New Books Network: Bob Wyss on "Black Gold: The Rise, Reign, and Fall of American Coal"

Date: September 22, 2025
Host: Dr. Miranda Melcher
Guest: Bob Wyss, author and environmental journalist
Book: Black Gold: The Rise, Reign, and Fall of American Coal (University of California Press, 2025)

Episode Overview

In this episode of the New Books Network, Dr. Miranda Melcher interviews Bob Wyss about his new book, "Black Gold," which chronicles the history of the American coal industry from its obscure beginnings to its rise as an economic and political powerhouse—and finally to its decline. The conversation explores coal’s deep roots in U.S. society, its entanglement with railroads and steel, the labor violence and social tensions it sparked, and its lasting environmental and health impacts. Wyss also draws parallels between historical warnings and modern-day climate crises, urging us to heed the lessons of the past.

Introduction and Author Motivation

[02:07–04:51] Author Introduction & Why This Book

• Wyss introduces himself as a long-time environmental journalist turned professor.
• His journey began with discovering a Pulitzer-winning environmental campaign in St. Louis, focused on coal-driven smog.
• The campaign succeeded in improving air quality through regulation and cleaner coal.
• This prompted Wyss to research the forgotten but crucial history and dominance of coal in America.
• Quote:

  "I never realized it was such a major problem in America. You can go back to 1804, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania had rules and regulations because the coal smoke was just so terrible."
  —Bob Wyss [03:49]

The Origins and Ascendance of Coal

[05:09–07:01] Early History of Coal in America

• Initially, the U.S. imported British coal; domestic mining took off after the War of 1812, when British supply stopped.
• Early American coal entrepreneurs struggled to market types like anthracite, which was difficult to ignite but invaluable once mastered.
• The coal industry's real growth was fueled by growing needs from railroads and steel—not just household heating.

[07:01–07:58] Why This History Is Forgotten

• Wyss suggests coal was "taken for granted," fading from collective memory as its domestic use vanished.

The Interdependence of Coal, Railroads, and Steel

[08:21–11:02] Symbiotic Growth

• Railways needed coal for fuel; coal mines relied on rail for distribution.
• The steel industry added to this mutual dependence, with railroad lines requiring steel (and thus coal).
• This triad’s growth post-Civil War spurred the notion of “company towns”—where companies dominated both production and workers’ daily lives.

Quote:

"It's this combination of events of coal, railroads and steel kind of came together... and then particularly post Civil War, it really, really took off."
—Bob Wyss [09:52]

Labor Violence, Social Tensions, and The Human Cost

[11:36–14:11] Tension and Violence in the Coal Industry

• Coal mining was perilous, underpaid work, often left to immigrants (first Irish, then Eastern Europeans, then, especially in the South, formerly enslaved Black workers).
• Attempts at unionization (notably the Molly Maguires) led to harsh repression, violence, and executions.
• Labor violence spread to related industries—steel, railroads, and others—and persisted into the 20th century.

[14:25–16:55] Race, Religion, and Exploitation

• Religious tension (Catholic Irish in Protestant America); racial division between Irish and Black workers.
• In the South, convict leasing replaced slavery in the mines post-Civil War; Black workers were particularly exploited.
• Strikes were often broken by bringing in Black workers as “scabs.”
• Recurrent themes: prejudice, exploitation, social and labor strife.

Quote:

"They were exploited to a tremendous, tremendous extent."
—Bob Wyss [12:44]

Economic Might, Global Ascendancy, and Pollution

[17:08–19:35] U.S. Advantages and Global Power

• America’s vast coal and iron ore resources propelled it past Europe.
• The lack of political boundaries further supercharged U.S. industrial ascent.

[19:50–25:53] The Toll of Pollution

• Coal’s dominance led to widespread smog and lung disease in urban America (St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City, etc.).
• Women's groups often led early public health campaigns, but lacked hard evidence to create lasting change.
• Industry’s defense: coal equaled jobs and progress.
• It wasn’t until much later that medicine proved coal smoke’s deadly impact.

Quote:

"We know now that this air pollution was killing people. Okay, it was killing people in 1860, it was killing people in 1880. It was killing people as late as 1945."
—Bob Wyss [23:44]

The Postwar Decline: Economic and Social Shifts

[27:32–32:36] Oil, Gas, and the End of Coal's Reign

• WWII and postwar America saw massive growth in automobile use; gasoline (oil) replaces coal as the dominant fuel.
• Natural gas (previously a waste product) is now transported nationwide, replacing coal for heating.
• Stronger unions (especially the United Mine Workers under John L. Lewis) raised standards and wages, but as coal declined, so did their power.

Quote:

"By 1960, coal is gone from the American home. It's replaced by, primarily by gas, but to a certain extent, a little bit for oil."
—Bob Wyss [31:32]

The Rise and Fall of Coal Towns

[32:53–37:57] Life in Company Towns & Psychological Toll

• Coal companies built isolated towns, controlling housing and commerce.
• Profits often stemmed more from price-gouging stores and rents than from selling coal.
• Intense psychological and economic hardship for families—trauma that’s rarely studied or acknowledged.
• After 1945, better transportation and falling coal demand made towns obsolete; by the 1970s, most company towns had vanished.

Quote:

"The psychological terror of living under these situations just had to be extraordinary, extraordinarily difficult. It's really never, ever, ever been covered."
—Bob Wyss [36:56]

Enduring Disasters and Unheeded Warnings: The Lesson of Centralia

[38:26–44:50] The Centralia Mine Disaster and Its Echoes

• Wyss bookends his book with Centralia, Illinois, symbolizing decades of ignored safety warnings.
• In 1947, a preventable explosion killed around 200 miners; warnings from inspectors went unheeded due to owner greed and political corruption.
• Barely any accountability followed—the whistleblower inspector was scapegoated.
• Centralia epitomizes how the failure to listen to experts leads to tragedy—a warning paralleled in the present climate crisis.

Quote:

"To a certain extent, the story of Centralia... is symbolic of what we have going on right now, where climate change, global warming is occurring at an extraordinary extent... we are ignoring those warnings."
—Bob Wyss [42:10]

Looking Forward: Beyond "Black Gold"

[45:12–46:53] Wyss’s Future Work

• Wyss plans a new book on the crisis in local journalism—hoping to apply narrative storytelling to explain why trustworthy information matters as much as his coal history work.

Memorable Quotes & Key Takeaways

• "Coal was sort of taken for granted. Cole was in literally everybody's home. Today, coal is in nobody's home, and we don't think of it at all anymore."
  —Bob Wyss [07:29]
• "The industry said, we need the coal, we need the industry, we need the jobs. And the other problem was that science and medicine just had not marshaled enough facts… to document just how severe this air pollution was."
  —Bob Wyss [23:08]
• "What I'm trying to say in this book and why I think this book is important is it's important to go back and look at the history and look at all of the history of coal and understand coal and what its picture is."
  —Bob Wyss [43:29]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 02:07–04:51: Author’s background & why the book was written
• 05:09–07:01: Early coal industry origins and anthracite
• 08:21–11:02: How coal, railroads, and steel formed a triad
• 11:36–14:11: Labor violence and immigrant workforce
• 14:25–16:55: Racial and religious tensions in the mines
• 19:50–25:53: Pollution in cities and public health
• 27:32–32:36: Oil, gas, and organized labor change the landscape
• 32:53–37:57: The evolution and dissolution of coal towns
• 38:26–44:50: The Centralia disaster and its modern relevance
• 45:12–46:53: Next project—local journalism

Closing Reflection

Wyss’s work offers not just a thorough history of American coal, but a cautionary tale for the present. The coal industry’s rise, and the disaster that followed in communities, health, labor, and the environment, mirrors present-day warnings about climate risks and political inaction. The interview urges listeners to remember the past so as not to repeat its oversights.