Elon Musk has long been an opponent of Big Oil and an unwavering voice in the need to face climate change head on. That’s why many were surprised when
Donald Trump named him to
an advisory committee and invited him to Trump Tower before taking office. That’s fine; Maybe Musk could use his position to exert some climate change influence on the administration. On Monday, now-President Trump invited Musk and other executives to the White House for a meeting on manufacturing, and afterwards Elon Musk took to Twitter on Tuesday – as he does – to weigh in on
Rex Tillerson, the former
ExxonMobil CEO and Trump’s pick for Secretary of State.
Replying to a tweet from
The Economist praising Tillerson’s “integrity to talk sense to his boss,” Musk said he concurs.
When
Bloomberg reporter Dana Hull asked him to explain, the Tesla and
SpaceX CEO suggested Tillerson be given the benefit of the doubt and
said Rex “knows how to win for his team. His team is now the USA.”
When Musk
quoted Tillerson from his confirmation hearing acknowledging the risk of climate change and suggesting action, climate scientist Michael E. Mann chimed in.
After Musk responded by
denying the existence of owls, Mann
continued, “You are a hero to so many climate activitists [sic] Elon. Please don’t lend your imprimatur to an ExxonMobil-driven foreign policy.” Musk repeated the sentiment about giving Tillerson a chance, and Mann responded that that strategy hasn’t worked so well with Trump.
Finally, Musk got to the point hours after his initial endorsement of Rex Tillerson, citing mutual
support for a carbon tax. “This is what is really needed to move the needle,” Musk
tweeted.
Judging by the countless replies to Musk’s tweets, it’s clear his position is causing a lot of concern among his followers. Since the Tillerson tweets, though, Musk has moved on to tweeting about a safer (some might say “boring,” get it?) topic about
a new tunnel – something that’s sure to excite his ardent fans.
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