Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and founder of SpaceX, said that he would withdraw from a number of White House advisory councils in the wake of President Trump’s announcement that the U.S. will exit from the Paris climate accords.
“Am departing presidential councils. Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world,” Musk said on Twitter.
Am departing presidential councils. Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 1, 2017
Musk is a member of Trump’s Strategic and Policy Forum, which includes other business leaders including Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger. Iger has defended his role in the group, arguing that it is a way to have to “voice in the room” and that it is not an endorsement of specific policies. A Walt Disney Co. spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment about Trump’s plans to exit the climate agreement.
Other corporate leaders expressed disappointment with Trump’s decision, including Jeffrey Immelt, the chairman and CEO of General Electric.
Disappointed with today’s decision on the Paris Agreement. Climate change is real. Industry must now lead and not depend on government.
— Jeff Immelt (@JeffImmelt) June 1, 2017
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote that “withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement is bad for the environment, bad for the economy, and it puts our children’s future at risk.”
“For our part, we’ve committed that every new data center we build will be powered by 100% renewable energy,” he wrote. “Stopping climate change is something we can only do as a global community, and we have to act together before it’s too late.”
Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, said that the decision was “a setback for the environment and for the U.S.’s leadership position in the world.”
Today's decision is a setback for the environment and for the U.S.'s leadership position in the world. #ParisAgreement
— Lloyd Blankfein (@lloydblankfein) June 1, 2017
