Do all the US states exist in the future 'ALIEN' universe as they do now? Maybe West Virginia doesn't exist any more. Maybe it's been divided up or consolidated into its neighbour states... Hasn't there been talk of dividing California into 6 smaller states? What's the political landscape of the US - or the rest of the world for that matter - going to look like in 100 years? We're seeing political upheaval all the time and borders get redrawn. Especially within single nations.
Does 'San Angeles' mean anything to 'Blade Runner' fans, here? You can bet the population of that mega city in 100 years probably wouldn't even be aware of that their megatropolis was once 2 separate cities. "What's a San Diego?" might be a real question expressed in the 'BR' Universe.
It's not that hard to come to grips with, really. Foster is clearly expressing changes in the political climate, not just in terms of geography and what you may consider common knowledge. 'Common knowledge', it turns out, isn't that common.
The same can be said for 'environmental activist'. The phrase may not be in use in 50 years. It's a reasonable question. As for 'cheese', it's the same deal. Maybe the character comes from a colony world where cheese is unknown - is her origin explained in the book? Maybe cheese is only eaten by the wealthy, like people who own animals in the 'BR' Universe.
Shit, man. I expect most people living in the 'BR' universe probably couldn't name 10 breeds of dog. I expect other parallels would exist in the 'ALIEN' Universe.
-Windebieste.