News stories by Carey L. Biron, page 6

WASHINGTON, Jun 02 (IPS) - U.S. power plants would be required to reduce their carbon-dioxide emissions by almost a third in coming decades, under a landmark proposal that constitutes President Barack Obama's most significant attempt to counter climate change.

WASHINGTON, May 07 (IPS) - Some 500 global groups are calling for action by governments next month to jumpstart the process of drafting an international treaty to address rights abuses by multinational corporations, following on a related proposal by Ecuador and others.

WASHINGTON, May 02 (IPS) - Two key federal agencies here are in the final stages of approving a new herbicide-resistant crop "system" that would constitute the second phase of genetically engineered agriculture, following an announcement this week.

WASHINGTON, Apr 28 (IPS) - Lawmakers here may roll back recent landmark reforms to how the United States provides international food aid, despite warnings that doing so would reduce assistance for some two million people worldwide.

WASHINGTON, Apr 24 (IPS) - A coalition of 134 institutional investors are calling for global corporations to institute new transparency policies throughout their supply chains and to step up assistance to survivors and families still suffering a year after a major fire led to the collapse of a garments factory in Bangladesh, despite repeated warnings from workers.

WASHINGTON, Apr 22 (IPS) - Consumer advocates, public health workers and environmental groups here are calling on the federal government to take a formal step towards regulating the use of lead in aviation gasoline, despite a failure to do so for nearly two decades.

WASHINGTON, Apr 15 (IPS) - The United States' second-highest court has upheld most of a landmark U.S. law requiring companies to ascertain and publicly disclose whether proceeds from minerals used to manufacture their products may be funding conflict in central Africa.

WASHINGTON, Apr 14 (IPS) - Greenhouse gas emissions rose more quickly between 2000 and 2010 than anytime during the previous three decades, the world's top climate scientists say, despite a simultaneous strengthening of national legislation around the world aimed at reducing these emissions.

WASHINGTON, Apr 10 (IPS) - Rights advocates and community leaders, together with some U.S. lawmakers, are urging the United States to take a more robust role in pushing the World Bank to explicitly incorporate human rights into policies that dictate how and when the bank can engage in project lending and technical assistance.

WASHINGTON, Apr 07 (IPS) - The world's first hospital to be built and run in a developing country under a public-private partnership is taking up more than half of the health budget in Lesotho, according to new estimates, diverting resources from populations outside of the capital.