Elon Musk, CEO of electric car maker Tesla, defended the oil and gas industry during an interview with former President Donald Trump on his social media platform, X.
The Verge Reports Musk and Trump covered a wide range of topics during the highly anticipated livestream, including immigration, inflation and foreign policy, but their discussion of energy and climate change surprised many as Musk, an advocate of sustainable energy, defended the fossil fuel industry.
You can listen to the full interview here:
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 13, 2024
“I don’t think we should criticize the oil and gas industry or the people who have worked so hard in those industries to provide the energy we need to power our economy,” Musk said, explaining that his views on energy are “fairly moderate” despite his involvement in electric vehicles and the green energy sector. He went on to argue that forcing oil and gas companies to shut down would lead to an economic collapse.
Musk also suggested that the transition to a sustainable energy economy could take “50 to 100 years,” which seems to contradict warnings from the scientific community about the urgency of tackling climate change.
“So it’s not like the house is going to burn down anytime soon,” Musk said, acknowledging that continuing to burn fossil fuels makes the air hard to breathe and causes “headaches and nausea.” Nevertheless, he insisted there was no need to rush the transition away from fossil fuels, saying, “We still have a lot of time. There’s no need to rush.”
Trump previously promised to end subsidies for plug-in vehicles, which could significantly hurt Tesla’s sales, but the discussion of EVs was brief. Instead, Trump pointed to a patent Tesla has filed for a solar-panel cover for the Cybertruck and suggested Musk should put solar panels on the roof of the car, which has yet to be implemented.
Learn more The Verge is here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering free speech and online censorship.
