Musk, Iger leave Trump council over Paris exit
Businesses and corporate leaders were quick to react to President Trump’s decision Thursday to pull the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk made good on his threat to leave Trump’s CEO-stacked economic council, which he had promised to do if the president turned his back on the consortium of nations that signed the pact pledging to fight climate change. Trump argued taxes and other measures imposed by such a group would hamper U.S. economic growth.
Musk had previously defended his decision to be a part of Trump’s advisory group, ar- guing that having the president’s ear was better than having no influence at all.
Later in the day, Disney CEO Robert Iger resigned from the president’s council.
Other reactions that expressed disappointment with the president’s decision:
Facebook. In a post on the social networking site, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, “Withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement is bad for the environment, bad for the economy, and it puts our children’s future at risk.”
Twitter. Jack Dorsey, CEO and co-founder of Twitter, used Trump’s favorite method of communication to take him to task. “This is an incredibly shortsighted move backwards by the federal government. We’re all on this planet together and we need to work together,” Dorsey tweeted.
IBM. The computing giant posted a message on its website “reaffirming its support” for the Paris agreement. IBM CEO Ginni Rometty is on the economic advisory council that Musk and Iger just left.