the united states

• Autores: Joël A. Tarr
• Localización: Technology and Culture, ISSN-e 1097-3729, Vol. 55, Nº. 1, 2014, págs. 107-147
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Historically, the development and production of energy from fossil fuels have had large impacts on the environment and on human health. Concern today over coal-mining methods, coal-combustion wastes, natural gas exploitation, oil spills, and emissions from both fuel consumption and treatment processes highlight society's dilemma about ensuring energy supplies without damaging the environment or further altering the earth's climate balance. While historians have paid some attention to the environmental effects of fossil fuel--processing techniques involving coal and petroleum, little has been written about the environmental history of another massive user of fossil fuels: the manufactured gas or town gas industry in the US. Here, Tarr explores the history of the effects of manufactured gas on air, water, and land environments from the time of its introduction through its disappearance as an urban energy source. He also examines the gradual attempts by the courts and state and local legislatures to reduce the negative effects of gas-industry pollution, and the manner in which the industry itself dealt with these issues.