King Coal Rules: Accepting or Refusing Coal Dependency in Victorian Britain
Le Règne du roi charbon : accepter ou refuser la dépendance au charbon à l’ère Victorienne
Résumé
Fears of coal shortage emerged in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, when coal became
not only the basis of British people’s daily lives, but also the staple of their economy. At the
beginning of the 1870s, these fears intensified, following the publication of Stanley Jevons’s book
The Coal Question in 1865 and a very long and difficult coal famine. This made it more complicated
to put aside the fears of shortage. That nothing was finally done to tackle this issue can be
explained by a strong faith in science (to solve all problems) and in free trade (even though it
began to be fiercely contested), but also by a sense of doom: getting out of a system entirely
based on coal demanded efforts that seemed overwhelming compared to the immediate dangers
of shortage or even pollution.
Origine : Publication financée par une institution