Hopes Fade for Languishing U.S. Climate Bill Eli Clifton WASHINGTON, 26 Jul (IPS) - The Barack Obama administration has found success in passing healthcare reform and legislation touted as an "overhaul" of the U.S. financial system, but last week it became clear that the Democrats wouldn't advance a climate change bill until after the August recess and, more likely, until next year. more...   Canada Slowing Biodiversity Protocol's Progress Beatrice Paez UNITED NATIONS, 19 Jul (IPS) - The spirit of international negotiations in Montreal on a draft protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) of natural resources were marred by Canada's insistence on a decentralised approach to ABS, Peigi Wilson, a Métis lawyer present at the meeting in support of the Quebec Native Women, told IPS. more...   World Bank, NGOs Spar over Indonesian Mine Project Matthew O. Berger WASHINGTON, 14 Jul (IPS) - The World Bank's Board of Directors said studies for a potential mining project in Indonesia could move forward Tuesday but civil society groups, citing studies that have already been done, condemned the decision. more...   New Weather Patterns Threaten U.S. Breadbasket Perry Beeman* - IPS/IFEJ DES MOINES, Iowa, 13 Jul (IPS) - Climate change is expected to disrupt agriculture in the U.S. Midwest, with high carbon dioxide promoting crop growth but stronger storms, drought, floods and migrating yields dampening yields. more...   No Free Press for BP Oil Disaster Dahr Jamail NEW ORLEANS, 7 Jul (IPS) - Last week, the U.S. Coast Guard, working in concert with oil giant BP, instituted new restrictions across the U.S. Gulf Coast that prevent the media from coming within 20 metres of booms or response vessels on beaches or water. But the insidiousness of the restrictions runs even deeper. more...   The Return of the Bicycle Analysis by Lester R. Brown* WASHINGTON, 6 Jul (IPS) - The bicycle has many attractions as a form of personal transportation. It alleviates congestion, lowers air pollution, reduces obesity, increases physical fitness, does not emit climate-disrupting carbon dioxide, and is priced within the reach of the billions of people who cannot afford a car. more...   Gulf Spill Galvanises Activist Community Matthew Cardinale NEW ORLEANS, 30 Jun (IPS) - With the U.S .government and oil giant British Petroleum under fire for their handling of the more than two-month-old Gulf Coast oil spill disaster, environmental and community activists across the country are taking matters into their own hands. more...   Free Ride for Oil and Coal Industry May Be Over Stephen Leahy BERLIN, 29 Jun (IPS) - Every day, governments give away an estimated two billion dollars of taxpayer money to the fossil fuel industry. This unmatched largesse to a highly profitable sector by countries verging on bankruptcy or unable to feed large numbers of their own people is "complete madness", according to many experts. more...   Love, Commitment and Anger in Detroit Bankole Thompson DETROIT, 27 Jun (IPS) - The 2010 U.S. Social Forum ended Saturday in Detroit, a city viewed by many as a metaphor for the excesses of U.S. capitalism, with strong parting words from Pablo Solon, Bolivia's permanent representative to the United Nations. more...   Gulf Spill Could Produce Wealth of Scientific Knowledge Matthew O. Berger WASHINGTON, 24 Jun (IPS) - Eventually, the oil spewing from the ruptured well of BP's Deepwater Horizon offshore rig will stop. And some time after that the bulk of the mess will be cleaned up. By then, though, the amount of damage done to the Gulf of Mexico may be catastrophic - but will we know just how catastrophic? more...