In The News / Jan 9

• Did moms of the 1950s spur obesity epidemic?

  One fitness expert thinks obesity rates soared because a generation of young women smoked, spurned breast-feeding and restricted their weight during many, closely spaced pregnancies. Los Angeles Times

• Can a cleaner environment create jobs?

  The tactic du jour for environmentalists trying to sell a skeptical public on tighter regulations is this: spin the thing as a job creator. CNN Money

• As Fukushima cleanup begins, long-term impacts are weighed.

  The Japanese government is launching a large-scale cleanup of the fields, forests, and villages contaminated by the Fukushima nuclear disaster. But some experts caution that an overly aggressive remediation program could create a host of other environmental problems. Yale Environment 360

• Hong Kong air pollution at worst levels ever: Report.

  Air pollution levels in Hong Kong were the worst ever last year, the South China Morning Post reported on Monday, a finding that may further undermine the city's role as an Asian financial centre as business executives relocate because of health concerns. Reuters

• Mining near Grand Canyon facing 20-year ban.

  The Interior Department is moving forward with a plan to ban new mining claims on 1 million acres near the Grand Canyon, even as congressional Republicans try to block efforts to limit mining operations in an area known for high-grade uranium ore. Associated Press

• Malheur County targeted for gold, uranium mines.

  Sprawling Malheur County could soon be in the spotlight as a mining hub - or a battleground of uranium and gold mining interests vs. environmentalists trying to protect its lonesome sagebrush landscape. Portland Oregonian, Oregon

• National group looks to stream Monsanto trial live.

  A national media organization has asked the judge in a huge pollution trial against Monsanto Co. to reconsider his ruling denying their request to place a camera in the courtroom and stream a live feed of the trial over the Internet. Charleston Gazette, West Virginia

• Amid BCS mania, BP pushes a feel-good Gulf story.

  Nearly 20 months after its massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill — and just as the nation focuses on New Orleans, host of the BCS title game — BP is pushing a slick nationwide public relations campaign to persuade Americans that the Gulf region has recovered. Associated Press

• Debris from wrecked cargo ship washes onto New Zealand beaches.

  The 47,230-tonne Liberian-flagged Rena, grounded for three months on Astrolabe Reef, finally broke in two about 22 km off Tauranga on the east coast of New Zealand on Sunday after being pounded by waves of up to 6 meters (20 feet). Reuters

• Phosphate ship breaks apart off West Australia coast.

  A phosphate ship has broken up up in rough waters just off the coast of Christmas Island, scattering potentially damaging sediment across coral reef. Sydney Morning Herald, Australia

• Oil sands pipeline hits its highest hurdle.

  The struggle to transport the harvest of Alberta’s vast oil sands enters a new arena this week – a village on the rugged British Columbia coast where the hopes of Canada’s biggest pipeline operator will meet a business-savvy first nation with little appetite for black gold. Toronto Globe and Mail, Ontario

• Crust of dust.

  Desert soil has a living crust that is essential for fixing nitrogen, a critical plant nutrient, and for avoiding erosion that produces a swirl of itinerant dust. When the crust is damaged, dust storms well up, residents of nearby communities develop hacking coughs, snow melts early and a whole array of untoward consequences ensue. Scientific American

• Study finds cause of Sudden Aspen Decline.

  A new study has found that aspens have essentially dehydrated due to a drought that took hold of Colorado from 2000 to 2004. The systems carrying water through aspen stands broke down, a foreboding sign for the West's signature trees in the age of global warming. Aspen Daily News, Colorado

• Drought threatens only surviving whooping cranes.

  A high-protein diet is supposed to sustain North America's tallest bird through the winter and prepare it for the nesting season in Canada. But this year, devastating drought in Texas has made food and water scarce, raising worries for the only remaining flock of whooping cranes. Associated Press

• Bald eagle rebound reflects better environmental health.

  Five years have passed since America's iconic bird of prey was removed from the endangered species list, and a wildlife biologist at Lake Mead, NV, says the rebound is an indicator of general environmental health in the region. Las Vegas Review-Journal, Nevada

• Fish-farm foe defiant as court date nears.

  Don Staniford says he's never had a fist fight but he is more than willing to take on the world's largest aquaculture companies in the ring of public opinion. Canadian Press