THE WASHINGTON POST: How Elon Musk backed away from his climate crusade

Earlier this year, top executives at Tesla gathered in Palo Alto to sell CEO Elon Musk on a line of compact cars that would bring the electric-vehicle revolution to budget-conscious consumers across the world.

The more affordable car had long been part of Musk’s master plan for Tesla to fight climate change by “accelerat(ing) the world’s transition to sustainable energy.”

But Musk axed the proposal, amid budget constraints, according to two people close to Musk who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.

Instead, the billionaire green-lit a massive purchase of computer chips, in a deal worth billions intended to enhance Tesla’s luxury cars (and a humanoid robot called Optimus) with energy-intensive artificial intelligence capabilities.

The internal deliberations over the so-called Tesla Model 2, which have not previously been reported, reflect what sources close to Musk describe as a significant shift in the billionaire’s attitude toward climate change.

And with Musk deeply embedded in the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump, his startling transformation from environmental crusader to critic of dire climate predictions could help bolster moves in Washington against clean energy - and even electric vehicles.

Once one of the most vocal American executives on the dangers of climate change, Musk called for a “popular uprising” against the fossil fuel industry in a 2016 film.

At Tesla, every internal slide presentation had to include figures from former vice president Al Gore’s documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” citing rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, a reminder of the company’s mission.

But the paragraph about global warming is no longer required in Tesla’s presentation decks and climate change has plummeted on Musk’s list of priorities: In an August live stream on X, he told Trump “we don’t need to rush” to solve the climate crisis.

People familiar with Musk’s thinking say the billionaire still believes global warming is a problem, a point he made online as recently as last year.

But he now thinks the existential risks from climate-related disasters have been overstated - views influenced by a right-wing universe he has come to inhabit online and in real life in Texas, according to five people familiar with Musk’s thinking, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.

Musk also has developed a newfound enthusiasm for technological solutions to climate change, such as nuclear power and carbon capture.

Today, he rarely talks about global warming as an imminent threat, viewing robotics, artificial intelligence, stemming population decline and reaching Mars as more critical to human survival.

Musk’s shift presents a challenge for his electric vehicle business, where some employees are committed to working for a mission-driven company.

Several senior executives have left amid the recognition that Musk doesn’t prioritise Tesla’s climate mission as much as other priorities, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Meanwhile, Trump has campaigned on eliminating the tax credit for electric vehicles that has driven much of Tesla’s business.

Musk has conceded that the tax credit eventually would have to end.

And he probably will lobby the Trump administration to help nearly all his businesses - not just Tesla, but the rocket company SpaceX and the internet service provider Starlink as well, one of the people said.

“Musk, at Trump’s side, both encourages the president-elect to ignore the seriousness of [climate change] and pursue policies that will make the problem worse,” said Paul Barrett, deputy director of the Center for Business and Human Rights at New York University’s Stern School of Business.

“He clearly has made the calculation that his relationship with Trump will lead to decreased regulation of his businesses (and many others), and that that indirect benefit outweighs his direct competitive concerns.”

Musk’s transformation on climate change has been years in the making, said the five people, sparked by a variety of influences: battles with environmental groups, tensions with the Biden administration and a rightward shift related to the pandemic, which has exposed him to new experts and ideas.

“He used to be a Democrat who believed everything he was told was true about this,” said one of the people. “And now he’s thinks for himself and realises, yes, climate change is real, but it’s not nearly among the top problems right now.”

Musk and Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.

A climate change meltdown

When Leonardo DiCaprio strolled on to the floor of Tesla’s sprawling gigafactory in Reno, Nevada, to film a 2016 National Geographic documentary about climate change, Musk didn’t mince words.

There needs to be a “popular uprising” against the fossil fuel industry, Musk told DiCaprio, warning that the world is “unavoidably headed toward some level of harm and the sooner we can take action, the less harm will result.”

At the time, Musk also was tweeting prolifically about limiting carbon emissions, reminding people that “Tesla is working hard to help stop global warming,” touting a tax on carbon and warning of “climate change meltdown.”

By 2020, the COVID pandemic had begun to alter his worldview. In Alameda County, California, officials ordered lockdowns that forced the closure of Tesla’s main production plant. Around that time, Musk walked through his Tesla facilities ripping mask mandate posters from the walls, a person close to him said.

In May 2020, Musk announced Tesla would move its headquarters out of the state. He soon relocated to the Austin area, though Tesla maintained its engineering headquarters in Silicon Valley.

Around that time, Musk’s daughter Vivian Jenna Wilson - a transgender woman from whom he is now estranged - received gender-affirming care. Friends say Musk was devastated by his daughter’s transition, and he has vowed to “destroy the woke mind virus” that he claims “killed” her.

Both events helped cement Musk’s turn against Democrats, which in turn pushed him to rethink his views on climate change. “Anything the left saying (was) conspiratorial and bullshit,” said one of the people familiar with his thinking.

Another turning point came in 2021, when President Joe Biden hosted an electric vehicle summit featuring each of the other major American automakers and the United Auto Workers.

Associates say Musk was outraged that Tesla was not included, and that the incident turned him against the Biden administration.

After moving his personal life and sprawling business empire to Austin, Musk began discussing climate issues and other politics with friends and associates who are sceptical of catastrophic global warming predictions.

Among them was Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, a libertarian-leaning conservative who also relocated from Silicon Valley during the pandemic.

Lonsdale, who is active in right-wing politics, introduced Musk to Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, at the time a presidential hopeful favoured by the tech elite.

Lonsdale argues that climate change could be solved in part by nuclear energy with advanced cooling technologies, according to one of the people.

He is a fan of Steven Koonin, a Stanford University physicist who worked in the Department of Energy under former president Barack Obama.

This year, Koonin published a book critiquing “consensus science” on climate change, arguing that experts exaggerate the impacts and that slashing carbon emissions would harm development and economic growth.

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has projected that unmitigated CO2 emissions will cause additional weather disasters, stunted economic growth and dangerous heat for billions of people around the world.

In 2023, Musk got to know Vivek Ramaswamy, the former pharmaceutical executive who ran against Trump in the Republican primary. In his most recent book, Ramaswamy acknowledges that global surface temperatures are rising but also argues that there is no conclusive evidence this rise is bad for humanity, citing Koonin and other researchers who point to potential net positive effects of planetary warming.

Ramaswamy, Musk’s co-chair on Trump’s commission on government efficiency, has discussed his views on climate change with Musk on podcasts and on X.

Ramaswamy and Lonsdale declined to comment on conversations with Musk.

Meanwhile, Musk’s views of environmental nonprofit groups has also shifted. In 2018, shortly before his roughly $US6 million ($9m) in donations to the Sierra Club became public, he tweeted his thanks to the group “for fighting climate change,” adding: “This affects every living creature on Earth.”

Today, Musk thinks the Sierra Club, Greenpeace and other environmental groups have impeded his businesses, one of the people said.

For example, the Sierra Club of Texas attempted to stall a new Tesla plant in Travis County, which includes Austin - a move Musk viewed as antithetical to the advocacy groups’ climate goals, the person said.

“That struck him as pretty nuts,” said the person, adding that Musk’s takeaway was: “They say they are environmental groups, but do they care about the environment?”

Musk also bristled when Tesla’s gigafactory in Grünheide, Germany, lost power and had to halt work earlier this year after suspected arsonists set fire to an electricity pylon near the site.

The incident, portrayed by media outlets as environmentalists railing against corporate greed, angered Musk, the person said. “These are either the dumbest ecoterrorists on Earth or they’re puppets of those who don’t have good environmental goals,” Musk wrote on X in March.

Ben Jealous, the Sierra Club’s executive director, said Musk’s shift in climate views will come at a cost. “By embracing Donald Trump, Elon is supporting an agenda that would destroy the electric vehicle economy, kill jobs and accelerate the climate crisis to uncontrollable extremes,” Jealous said.

Tefere Gebre, chief program officer at Greenpeace USA, said in a statement that billionaires like Musk have “bought” the White House and are “angling to crush dissent.”

Some Tesla shareholders now question Musk’s commitment to the company’s original mission, following his public takeover of Twitter, now X, and measures that appeared to give Tesla’s chief executive more power.

Fred Lambert, editor in chief of Electrek, a pro-electric vehicle blog, sold his entire stake in Tesla earlier this year after decisions, including shareholders reapproving Musk’s $US56 billion compensation package, made him reevaluate his position.

In an interview, Lambert said the company’s mission now appears to be “enriching Elon Musk.”

As Trump prepares to take office in January, speeding the launch cadence at SpaceX is at the top of Musk’s wish list for the new administration, according to a person close to him. He also wants to limit oversight of the rocket company by the Federal Aviation Administration and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, which are assessing the environmental impact of SpaceX’s South Texas launch facility.

Musk also may lobby for policies allowing Starlink to launch more satellites and increase their competitiveness in the United States, the person said, and for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to streamline the regulation of autonomous vehicles, which Musk has called “the future” of Tesla.

People who have worked with Musk said it’s unlikely he will lobby with the same zeal for climate-related issues. Robert Zubrin, president of the Mars Society and a longtime Musk associate, said the billionaire’s alliance with conservatives now overshadows that priority.

“He decided he would join this camp, and this was more important than the whole climate cause. He decided to go all in,” Zubrin said. “And I guess in one sense, that is characteristic Musk: When he decides to do something, he goes all in.”

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