Coal was the curse that darkened St. Louis. It took a future mayor to clear its skies

The St. Louis sky was once dark one day out of every three. Sunlight was precious, and often disappeared behind blankets of smoke. The culprit was coal. The book “Black Gold: The Rise, Reign and Fall of American Coal" was inspired by journalist Bob Wyss' interest in how St. Louis became an early environmental success story when it cleared its sky in 1941. In this encore edition of a St. Louis on…