Trump Dumps Paris Climate Accord; Elon Musk To Leave White House Advisory Role
HAWTHORNE (CBSLA.com/AP) - SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk will be stepping down from various presidential advisory panels in response to President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement.
Musk has been a member of Trump's infrastructure council, manufacturing jobs council and strategic and policy forum.
"Am departing presidential councils," Musk wrote on Twitter following Trump's announcement. "Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world."
After confirming his departure Thursday, Musk pushed back against one of Trump's claims about the agreement -- that the
pact will allow China to continue increasing emission for the next dozen years.
"Under Paris deal, China committed to produce as much clean electricity by 2030 as the US does from all sources today," Musk wrote on his Twitter page.
In a news conference from the White House Rose Garden, Trump cited a National Economic Research Associates study to justify his decision, saying the agreement could cost the U.S. $3 trillion by 2040, reducing the industrial job-sector workforce by 6.5 million, including a loss of 3.1 million manufacturing jobs. He said it would also lead to a reduction in cement, iron, steel, coal, natural gas and petroleum production.
The deal gives other nations an "unfair advantage" over the United States, and allows other polluting countries to continue its
greenhouse gas emissions while the U.S. is forced to cut its own, Trump said.
Trump's decision was also met with criticism from California Gov. Jerry Brown, who announced the formation of the United States Climate Alliance, a coalition that will convene U.S. states committed to upholding the Paris Climate Agreement and taking aggressive action on climate change.
"The President has already said climate change is a hoax, which is the exact opposite of virtually all scientific and worldwide opinion," said Governor Brown. "I don't believe fighting reality is a good strategy – not for America, not for anybody. If the President is going to be AWOL in this profoundly important human endeavor, then California and other states will step up."
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
