Emperor Elon Musk? SpaceX founder confirms if he'll lead humans on Mars

FILE PHOTO: Tesla CEO Elon Musk (R) sits beside Senior Counselor to the President Steve Bannon (L) as U.S. President Donald Trump hosts a strategy and policy forum with chief executives of major U.S. companies at the White House in Washington February 3, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Elon Musk quits Donald Trump’s Advisory Council after Paris Agreement withdrawal

But of course, there was a bit of shade thrown at Elon Musk too.

Emperor Elon Musk? SpaceX founder confirms if he'll lead humans on Mars

FILE PHOTO: Tesla CEO Elon Musk (R) sits beside Senior Counselor to the President Steve Bannon (L) as U.S. President Donald Trump hosts a strategy and policy forum with chief executives of major U.S. companies at the White House in Washington February 3, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

So, you might remember that one of South Africa’s most famous exports – Elon Musk – signed up to be one of Donald Trump’s “Advisory Council” when the Orange One was elected.

At the time, Musk did cop a bit of flak for his move, but said that he wanted to change things from the inside, yada, yada, yada.

Anyway. Donald Trump told the earth to go get fucked when he pulled out of the Paris Agreement recently. And for Musk, that was the end of the line.

“Am departing presidential councils,” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted shortly after Trump’s speech. “Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world.”

Some have praised Musk for his decision, but not everyone was so down with it.

The Washington Times splashed out with this headline: Tesla’s Elon Musk flies private jet — rips Trump on pollution.

Sen. Ted Cruz also noted….

“In support of Paris, CA billionaires pledge to never again fly private, will only fly commercial. J/K — will quit symbolic councils instead,” Cruz tweeted.

Meow!

But Musk wasn’t the only high-profile name to withdraw. Disney’s Robert Iger also pulled out. Also Tweeting his withdrawal since that seems to be the way Trump communicates.

“As a matter of principle, I’ve resigned from the President’s Council over the #ParisAgreement withdrawal,” Iger said.

Reuters reported:

In an interview on Thursday, the president of the World Coal Association, Benjamin Sporton, told Reuters that he had mixed feelings about Trump’s announcement, adding he was eager to see a U.S. policy that actively promotes a place for coal in the global energy mix.

“What we really need to see, if the president wants to re-enter the deal, is that he can change the agreement to recognise the role of all sources of energy, including coal,” Sporton said, adding his group had described to administration officials the benefits of remaining in the agreement.

The American Petroleum Institute, the oil and gas industry’s biggest trade group, meanwhile, issued a statement saying it had never taken an official position on the Paris accord.

A number of its members, including Exxon Mobil Corp and ConocoPhillips, had publicly supported the deal.

“For us, our position on the Paris agreement… we need a framework like that to address the risks of climate change,” Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods told reporters on the sidelines of the company’s annual general meeting on Wednesday.