The Paradox of Smokeless Fuels: Gas, Coke and the Environment in Britain, 1813-1949 Author(s): PETER THORSHEM Source: Environment and History, Vol. 8, No. 4 (November 2002), pp. 381-401 Published by: White Horse Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20723251 . Accessed: 21/05/2014 13:49 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
[email protected]. White Horse Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Environment and History. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 152.15.236.17 on Wed, 21 May 2014 13:49:22 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions The Paradox of Smokeless Fuels: Gas, Coke and the Environment inBritain, 1813-1949 PETER THORSHEIM Department ofHistory University ofNorth Carolina at Charlotte Charlotte, NC 28223, USA Email: pthorshe @ email, uncc. edu ABSTRACT The contemporary world faces a toxic legacy: environmental contamination caused by past industrial activities. In Britain, a large proportion of the soil and groundwater pollution that occurred during the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth century came from gasworks and coke plants. Paradoxically, many people long viewed them as the answer to the country's pollution problems.