The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power

by Daniel Yergin

Another significant shift was taking place in the industrial countries. Man’s view of the environment and his relationship to it was also changing, with the paradoxical effect of both increasing the demand for oil and regulating its use. Beginning in the mid-1960s, environmental issues began to compete successfully for their place in the political process, in the United States and elsewhere. Air pollution prompted utilities around the world to shift from coal to less-polluting oil, adding another major stimulus to demand. In 1965, New York’s mayor pledged to banish coal from the city. An air pollution crisis hit New York City on Thanksgiving Day, 1966; smog gripped the city, and coal burning was restricted. Within two years, Consolidated Edison, the utility serving New York City, switched to oil. In 1967, a clean air bill passed the United States Senate by a vote of eighty-eight to three. In 1970, Federal legislation was enacted that established what became known as environmental impact statements: The possible consequences for the environment of major new projects had to be projected and taken into account before a go-ahead would be given. That same year, one hundred thousand people paraded down Fifth Avenue in New York City to mark Earth Day.