synonymouse Wrote:
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> Like the N&W the PRR was loathe to ditch coal, a
> major customer. I suspect the Donora disaster of
> 1948 cemented the decision by industry, including
> the rr's, to move from coal to oil and natural
> gas.
>
> Donora was right in the heart of PRR territory.
> Ironically, the mills likely most responsible for
> the deadly smog were closed by 1966, kinda the
> beginning of the rust belt decay of the heartland.
> No easy answers in the heavy industry vis-a-vis
> pollution conundrum.

In Western Pennsylvania, Allegheny County (in which the City of Pittsburgh is located) was trying to pass legislation to greatly reduce smoke levels, much of which came from coal burning. In order to so, it needed enabling state legislation. The Pennsylvania House passed a bill in 1947, but not the Senate. The Pennsylvania Railroad, through its lobbyist, resisted such legislation. (In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Railroad was considered to be so powerful that it was called the "51st Senator). To get the Pennsylvania Railroad to back off, Richard King Mellon threatened to have his companies switch to competing railroads and the PRR relented and the measure was approved. All of this pretty much happened independent of the Donora Disaster.