The Big Mining States - Parade

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When the national news media report on coal mining, why do they usually concentrate on West Virginia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania? Why don’t they often mention Wyoming, which produces the most coal of any state–more than all of these three states combined?

—Yvette Bristle in Ellicott City, Maryland

Because West Virginia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania employ the most mining workers. In West Virginia alone, the industry employs about 20,000 people. Kentucky and Pennsylvania together employ another 20,000. But in Wyoming, the mining industry has only 7,000 workers.