Microsoft has a new business partnership with solar heavyweight Qcells as the tech giant boosts renewables procurement and Qcells expands U.S. manufacturing.
Driving the news: Qcells, which makes panels and other equipment, will work with Microsoft to develop utility-scale solar projects in the U.S.
The recent California flooding and severe weather led to $5 billion to $7 billion in total U.S. economic losses, according to new estimates from Moody’s.
The big picture: The estimates show the wide-ranging impact of the historic weather that crippled California with floods, heavy snow and massive rainfall.
A new pilot initiative is tapping into solar-powered tech as a solution to the water crisis affecting hundreds of thousands of people living in colonias along the U.S. and Mexico border.
Driving the news: SOURCE Global, a public benefit corporation, is partnering up with Texas politicians and nonprofits to provide clean drinking water access to several colonias — unincorporated, low-income communities with limited resources, organizers tell Axios.
A "multi-hazard storm system" that triggered multiple reports of damage from tornadoes and flooding in and near Houston on Tuesday is threatening to unleash further damage across the Gulf Coast.
The latest: Tornado risks remained as more than 15 million people in Gulf Coast areas including Houston, New Orleans and parts of Alabama were under threat from the storm, which was sweeping through Mississippi coastal communities as it pushed northeastward overnight.
The eastern Horn of Africa just saw an unprecedented fifth straight failed rainy season on record, making it the longest and most severe drought in 70 years of precipitation data.
The region is likely headed for a sixth poor rainy season this spring, a new forecast warns.
Why it matters: The drought has tipped the region, which encompasses much of Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, into widespread severe food insecurity. It has also driven Somalia to the brink of famine.
Elon Musk admitted in court on Monday that he wanted Tesla shareholders to rely on his infamous 2018 tweet that he had "funding secured" to take the automaker private, despite his repeated attempts to say that he only believed he could secure the money.
Why it matters: One of the questions the jury is tasked with deciding is whether the Tesla CEO's tweets were material — that is, significant information that could impact investor decisions.
