Philadelphia’s Energy Transitions: A Short History

As the first fossil fuel state, Pennsylvania led the United States toward an energy-intensive economy, a technological pathway with planetary consequences. Surprisingly, given this significance, the fossil fuel history of the Commonwealth’s leading city has never been told comprehensively, much less related to Philadelphians in an accessible way. As part of a larger project, “Petrosylvania,” undergraduate students were tasked with writing essays about the history of energy transitions in Philadelphia.

Jared Farmer

Professor of History

Jared Farmer is the Walter H. Annenberg Professor of History in the School of Arts and Sciences.

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