Elon Musk Tried to Whitewash Donald Trump’s Disastrous Local weather Historical past – Did not Work

Throughout their glitchy, incoherent, two hour “dialog” on X final eveningElon Musk argued to Donald Trump that local weather change is actual and that electrical vehicles won’t be as unhealthy as the previous president made them out to be on the marketing campaign path. The end result was a pathetic try by a once-glorified environmentalist to whitewash the previous president’s disastrous file on local weather change.

Musk, Who supported Trump after the failed assassination try and helps fund an excellent PAC that helps his election, has tried to appease Trump by providing his personal assist for oil and gasoline drilling and minimizing the risk posed by local weather change. However he has additionally tried to woo Trump by providing a extra MAGA-friendly pitch for his personal electrical vehicles.

“If you take a look at our vehicles, we do not imagine that being inexperienced, being environmentally pleasant, ought to imply it’s important to endure,” Musk stated. “So we be sure our vehicles are lovely, that they go quick, that they are, you recognize, attractive, cool.”

It’s unclear whether or not Trump may be satisfied. Positive, the previous president has spoken extra positively about electrical vehicles since Musk’s endorsement, however he continues to make the identical arguments towards them: They take too lengthy to cost, they will’t go as far, and they’ll price auto staff their jobs. And his environmental file, to make use of Trump’s personal phrases, has been an unmitigated catastrophe.

Throughout their dialog, Trump repeated most of the identical assaults, whereas additionally praising Musk for constructing a automotive that many individuals wish to purchase. (Tesla gross sales are down, in fact.)

“You actually make an excellent product,” Trump informed Musk through the two-hour love fest. “I’ve to be sincere, it doesn’t imply everybody ought to have an electrical automotive.”

Throughout the marketing campaign, Trump falsely accused President Joe Biden of constructing the acquisition of gas-powered vehicles unlawful and of making an attempt to drive all Individuals to change to electrical autos. In truth, the Environmental Safety Company new requirements of gas economic system would require automakers to make much less polluting autos, lots of which can run on batteries, however won’t mandate that they promote solely electrical autos. The administration additionally launched client incentives to assist decrease the price of electrical autos.

But when anybody modified their tune on electrical vehicles and local weather change, it appeared to be Musk. The Tesla CEO appeared to be making an attempt to get Trump and his supporters to assist his firm’s mission to realize a extra sustainable future — however on the identical time, he was additionally downplayed the urgency of the mission.

“I do not assume we must always denigrate the oil and gasoline business and the individuals who have labored arduous in these industries to offer the vitality wanted to assist the economic system,” Musk stated.

Trump’s marketing campaign has acquired thousands and thousands of {dollars} from the oil and gasoline business, lots of whose leaders are Betting Trump Will Reverse Biden’s Environmental Insurance policies if he wins in November.

He later stated the planet might transition to a sustainable vitality economic system in “50 or 100 years” – regardless of warnings from the scientific neighborhood that humanity is quickly approaching local weather collapse turning factors.

Trump argued that electrical autos will not be a great answer as a result of the vitality wanted to cost their batteries will come from fossil fuels till the electrical grid switches to scrub vitality.

“Even to construct your electrical car and create the electrical energy that is wanted for the electrical car, you recognize, fossil fuels are what really create that within the producing stations,” the previous president stated. “You type of cannot get away from that at this level.”

Producing electrical energy used to cost electrical autos might create air pollutionHowever electrical autos themselves don’t have any tailpipe emissions and are extensively seen as preferable to gasoline autos. Many states are within the means of transitioning their electrical energy technology away from fossil fuels and towards extra renewable sources comparable to photo voltaic and wind energy.

Musk and Trump appeared to agree that combating local weather change shouldn’t come at the price of private inconvenience. We don’t have to “cease farmers from farming,” Musk stated, including, “Individuals can nonetheless eat steak and drive gas-powered vehicles.”

In fact, these statements ignore the fact of local weather change. Combating Local weather Change enormous systemic adjustments will probably be requiredand small adjustments within the habits of people. Cattle and livestock enormous buyers to local weather change by creating methane that lingers within the ambiance, which then results in important warming of the planet. In the meantime, vehicles create carbon dioxideone other greenhouse gasoline that’s accountable for world warming. All of us have to eat much less purple meat and drive much less to reside extra sustainable lives.

In the meantime, the Biden administration’s insurance policies have been geared toward forcing main industries to change to much less polluting vitality sources, whether or not energy crops, automakers or building. Trump’s monitor file is one in every of rollback of those measures and welcoming giant industrial crops to pollute extra. And his Supreme Courtroom nominees have made choices that can make Will probably be more durable for any administration to guard the setting sooner or later.

But Musk is hitching his wagon to Trump’s candidacy, calling into query his dedication to scrub vitality. Throughout their interview, Musk gently nudged his candidate of option to assist renewable vitality sources like solar energy, however Trump as an alternative expressed skepticism that local weather change is even probably the most critical risk.

“I do not perceive why individuals speak about world warming or local weather change, however they by no means speak about nuclear warming,” Trump stated, altering the topic. It is time to transfer on.