June 24, 2026 - Penn State Distinguished Professor of History and of Environmental Studies Brian Black’s new book, “Energy in North American Environmental History,” was recently released by Routledge.

Book cover for Energy in North American Environmental History with an aerial view of a mined landscape.

Credit: Routledge. All Rights Reserved.

Commissioned by the publishing company for its “Environmental History of North America” series, the book contains 25 case studies on energy development in specific North American locations.

Essay topics include hunting, coal mining, fracking, uranium and the Keystone XL Pipeline.

Black has written more than a dozen books primarily on energy history, particularly petroleum.

Brian Black