U.S. President Donald Trump has officially announced that the country is forfeiting from the historic Paris Climate Deal. As a result, Tesla founder Elon Musk and Disney's CEO Bob Iger have decided to resign from their posts on the Trump advisory council.
United States Backs Out From Paris Climate Deal
In unsurprising news, President Trump officially announced that the United States is backing out from the Paris Climate Deal. The president has never been afraid to express his disbelief and uncertainty over the science of climate change, and despite efforts to convince the president otherwise, his belief still stands.
Stating that the deal is unfair to the United States and that it is more about the advantage that other countries will have over the United States and less about climate change, the president went on to describe how he believes the deal is more detrimental rather than advantageous to the people of the United States.
Musk Resigns From Council
Because of this announcement, Musk and Iger also made statements of their own, stating their decisions to step down from the president's advisory council. Just a few days ago, Musk took to Twitter to say that he did his best to convince the president via the councils that the country should remain in the Paris Deal.
Don't know which way Paris will go, but I've done all I can to advise directly to POTUS, through others in WH & via councils, that we remain
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 31, 2017
After the announcement, both he and Iger made their statements on Twitter about leaving the council. Musk and Iger are two of the high-profile business leaders in the Strategic and Policy Forum.
As a matter of principle, I've resigned from the President's Council over the #ParisAgreement withdrawal. — Robert Iger (@RobertIger) June 1, 2017
Am departing presidential councils. Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 1, 2017
It is worth noting that Elon Musk garnered a lot of criticisms early in the administration's time in office when he decided to stay in the council rather than resign or even decline to be a part of it in the first place.
Musk explained then that his reason for staying was so he could provide relevant advice to the administration and that his being a part of the council does not mean that he agrees with the administration's actions. Soon after, Musk attended a brief with other tech executives to discuss their opposition to the president's immigration ban.
Companies, world leaders, and politicians have expressed their disappointments over the president's decision but remained firm on their decisions to stick with the Paris Deal's guidelines.
