Agence France-Presse: India on Tuesday warned against rich nations using climate change as a pretext for protectionism, saying it would hurt efforts to reach a new treaty by the end of the year. India’s chief climate negotiator, Shyam Saran, was in Washington for talks with the new administration of US President Barack Obama, whom he praised for putting a new emphasis on halting the warming of the planet. Energy Secretary Steven Chu — hoping to ease concerns that climate action would worsen the US …