Kerry to reach key milestone in air-conditioning phase-out

Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to reach a milestone Thursday in finalizing a key part of President Obama’s climate change agenda on phasing out refrigerants used in air conditioners that are blamed for raising the Earth’s temperature.

The White House said Kerry will meet with nearly 100 nations on Thursday to hash out an amendment to the Montreal Protocol, first created to fix the ozone layer in the 1980s, to phase out refrigerants to combat global warming.