Tesla's CEO joined other tech leaders in warning against the devastating effects of President Donald Trump’s decision on US innovation and the environment.
Silicon Valley's tech giants tried to stop President Donald Trump from pulling the US out of the Paris climate accord.
It didn't work.
On Thursday, Trump said the US was dropping out of the agreement to curb global warming despite pleas to remain from Apple, Facebook and Google, as well as Elon Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX. Musk also threatened to leave several of the president's advisory councils, a pledge he made good on.
The US joined the Paris agreement in 2015. Nearly 200 countries are part of the accord and have agreed to fight global warming by reducing carbon emissions. Scientists anticipate climate change could push the Earth to dangerous temperatures much sooner if the US retreats from the pledge because the country burns so much energy.
Trump, however, sees the agreement as unfair to the US, and says it will cost the country jobs.
"In order to fulfill my solemn duty to protect America and its citizens, the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate accord, but begin negotiations to re-enter either the Paris accord or an entirely new transaction on terms that are fair to the United States," Trump said from the White House's Rose Garden on Thursday.
The decision came despite a full-court press by tech giants, which urged Trump to keep the US in the pact. The group included Musk, a Silicon Valley magnate who is in the president's inner circle and had argued he could use his position on economic advisory councils to influence the president.
On Wednesday, Musk said he did "all I can to advise" the president and threatened to leave Trump's advisory councils if the US left the agreement. After the announcement, Musk did just that.
No comments:
Post a Comment