“Good Bye, Big Sky”: Coal and Postwar America

Abstract

This concluding chapter presents a reading of “Good Bye, Big Sky” and “The Giant Revived,” two articles on coal's rise as the fuel of postwar America and the cost of that transition. “The Giant Revived” explained how American electrical utilities found coal to be an inexpensive alternative to natural gas and nuclear power that could meet the nation's burgeoning demand for electricity. This demand drove a revival of the coal industry. By 1970, demand from utilities had tripled the amount of electricity generated by coal since 1956. Meanwhile, “Good Bye, Big Sky” suggested the costs of coal's new place as the nation's dominant source of electricity. With Four Corners alone releasing approximately 46,000 tons of nitrogen oxide and 35,000 tons of sulfur dioxide—the two main chemical components of smog—as well as 50,000 tons of fly ash annually, the resulting air pollution obscured vistas and suggested the Southwest's unique nature had come to an end.