Coahuila is the country's top coal-producing state, feeding the furnaces of Mexican steel and power industries.

Strip mining is hardly new to West Virginia and other coal-producing states.

Jefferson and Walker Counties were among the most heavily mined areas in Alabama, which ranks 13th in coal-producing states.

Environmentalists Suing Under the Federal law, the coal-producing states are supposed to enforce compliance with basic national standards.

It covered all coal-producing states except West Virginia.

That leaves gasoline derived from coal, a method now being championed by governors and senators from coal-producing states.

As governor of the leading coal-producing state in the nation, Carroll advocated the use of coal to alleviate the 1973 energy crisis.

Illinois is a major coal-producing state.

Colorado is the seventh largest coal-producing state in the country.

The major coal-producing states are (in descending order as of 2000, with annual production in thousands of short tons):