Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has threatened to leave Donald Trump’s advisory councils… if he withdraws the US from the Paris climate Agreement.
Though he may not agree with Trump’s politics, Musk knows that he can steer policy more effectively from within the inner circle than by watching from the sidelines. Musk sits on both Trump’s economic advisory board and the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative and has visited the White House on three separate occasions since “The Donald” took office. But, his tenure as a Trump advisor may be waning.
Don't know which way Paris will go, but I've done all I can to advise directly to POTUS, through others in WH & via councils, that we remain
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 31, 2017
Will have no choice but to depart councils in that case
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 31, 2017
Trump has long maintained that global warming is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese — a stance that’s indefensible for Musk, arguably the word’s pre-eminent visionary.
The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2012
The Paris Agreement is essentially a roadmap for the world’s titans of industry and chief polluters to wean themselves off fossil fuels and onto renewables in order to mitigate the compounding effects of climate change. It’s also the hallmark of Barack Obama’s legacy – one that Donald Trump seems intent on erasing from the history books.