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The fossil fuel revolution is usually rendered as a tale of historic advances in energy production. In this perspective-changing account, Christopher F. Jones instead tells a story of advances in energy access--canals, pipelines, and wires that delivered power in unprecedented quantities to cities and factories at a great distance from production sites. He shows that in the American mid-Atlantic region between 1820 and 1930, the construction of elaborate transportation networks for coal, oil, and electricity unlocked remarkable urban and industrial growth along the eastern seaboard. But this new transportation infrastructure did not simply satisfy existing consumer demand--it also whetted an appetite for more abundant and cheaper energy, setting the nation on a path toward fossil fuel dependence. Between the War of 1812 and the Great Depression, low-cost energy supplied to cities through a burgeoning delivery system allowed factory workers to mass-produce goods on a scale previously unimagined. It also allowed people and products to be whisked up and down the East Coast at speeds unattainable in a country dependent on wood, water, and muscle. But an energy-intensive America did not benefit all its citizens equally. It provided cheap energy to some but not others; it channeled profits to financiers rather than laborers; and it concentrated environmental harms in rural areas rather than cities. Today, those who wish to pioneer a more sustainable and egalitarian energy order can learn valuable lessons from this history of the nation's first steps toward dependence on fossil fuels.

Energy consumption -- United States -- History. --- Energy development -- United States -- History. --- Energy policy -- United States -- History. --- Power resources -- United States -- History. --- Transportation -- United States -- History. --- Energy policy --- Energy development --- Power resources --- Energy consumption --- Transportation --- Business & Economics --- Industries --- History --- History. --- Consumption of energy --- Energy efficiency --- Fuel consumption --- Fuel efficiency --- Energy --- Energy resources --- Power supply --- Energy resources development --- Energy source development --- Power resources development --- Energy and state --- State and energy --- Government policy --- Energy conservation --- Natural resources --- Energy harvesting --- Energy industries --- Industrial policy --- E-books --- History of North America --- anno 1800-1899 --- anno 1900-1909 --- anno 1910-1919 --- anno 1920-1929 --- United States --- United States of America