The U.S. coal industry is emerging from a period marked by painful change, bankruptcies, and a truly horrid public image of the fuel in question. Just because companies like Arch Coal, Inc. and Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE: BTU) have emerged from bankruptcy doesn’t mean that coal is back on a growth path. That’s why you need to read this before you buy thermal coal stocks… and stick to industry leaders like Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ: ARLP).