Environment

After reaching record drought conditions just a few short years ago (with over 60% of the nation more than abnormally dry), the USDA's Drought Monitor site shows that the second-wettest April on record has shrunk the area of the U.S. suffering from drought to a new low of less than 5%.

As Bloomberg reports, the milestone was mentioned in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s monthly report Wednesday on American farm production and may bode well for crop yields.

There are two things in which Elon Musk is an undisputed champion: creating hype and buzz for massively cash-flow burning products and companies, and abusing every possible loophole in the US tax code to get explicit and implicit subsidies from the government. He demonstrated the latter on Wednesday, when Tesla began taking orders for its solar roof tiles, a cornerstone strategy of Elon Musk's strategy to sell a "green", fossil-fuel-free lifestyle under the brand name of its luxury electric vehicles.

In a mini "mutiny" inside the Senate, moments ago three republicans joined with Senate Democrats to reject overturning an Obama administration rule limiting methane emissions from oil and natural gas drilling, also known as H.J. Res. 36. Only 49 senators voted to move forward with debate on legislation to undo the Bureau of Land Management rule, short of the 51 majority needed to advance the measure.

Emergency workers have begun work to stabilize and fill a 20-foot-by-20-foot opening over a tunnel that partially collapsed near the PUREX facility at the Hanford Site. Non-essential employees remain offsite.

The U.S. Department of Energy activated the Emergency Operations Center Tuesday due to a tunnel collapse at the Hanford nuclear site.

State Emergency Operations Ctr activated for Hanford Site emergency. Monitoring situation at this time.

— WA Emergency Mgmt (@waEMD) May 9, 2017