Germany's Merkel dodges coal deadline at climate talks
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a veteran of global efforts to curb climate change, disappointed environmental campaigners Wednesday by refusing to lay down a deadline for ending her country's use of coal.
Green groups and developing countries had called on Merkel to use global climate talks in Bonn, Germany, this week to set a date for her country to phase out coal-fired power plants — as she has previously done with nuclear energy.
Merkel, who is sometimes referred to as the "climate chancellor" for her long-standing efforts to combat global warming, acknowledged that Germany's practice of burning coal to generate electricity is one reason it's not on track to cut its carbon emissions by 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2020.
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