The chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency urban search and rescue team resigned Monday over frustrations on how the government handled the Texas flood response, CNN first reported.
The big picture: Ken Pagurek's resignation comes as the agency approaches peak disaster season, while fighting off accusations of a delayed disaster response in Texas as President Trump pushes to overhaul FEMA.
Elon Musk faces pressure Wednesday to show investors that he's refocused on building a brighter future for Tesla, as the company deals with backlash over his political activity.
The big picture: Tesla's set to deliver second-quarter earnings after the close of trading Wednesday amid myriad challenges, including slumping electric vehicle sales, tariffs and rising competition from Chinese EV makers like its arch rival BYD.
A heat dome — plus the "corn sweat" phenomenon in some areas — is bringing dangerous levels of heat and humidity to much of the country east of the Rockies this week.
Why it matters: Heat warnings and advisories stretch from Louisiana and the Florida panhandle up to Chicago and beyond as of Tuesday afternoon, covering nearly 85 million Americans.
Why it matters: The switch to cane sugar reflects the Make America Healthy Again movement's growing influence over the food industry's use of ultra-processed ingredients.
Invenergy, the company behind a huge proposed Kansas-to-Indiana transmission project facing political headwinds, will seek to connect a gas-fired power plant it's developing to the line, per a source close to the company.
State of play: Invenergy is also in active discussion with a company to bring existing coal-fired generation onto the proposed Grain Belt Express project, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
DOE's Oak Ridge National Lab and the AI startupAtomic Canyon will announce a collaboration Tuesday to streamline licensing for new nuclear plants.
Why it matters: Navigating the Nuclear Regulatory Commission process is complex and time-consuming, even as U.S. power demand rises and hyperscalers seek new electrons for AI data centers.
Three Democratic senators wrote to Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian Monday to raise concerns about company plans to use AI to set individualized fares, which the airline maintains won't target customers with offers based on personal details.
Why it matters: Sens. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) wrote that Delta's personalized "current and planned individualized pricing practices" would present data privacy concerns and "likely mean" fare price rises "up to each individual consumer's personal 'pain point'" at a time when many families were struggling.
Grocery prices are up 3% over the last year,the latest Consumer Price Index report shows, representing a quiet rise broadly in line with expectations that could still pinch a lower-income family's budget.
Why it matters: With everyday essentials such as coffee rising 13.4% since last June, American families are feeling the pinch at the supermarket, as climate change and other factors decrease predictability in food costs.
Mount Rainier is rattling with the most powerful earthquake swarm scientists have ever recorded at the volcano.
Why it matters: Rainier's reputation as the Cascades' most dangerous volcano means even minor tremors can fuel both scientific investigation and public anxiety — though experts say there's no immediate cause for concern.
The U.S. has reached an "inflection point" that demands "swift and decisive action" to reverse erosion of industrial capacity and tech leadership, warns a major new report from the nonprofit Securing America's Future Energy.
Why it matters: "The rise of China as a global economic and military competitor presents one of the most existential challenges the United States has faced in its history," it finds.
Much of the eastern U.S. and Midwest was facing the threat of severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall, while heat alerts were issued Sunday for over 50 million people from Kansas to the Carolinas.
The big picture: NOAA's Weather Prediction Center issued a Level 3 out of 4 risk for excessive rainfall over parts of the Ohio Valley through Monday morning, with storms containing 3-4"/hour rainfall rates developing Sunday evening. Forecasters said parts of Missouri and Illinois could see "locally significant" flash flooding.
The number of people missing in Texas' catastrophic flooding has fallen to three from 160 in the immediate aftermath of the extreme weather event, said Kerr County officials as the search enters a third week.
The big picture: The July 4 flooding killed at least 135 people — with 107 fatalities occurring in Kerr County, including children at Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp for girls, along the banks of the Guadalupe River. The last missing persons count six days ago was 97.
