Massive machinery at work in the open-pit Wyodak coal mine in the coal-rich Powder River Basin outside Gillette, Wyoming in 2015. Source – Library of Congress, Carol M. Highsmith Archive. Public Domain Russia, along with coal-producing countries like China, Australia, and the U.S., refused to join an initiative at COP26 last week to phase out the production of coal, the highly polluting fossil fuel. On November 4, the UN’s Climate Change issued a press release stating that “at least 23 countries signed up to the commitments. Among them are five of the world’s top 20 coal power-using countries.” The nations…