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In 1914 at the peak there were 180,000 anthracite miners; by 1970 only 6,000 remained. At the same time steam engines were phased out in railways and factories, and bituminous was used primarily for the generation of electricity. Employment in bituminous peaked at 705,000 men in 1923, falling to 140,000 by 1970 and 70,000 in 2003. Environmental restrictions on high-sulfur coal, and the rise of very large-scale strip mining in the west (especially the Powder River fields in Wyoming and adjacent states), caused the sharp decline in underground mining after 1970. UMW membership among active miners fell from 160,000 in 1980 to only 16,000 in 2005, as non-union miners predominated. The American share of world coal production remained steady at about 20% from 1980 to 2005.
In 1914 at the peak there were 180,000 anthracite miners; by 1970 only 6,000 remained. At the same time steam engines were phased out in railways and factories, and bituminous was used primarily for the generation of electricity. Employment in bituminous peaked at 705,000 men in 1923, falling to 140,000 by 1970 and 70,000 in 2003. Environmental restrictions on high-sulfur coal, and the rise of very large-scale strip mining in the west (especially the Powder River fields in Wyoming and adjacent states), caused the sharp decline in underground mining after 1970. UMW membership among active miners fell from 160,000 in 1980 to only 16,000 in 2005, as non-union miners predominated. The American share of world coal production remained steady at about 20% from 1980 to 2005.
[[Image:Energy.jpg|thumb|400px|coal remains the single largest source of American energy]]
==Canada==
==Canada==
===United States===
===United States===
[[Image:WY-COAL.JPG|thumb|300px|left| Today Wyoming is the U.S. leading producer, using giant equipment]]
====Industry====
====Industry====
* Adams, Sean Patrick. "The US Coal Industry in the Nineteenth Century."] EH.Net Encyclopedia, August 15 2001 scholarly overview [[http://eh.net/encyclopedia/?article=adams.industry.coal.us online edition]
* Adams, Sean Patrick. "The US Coal Industry in the Nineteenth Century."] EH.Net Encyclopedia, August 15 2001 scholarly overview [[http://eh.net/encyclopedia/?article=adams.industry.coal.us online edition]
* Adams, Sean Patrick. ''Old Dominion, Industrial Commonwealth: Coal, Politics, and Economy in Antebellum America''. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004.
* Adams, Sean Patrick. ''Old Dominion, Industrial Commonwealth: Coal, Politics, and Economy in Antebellum America''. (2004_.
* Binder, Frederick Moore. ''Coal Age Empire: Pennsylvania Coal and Its Utilization to 1860''. Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1974.
* Binder, Frederick Moore. ''Coal Age Empire: Pennsylvania Coal and Its Utilization to 1860''. Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1974.
* Chandler, Alfred. "Anthracite Coal and the Beginnings of the ‘Industrial Revolution' in the United States," ''Business History Review'' 46 (1972): 141-181.
* Chandler, Alfred. "Anthracite Coal and the Beginnings of the ‘Industrial Revolution' in the United States," ''Business History Review'' 46 (1972): 141-181.