News
Elon Musk is trying to help solve the Flint Water Crisis
After building a mini-submarine to aid in the rescue attempt of the members of the Wild Boar soccer team in Thailand, Elon Musk is now flexing his philanthropic muscles towards a long-standing issue in the United States — the Flint Water Crisis.
Musk previously noted on Twitter that he has already been helping out the citizens of Flint. Spurred on by some Flint residents and activists for the city, however, Musk opted to take a more hands-on approach. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO promptly coordinated with individuals testing the contamination levels of the city’s water system, and by Wednesday, Musk has provided an email address, flint@x.com, where residents can send the results of their water’s ppm (parts per million) and ppb (parts per billion) levels.
Musk’s pledge to help the people of Flint has mostly been met positively by the online community, with several of his followers even offering to lend a hand to a “barnstorming weekend” aimed at installing water filters in the homes of the city’s residents. Musk also reacted favorably to the idea of utilizing Flint’s local plumbers to help in the initiative. Despite being in China to discuss Tesla’s plans of building Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai, Musk further stated that he would call Flint Mayor Karen Weaver about plans to address the city’s water problems.
Gathering input this week, will begin taking action next week and let people know how they can help
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 12, 2018
Just like his efforts to help in the Thailand cave rescue operations, Musk’s pledge to help the city of Flint became a target for his staunch critics online. Key Flint activist Mari Copeny, better known as Little Miss Flint due to her letter to then-president Barack Obama about the ongoing water crisis, clarified Musk’s involvement, however, stating that the city is appreciative of the serial tech entrepreneur’s efforts to help.
Hey world. Let’s set the record straight. My team has been working with @elonmusk and his team for over a week to figure out the best solution to help #Flint with the #FlintwaterCrisis
Extremely grateful for him and all he has done so far.— Mari Copeny (@LittleMissFlint) July 12, 2018
The Flint Water Crisis started in April 2014, after the city’s drinking water source was changed from Lake Huron and the Detroit River to the much cheaper Flint River. Insufficient water treatment caused lead to be leached from lead water pipes into the residents’ drinking water. Lead pipes are viable pipes for water systems, provided that corrosion inhibitors are used to prevent lead from contaminating the water. A common corrosion inhibitor is orthophosphate, which forms low-solubility complexes with the lead in the pipes. Orthophosphates were used in Flint’s systems when the drinking water was coming from Detroit, but when the shift to the Flint River was conducted, no orthophosphate or any other anti-corrosion inhibitors were used. The absence of these inhibitors is behind the harrowing images of rust-colored water coming from Flint’s water supply.
The lead-contaminated water caused several grave problems for Flint’s residents. Between 6,000 to 12,000 children from Flint have been exposed to drinking water with high levels of lead, which could result to serious health problems. The percentage of Flint children with elevated blood-lead levels is estimated to have risen from about 2.5% in 2013 to as much as 5% in 2015 as well. An outbreak of Legionnaires’ Disease, a form of atypical pneumonia with no known vaccine, also resulted in 10 fatalities. The Legionnaires’ outbreak is linked to Flint’s contaminated water supply.
A comparison between Flint’s water coming from the Flint River and the Detroit River. [Credit: Occupy]
The Flint Water Crisis has resulted in several lawsuits being filed against government officials, many of which were accused of mismanaging the situation. Since the water crisis’ peak, however, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) has stated that the lead content of Flint’s water has fallen below the federal limit. As of April 2018, the MDEQ issued a statement assuring Flint’s residents that the city’s water quality “has been restored.” Regardless of this, however, many Flint residents remain skeptical that their water is now safe, especially considering that the replacement of the contaminated lead pipes is still ongoing. In this sense, Musk noted on Twitter that the planned “barnstorming” weekend in Flint would not only aim to give residents water filters for their homes; it would also attempt to fix residents’ perception of the city’s water supply.
You’re right on both counts. Most houses in Flint have safe water, but they’ve lost faith in govt test results. Some houses are still outliers. Will organize a weekend in Flint to add filters to those houses with issues & hopefully fix perception of those that are actually good.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 11, 2018
While Elon Musk’s recent philanthropic ventures are attracting more attention than usual, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO’s humanitarian efforts have actually been going on for some time. It should be noted that Tesla’s big battery in South Australia was started after Musk became aware of the power crisis in the region. After Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico, Musk also promptly sent a team to help the island nation get back on its feet. As of Musk’s latest update, he noted that there are currently 11,000 projects underway in Puerto Rico.
Elon Musk
Brazil Supreme Court orders Elon Musk and X investigation closed
The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court has ordered the closure of an investigation involving Elon Musk and social media platform X. The inquiry had been pending for about two years and examined whether the platform was used to coordinate attacks against members of the judiciary.
The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.
According to a report from Agencia Brasil, the investigation conducted by the Federal Police did not find evidence that X deliberately attempted to attack the judiciary or circumvent court orders.
Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet concluded that the irregularities identified during the probe did not indicate fraudulent intent.
Justice Moraes accepted the prosecutor’s recommendation and ruled that the investigation should be closed. Under the ruling, the case will remain closed unless new evidence emerges.
The inquiry stemmed from concerns that content on X may have enabled online attacks against Supreme Court justices or violated rulings requiring the suspension of certain accounts under investigation.
Justice Moraes had previously taken several enforcement actions related to the platform during the broader dispute involving social media regulation in Brazil.
These included ordering a nationwide block of the platform, freezing Starlink accounts, and imposing fines on X totaling about $5.2 million. Authorities also froze financial assets linked to X and SpaceX through Starlink to collect unpaid penalties and seized roughly $3.3 million from the companies’ accounts.
Moraes also imposed daily fines of up to R$5 million, about $920,000, for alleged evasion of the X ban and established penalties of R$50,000 per day for VPN users who attempted to bypass the restriction.
Brazil remains an important market for X, with roughly 17 million users, making it one of the platform’s larger user bases globally.
The country is also a major market for Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service, which has surpassed one million subscribers in Brazil.
Elon Musk
FCC chair criticizes Amazon over opposition to SpaceX satellite plan
Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.
U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr criticized Amazon after the company opposed SpaceX’s proposal to launch a large satellite constellation that could function as an orbital data center network.
Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.
Amazon recently urged the FCC to reject SpaceX’s application to deploy a constellation of up to 1 million low Earth orbit satellites that could serve as artificial intelligence data centers in space.
The company described the proposal as a “lofty ambition rather than a real plan,” arguing that SpaceX had not provided sufficient details about how the system would operate.
Carr responded by pointing to Amazon’s own satellite deployment progress.
“Amazon should focus on the fact that it will fall roughly 1,000 satellites short of meeting its upcoming deployment milestone, rather than spending their time and resources filing petitions against companies that are putting thousands of satellites in orbit,” Carr wrote on X.
Amazon has declined to comment on the statement.
Amazon has been working to deploy its Project Kuiper satellite network, which is intended to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink service. The company has invested more than $10 billion in the program and has launched more than 200 satellites since April of last year.
Amazon has also asked the FCC for a 24-month extension, until July 2028, to meet a requirement to deploy roughly 1,600 satellites by July 2026, as noted in a CNBC report.
SpaceX’s Starlink network currently has nearly 10,000 satellites in orbit and serves roughly 10 million customers. The FCC has also authorized SpaceX to deploy 7,500 additional satellites as the company continues expanding its global satellite internet network.
Energy
Tesla Energy gains UK license to sell electricity to homes and businesses
The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.
Tesla Energy has received a license to supply electricity in the United Kingdom, opening the door for the company to serve homes and businesses in the country.
The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.
According to Ofgem, the license took effect at 6 p.m. local time on Wednesday and applies to Great Britain.
The approval allows Tesla’s energy business to sell electricity directly to customers in the region, as noted in a Bloomberg News report.
Tesla has already expanded similar services in the United States. In Texas, the company offers electricity plans that allow Tesla owners to charge their vehicles at a lower cost while also feeding excess electricity back into the grid.
Tesla already has a sizable presence in the UK market. According to price comparison website U-switch, there are more than 250,000 Tesla electric vehicles in the country and thousands of Tesla home energy storage systems.
Ofgem also noted that Tesla Motors Ltd., a separate entity incorporated in England and Wales, received an electricity generation license in June 2020.
The new UK license arrives as Tesla continues expanding its global energy business.
Last year, Tesla Energy retained the top position in the global battery energy storage system (BESS) integrator market for the second consecutive year. According to Wood Mackenzie’s latest rankings, Tesla held about 15% of global market share in 2024.
The company also maintained a dominant position in North America, where it captured roughly 39% market share in the region.
At the same time, competition in the energy storage sector is increasing. Chinese companies such as Sungrow have been expanding their presence globally, particularly in Europe.
Brazil Supreme Court orders Elon Musk and X investigation closed
FCC chair criticizes Amazon over opposition to SpaceX satellite plan
