Musk during last month’s meeting at Trump Tower. Image: AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Future Martian President Elon Musk is a businessman and a capitalist, but ostensibly one with his eye on the future. SpaceX is trying to make commercial space travel not only possible but cheap. Tesla seeks to end our over-reliance on gasoline through electric cars. So why is he on Twitter making nice with oil tycoon and secretary of state nominee Rex Tillerson?
@TheEconomist This may sound surprising coming from me, but I agree with The Economist. Rex Tillerson has the potential to be an excellent Sec of State.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 24, 2017
You’re right — it does sound surprising coming from you, Elon! Tillerson, ex-CEO of ExxonMobil, has had some disparaging words on Musk’s business interests in the past. A 2015 article from Bloomberg saw the oilman describe the concept of fully electric vehicles as a pipe dream, saying, “We look at the science and we think it’s a very, very daunting challenge.”
Letter from basically every scientific org in the United States to Congress about climate change https://t.co/vo1I1HY5fx
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 26, 2016
On the other hand, Musk doesn’t tend to tweet much about politics, and when he does, his stances are moderate — milquetoast, even. He has, however, tweeted in support of climate change, something the new administration — for which Tillerson is likely to be the secretary of state — largely does not believe in.
They’re convenient beliefs for these respective magnates to cling to: Tillerson made money from petroleum and wanted to sow distrust in alternatives; Musk profits by public concern over carbon emissions. What’s curious is how rah-rah Musk has become all of a sudden, especially about someone like Tillerson.
@danahull Rex is an exceptionally competent executive, understands geopolitics and knows how to win for his team. His team is now the USA.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 24, 2017
A “win for his team” might sound innocuous enough, but it frames politics as a battle rather than a legacy of compromises in the public interest. To hear someone who supposedly represents a brighter future guided by science and innovation go to bat for Trump and his cronies is disconcerting to say the least.
So what gives, Elon, was this poor phrasing? Or, as an advisor on Trump’s Strategic and Policy Forum, are you just spouting off whatever’s most convenient to your own business interests? We’ve DM’d you, so let us know.
Update 1/24/17 8:05pm EST: Elon, who still has not responded to our questions, kept on tweeting, content to die on Tillerson Hill. He started with a two-parter, quoting Tillerson at his confirmation hearing.
@TheEconomist … on how to address threats of climate change. They do require a global response.”
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 25, 2017
Sure. That happened. But Tillerson — according to the many times in the past. Tillerson has repeatedly downplayed humanity’s impact on climate change and the severity of warming.
Tillerson also said that “the risk of climate change does exist” and he believed “action should be taken”
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 25, 2017
Musk added this corollary two minutes later, trying very, very hard to find anything Tillerson has said that could be construed as a rational response to a massive global problem. But let’s be clear: saying that the risk of something exists is not the same as saying this exists; actions should be taken doesn’t mean I plan to do something about it.
Elon. Buddy. Don’t do this. You have 13 billion dollars and a real shot at being the future of space travel. Set a positive example for the rest of the rich, if not for the sake of your own conscience then for the rest of us.