In a surprise move, a major European climate protection plan is shelved following farmer protests

By RAF CASERT
Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — A major European Union plan to fight climate change and better protect nature in the 27-nation bloc has been indefinitely postponed. The member states were supposed to give final approval to the bill on Monday following months of proceedings. Alain Maron, a Belgian regional climate minister who chaired the meeting of the EU environment ministers, said there was no qualified majority of 15 of the 27 member states to support the bill after Hungary changed its vote. The change of heart follows weeks of relentless protests from farmers across the bloc who have argued that reams of environmental laws governing the way they work are driving them toward bankruptcy.