KISELYOVSK, Russia—In October, President Vladimir Putin pledged Russia would become carbon neutral by 2060, an formidable assure for the world’s fourth-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases and an economy intensely reliant on fossil fuels.
Handful of had been as surprised at Mr. Putin’s announcement as the residents of Kiselyovsk, a town they get in touch with “Death Valley” because of the open-pit coal mines that belch noxious gases and coal dust, leaving the air acrid and little ones ill.
