Saudi Arabia has jettisoned Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih in a major shake-up of energy leadership in OPEC's most powerful crude oil producer.
Driving the news: Saudi state media announced that he's being replaced with Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman. He's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's half-brother, according to Bloomberg.
Cruise ships, charities and international relief organizations are rushing to deliver aid to the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian battered the Caribbean country, leaving at least 76,000 people in need of urgent support, according to the United Nations.
The state of play: Dorian has destroyed at least 13,000 homes and led to extensive flooding in the Abaco Islands, believed to have contaminated wells with saltwater, and resulted in "an urgent need for clean water," per the International Red Cross. The rush to provide aid to the country has begun with numerous organizations and individuals offering to donate goods and resources.
Oil seeped from storage tanks on Grand Bahama Island on Friday following storm damage from Hurricane Dorian, the AP reports.
Our thought bubble, via Axios' Amy Harder: The oil spill is a stark and tragic reminder of the risk we face by using polluting and inflammable energy types, which are inherently more dangerous in extreme weather than, say, wind turbines.
Hurricane Dorian’s outer most winds, blowing between 39 and 73 mph, had at most a 20% chance of reaching Alabama between Tuesday, August 27 and Monday, Sept. 2, NOAA said in an unsigned statement.
Why it matters: NOAA's statement confirms President Trump's weeklong insistence that he was correct about the storm threatening Alabama. The Birmingham office of the National Weather Service refuted the president's comments in a tweet on Sept. 1. NOAA, in their Friday statement, said the Birmingham office's tweet was “inconsistent with probabilities from the best forecast products available at the time.”
The Dorian death toll in the Bahamas officially has reached 30 people — but hundreds are still missing, and authorities said that figure could soar.
The impact: The final death count will be "staggering," Health Minister Duane Sands told local radio: "[T]he public needs to prepare for unimaginable information about the death toll and the human suffering," per the BBC.
The Justice Department (DOJ) has opened an antitrust inquiry into 4 major automakers who recently struck a deal with California to boost emissions standards for their nationwide fleets, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Why it matters: The report, if correct, signals the opening of a new and high-stakes front in the fight between California and the White House over vehicle emissions and mileage rules.
The Trump administration could soon move to revoke California's authority to set vehicle pollution rules that are tougher than federal standards, per multiple reports Thursday.
Why it matters: It’s the next phase in the high-stakes battle between the White House and California over carbon emissions and mileage rules and a key part of the wider White House effort to freeze Obama-era standards, rather than allowing them to get significantly tougher through the mid-2020s.
Technology used in ride-hailing and other new mobility services could be used to make public bus networks more environmentally friendly and convenient.
Why it matters: Public buses are frequently criticized as unreliable, inefficient and alternatively near-empty or so full that they skip stops, but electric buses with next generation technology and flexible routes could help address congestion and emissions.
