Energy in North American Environmental History

As humans have sought to live and develop the North American continent, energy from Earth’s basic elements has served as the raw material for living. The volume examines how the search, harvest, and use of energy have shaped human history, from colonial empire-building to contemporary debates on sustainability and climate change.

Taking North America as its focus, this book offers a comprehensive exploration of humanity’s evolving relationship with energy. As humans have sought to live and develop the North American continent, energy from Earth’s basic elements has served as the raw material for living. Through its chronological approach and critical case studies, the volume examines how the search for and harvest and use of energy have shaped human history, from colonial empire-building to contemporary debates on sustainability and climate change. By analyzing diverse energy sources, including sail power, coal, crude oil, wind, solar, electricity, and nuclear power, the book reveals how industrialization transformed energy consumption and demand, driving political, social, and environmental change. It connects energy history to major political and environmental themes, such as water politics, post-1990s Alberta pipeline debates, the war in Ukraine, and climate change, highlighting how energy has been both a unifying force and a source of division among diverse peoples, shaping global power dynamics and regional histories. Designed for students of environmental history and energy studies, this text synthesizes this important history whilst offering insights into the challenges and opportunities of the twenty-first century.