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"Health experts lamented a move by U.S. President Barack Obama to halt rules on limiting smog pollution, saying the decision could endanger many people already susceptible to respiratory problems.

Under pressure from businesses and Republican lawmakers, the Environmental Protection Agency had delayed issuing a rule on ozone limits several times. On Friday, Obama unexpectedly told the EPA to withdraw the clean-air initiative. Even at current levels, doctors and public health groups warn that ozone, a key smog ingredient, is harmful, especially for those already suffering from lung diseases."

"When you think about Green Energy and its jobs, Albany, N.Y., probably wouldn't be the first city that pops into your head. But according to a report, the upstate New York region has the highest concentration of green jobs in the country. Another surprising area in the top 10: Cleveland and northeast Ohio.

Inside a factory in Willoughby, Ohio, Ashlawn Energy is teaming with a local utility and other partners to design and build flow batteries, which, when fully assembled, will be as big as a house."

The Tevatron particle collider near Chicago -- once the largest such device in the world -- will be closing down this month. It is being superseded by the Large Hadron collider in Switzerland.

Nell Greenfieldboyce reports for NPR's Morning Edition September 6, 2011.

"MONUMENT VALLEY, Utah (AP) — The stretch of high desert on the Arizona-Utah border gives way to towering rock formations that resemble huge mittens, chimney spires and castles. But to the west of Monument Valley lies a reminder of what has been blamed for much heartache and tragedy in Elsie Mae Begay's family: A mesa stained with a gray streak where uranium was mined decades ago."

On Washington's Olympic Peninsula, the nation's largest dam-removal project to day is poised to restore ancient salmon runs.

"The Asian stink bug has started its migration into North Carolina, and a team of researchers at N.C. State University have prepped their labs, set their traps and launched a monitoring website - all in an effort to stop the pest's spread. Their work is urgent. This insect, also known as the brown marmorated stink bug, has decimated crops in the mid-Atlantic states."

The quiet mining town of Ishikawa in Japan's Fukushima Prefecture is an emblem of the nation's long-buried nuclear past, and the dark side of its nuclear programs. There, during World War II, junior high school boys were forced by soldiers to mine uranium for Japan's secret program to develop a nuclear bomb than could destroy New York.

Martin Fackler reports for the New York Times September 5, 2011.

"500 MILES FROM THE NORTH POLE -- The minimum summertime volume of Arctic sea ice fell to a record low last year, researchers said in a study to be published shortly, suggesting that thinning of the ice had outweighed a recovery in area."

The U.S. and Australia have been the breadbasket that fed famine-stricken areas of Africa and Asia in recent decades. Global climate change may be weakening that foundation of world food security.