True to his word, Elon Musk announced his resignation from Donald Trump’s advisory councils on Twitter Thursday after the president withdrew the United States from the Paris climate accord.
The Tesla CEO said leaving the accord will not be good for the U.S. or the world. He cited global warming, a phenomenon Trump once called a hoax, in his unofficial resignation letter.
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 previously said he would leave the two groups—the Economic Advisory Board, and Manufacturing Job Initiative Council—if Trump decided to abandon the Paris Agreement. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO took a lot of heat for remaining on the president’s council after Trump signed an executive order to ban immigrants from six Muslim-majority countries.
The business magnate previously expressed his objections to the executive order, but said he would continue to advise Trump to reach his goal of accelerating the world’s transition to sustainable energy.
Regarding the meeting at the White House: pic.twitter.com/8b1XH4oW6h
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2017
That goal just took a massive hit with the U.S. leaving the Paris Agreement, a framework by which countries agree to set their own goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow climate change. Under Obama, the U.S. agreed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 26 to 28 percent by 2025.
The president broadcast his controversial decision at the White House Rose Garden earlier today.
“In order to fulfill my solemn duty to protect America and its citizens, the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate accord but being negotiations to reenter either the Paris accord or an entirely new transaction under terms that are fair to the United States,” Trump said. “We’re getting out. And we will start to renegotiate and we’ll see if there’s a better deal. If we can, great. If we can’t, that’s fine.”
The United States now joins Syria and Nicaragua as the only countries not participating in the voluntary agreement.
There is no official penalty for leaving the Paris Agreement.