Eco-friendly advocate's change of heart... Musk, who shouted "Oil is necessary," aligns with Trump [MuskXTrump]

⑨The Background Behind Musk, Who Sells Electric Cars, Advocating Oil and Gas
"Change Amid Growing Anti-Democrat Sentiment During the Pandemic"
Trump Likely to Rewithdraw from Paris Climate Agreement and Push to Repeal Biden's Climate Bill

"A mass uprising is needed to respond to the fossil fuel industry." (2016), "Global warming is a serious risk." (2022) "I am strongly in favor of eco-friendliness." (2023)
→ "If we stop using oil and gas immediately, the economy will collapse. I don't think it's right to blame the oil and gas industry." (2024)

On the 5th (local time), Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, appeared at the U.S. Capitol with his son. Photo by EPA Yonhap News

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, who once called himself an "environmentalist," has changed his mind. His stance shifted after aligning with Donald Trump, the President-elect of the United States, who has strong opposition to the eco-friendly movement. Until recently, Musk had been vocal about the climate crisis as a serious issue, but now he says there is "no need to rush (to solve it)" and seems to be aligning with Trump’s views.

The Washington Post (WP) recently reported, "Musk, one of the most outspoken figures on climate change in the U.S., is now claiming that the risks of climate change have been exaggerated," adding, "This change in stance could influence Trump’s climate policies."

What Happened to Musk?

Tesla, the company owned by Musk, produces electric vehicles, a flagship item of eco-friendliness. According to the biography of Musk written by author Walter Isaacson, Musk has been concerned about global warming and the depletion of fossil fuels since his youth, showing great interest in electric cars and solar power generation. Above all, Tesla’s business background is based on eco-friendly values.

In 2016, when Leonardo DiCaprio was filming a National Geographic documentary, Musk said at Tesla’s Gigafactory in Nevada, "The whole world is suffering unavoidable damage due to climate change, and the sooner we take action, the less damage there will be." During this period, he repeatedly emphasized that "Tesla is working to stop global warming." At the same time, he posted on social networking services (SNS) about the need to limit carbon emissions and mentioned the necessity of a carbon tax several times.

EPA Yonhap News

On the other hand, Trump, the President-elect, was highly critical of eco-friendly policies, standing almost in opposition to Musk at the time. During the recent presidential campaign, he strongly criticized President Joe Biden’s eco-friendly policies such as clean energy development and electric vehicle subsidies. Notably, during his first term in 2017, Trump withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement aimed at stopping global warming, drawing worldwide criticism. At that time, Musk was a member of the corporate advisory council for Trump’s first administration but resigned in protest against the withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.

However, Musk’s views gradually changed afterward. The media analyzes that during the 2020 pandemic, Musk developed a negative perception of the Democratic administration due to increased regulations and also shifted his views on climate change issues promoted by the progressive camp. In 2018 alone, Musk donated $6 million (about 860 million KRW) to the environmental nonprofit Sierra Club and publicly expressed gratitude to environmental groups fighting climate change. But earlier this year, after a blackout caused by arson at Tesla’s Gigafactory in Germany and suspicions that environmental activists were behind the arson, he became angry and posted critical comments about them on SNS.

President-elect of the United States Donald Trump (left in the photo) and Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Photo by Reuters Yonhap News

The public became fully aware of Musk’s changed stance in August. During a live-streamed environmental discussion with Trump, Musk aligned with Trump’s views. He said the phase-out of fossil fuels like oil and natural gas should be delayed somewhat and acknowledged that although carbon dioxide emissions cause health problems for humanity, there is still plenty of time to solve the problem, so there is no need to rush.

WP reported that Musk has recently frequently mentioned that issues such as robots, artificial intelligence (AI), population decline control, and reaching Mars are more important to human survival than global warming.

"Trump’s Second Administration Expected to Scale Back Climate Change Policies"

Initially, there was hope within the Republican Party that Musk would influence Trump, who holds negative views on eco-friendly policies, to change his mind. The U.S. political media outlet Politico reported in August, citing Republican lawmakers, that "(Musk) is the only person who can sway Trump on climate policy." Given that there are considerable factions within the Republican Party supporting climate legislation, it was interpreted that they hoped Trump would soften his stance somewhat.

AFP Yonhap News

However, since Musk joined Trump’s second administration, he has expressed opposition to eco-friendly policies similar to Trump’s, making it highly likely that U.S. climate policy will take a completely opposite direction after the regime change next year.

Appointed as co-head of the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the next administration, Musk recently revealed on SNS the names and positions of four senior officials responsible for climate-related policies and bluntly criticized them, saying "there are too many fake jobs." At the same time, he shifted focus from climate change issues to other matters such as solving population decline.

Trump is expected to initiate withdrawal procedures from the Paris Climate Agreement again, which President Biden rejoined in 2021. Trump also indicated he might repeal climate-related legislation prepared by the Biden administration in 2022 and declare a national energy emergency to lower electricity costs and increase energy production.

Besides Musk, other key figures in Trump’s second administration, including Vivek Ramaswamy, co-head of the Department of Government Efficiency, Marco Rubio, nominee for Secretary of State, and Elise Stefanik, nominee for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, also hold strongly negative views on climate change issues. Ramaswamy and Rubio argue that climate change has been an ongoing issue and does not warrant special attention. Stefanik, who initially said in 2017 that withdrawing from the Paris Agreement was a wrong decision, changed her stance this year, stating in March, "Americans are tired of Biden and the far-left Democrats’ anti-American energy policies."