Editorial

Abstract

The history of Pennsylvania is inextricably linked to the history of energy—from the forests and waters of Penn Woods, to the anthracite and bituminous coal felds of the northeast and southwest corners of the state, to the natural gas trapped in the state’s Marcellus Shale formation. Today, Texas may be the nation’s leading energy producer, but it was Pennsylvania energy that powered much of America’s industrial revolution. In the twenty-frst century, energy production and consumption remain central to the state’s economy. Over the last few years, according to the US Energy Information Agency, Pennsylvania has been the second-largest producer of natural gas and nuclear energy in the nation and the fourth-largest producer of electricity and coal (as well as the only state that mines higher heat– producing anthracite). Nationally, Pennsylvania is ranked third in total energy production. It is also, unfortunately, ranked third in total carbon dioxide emissions.

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