Countries pledge to phase out climate culprit coal

By FRANK JORDANS and SYLVIA HUI
Associated Press

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Several major coal-using nations are pledging for the first time to phase out their use of the heavily-polluting fossil fuel or to speed up their plans to do so. Others announced commitments on the sidelines of the U.N. climate summit in Glasgow to end investment new coal-fired power plants. The British government said late Wednesday that those committing to new or earlier deadlines for ending coal use include Poland, Ukraine, Vietnam and Chile. While existing pledges to combat global warming require countries to stop burning coal, many major economies including the United States, China, India and Japan have set no formal dates for quitting coal. Experts said the announcement and others made so far at the climate talks showed the growing momentum to ditch coal.