Like so many older American homes built with little regard for expense, it has now become a museum. The Craigdarroch Castle in Victoria, British Columbia, is among those mansions built from coal riches. This A&E tour takes viewers to see some of the 'castles' built by these coal barons. Their immense wealth made it possible for these people to build extravagant homes and other structures.

Citizens of other countries were also profiting from this industry. By the time the Civil War began, millions of tons of coal were being produced annually in the United States. The 19th century saw a dramatic increase in the mining of coal.America's Castles - Coal Barons, A&E Home Video (2006).These widows tell Bob Simon that their husbands' deaths could have been prevented, but a lawyer for one mine says mining is just a dangerous job. Their husbands are among the 47 men who died in mining accidents last year, the deadliest year in mining in decades. relies on coal for half its electricity, so is the demand for coal so great that some mine owners are sacrificing safety for profit? That is what some widows in Harlan County, Kentucky, claim. 60 Minutes - The Widows of Harlan County, CBS (2007).In fact, he sounds like he’s ready to take on the world. Schweitzer - half Renaissance man, half rodeo cowboy - seems ready for the challenge. The governor tells correspondent Lesley Stahl he wants to use an existing process to turn that coal into a synthetic liquid fuel, or synfuel. What he has in mind is using the coal, billions of tons of it, under the high plains of his home state. While the president spent much of last week promoting energy alternatives of the future, like hybrid cars and fuels made from wood chips, the governor of Montana, Brian Schweitzer, says there's something we can have up and running in the next five years.

Documentary s on miners