President Trump's decision to leave the Paris agreement is
the final straw for Elon Musk, who has just quit his White House advisory role.
Despite warnings from scientists, leaders, tech giants,
and the public in general, the President has decided to pull the US from
the Paris agreement. This did not sit well with Musk, the CEO of Tesla and
SpaceX.
Musk had hoped to be a moderating influence on the
council, but in breaking news today, Trump said that
“in order to fulfil my solemn duty to protect America and its citizens, the US
will withdraw from the Paris climate accord.”
In response, Musk tweeted:
“Am departing presidential councils. Climate change is
real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world.”
Musk is not the only one disappointed by the
President’s decision. Around 71 percent of the American people support the
Paris agreement, as do more than 1,000
American companies, 800 colleges and universities, and 400 major American
cities and 37 states.
EOs from Google, Facebook, and Microsoft also tried to
intervene today and influence the President’s decision, with a signed letter
run as a full-page advertisement in
the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.
Prior to this decision to step down, Musk served on
Trump’s economic advisory board and his manufacturing jobs initiative council.
Although this garnered plenty of criticism from his supporters, he replied by
saying he had hoped to advise the council to stay in the Paris agreement.
On May 31, he tweeted:
“Don’t know which way Paris will go, but I’ve done all I can to advise directly
to POTUS, through overs in WH & via councils, that we remain.”
When news broke that the President chose to withdraw from
the Paris agreement, Musk followed up on his promise and has departed his
presidential councils.
To read our full coverage of Musk’s presence on the White
House council, click
here.
