Elon Musk, who famously owns an electrical automobile firm and has mentioned he needs to maneuver humanity to “a sustainable vitality civilization,” instructed former President Donald Trump throughout an interview on X that “we shouldn’t vilify the oil and gasoline business.”
Musk interviewed Trump on his social media platform, the place the livestream was delayed over 40 minutes because of technical difficulties. After lengthy, rambling discussions about immigration, inflation, and international coverage, Musk and Trump lastly got here to the topic of vitality and local weather change — the place Musk surprisingly got here to protection of the fossil gasoline business.
“I don’t assume we should always vilify the oil and gasoline business and the those that have labored very laborious in these industries to offer the mandatory vitality to help the economic system,” Musk mentioned.
“Those who have labored very laborious in these industries”
The Tesla CEO, who described his views as “fairly average” on vitality regardless of proudly owning an EV and residential vitality firm, claimed the economic system “would collapse” if oil and gasoline companies have been pressured to shutdown. Musk additionally mentioned that the planet can transition to a sustainable vitality economic system in “50 or 100 years” — regardless of the scientific group warning that humanity is rapidly reaching a tipping level on the local weather. (Trump later modified it to “500 to 1000 years,” which Musk didn’t right.)
“So it’s not like the home is on hearth instantly,” Musk mentioned. “However I believe it’s one thing we have to transfer in the direction of… It’s in all probability higher to maneuver there quicker than slower. However like with out vilifying the oil and gasoline business and with out inflicting hardship within the quick time period.”
However he rapidly contradicted himself. Musk acknowledged that the air will turn out to be tougher to breath with the continued use of fossil fuels, inflicting individuals “complications and nausea.” However that was no motive to rapidly transition away from using planet-heating fuels. In keeping with Musk, we will casually stroll right into a extra sustainable future.
“We nonetheless have fairly a little bit of time,” he mentioned. “We don’t have to rush.”
Trump, who usually gave the impression of he was slurring his phrases, quipped that rising sea ranges means individuals would have extra “oceanfront property.” That remark was rapidly blasted out by Vice President Kamala Harris’ marketing campaign.
Trump then briefly touched on one among his favourite subjects, electrical autos, claiming that fossil fuel-powered vitality technology is what powers Tesla’s autos. “[We] can’t get away from it at this second,” he mentioned.
However the EV dialogue didn’t go a lot additional than that, regardless of Trump’s vows to finish subsidies for plug-in automobiles that would significantly influence Tesla’s gross sales. Trump urged Musk to place photo voltaic panels on the roof of his automobiles. (Tesla filed a patent for a photo voltaic panel-covered tonneau cowl for the Cybertruck, however didn’t comply with via.)
“Folks discuss world warming, or they discuss local weather change, however they by no means discuss nuclear warming,” Trump mentioned. “An instantaneous downside.”