I am not sure that's the case. The main supporter is a guy who produces e-cars with all the interests to sell more of them.
The way I see it, he will continue with the transition whenever it benefits him/the country. Which means some programs might be canceled, especially if they go against such interests.
> The main supporter is a guy who produces e-cars with all the interests to sell more of them.
Sure Elon might have an impact on CO2 emissions in the transport sector but I don't see him moving things that don't directly benefit him, say, electricity/heat production or agriculture.
Tesla literally has a massive (electrical) energy storage business alongside solar. There are huge battery installations that are helping regions like Hawaii and Australia pivot to renewables.
That visual shows that road transport is 11% , making it the second highest category, as the poster said. This is a great graphic though, thanks for sharing!
Edit: actually in the graphic it's the largest sector! My bad
Not sure how reliable all this is... Yet it seems "road" is nearly 10-11% which is big enough to solve and to have already an impact in everyday life. Then it cascades to other sectors too.
Musk does seem to have gone bonkers in the last two years or so, but I agree. I suspect he might end up being a surprisingly moderating, rational influence on Trump. He might have (at least publicly) aligned himself with conspiracy theorists, outrage merchants and general grifters for now, but I think at heart he's still pro-science.
You know you're in trouble when Musk of all people is considered a moderating influence compared to your president.
I'm not convinced Musk cares all that much about the environment anymore, if he ever truly did. EVs were a bet that car buyers (and governments) would care about the environment.
Musk just wants to go to Mars and leave Earth behind.
I guess he is pro science indeed. And opportunistic too. He might also morally align with Trump more than with Dems, who knows. These elections were just an unfortunately ridiculous show.
Why wouldn't we take his public rhetoric and actions at face value? Why is this possibly a good idea to simply say 'well in his heart he trusts science' when he is demonstrating the contrary?
I don't want to live in fantasy land here. Based on observable actions, Musk isn't brining any positive force to the table
Isn’t that obvious? He knew he could only get to the position he’s now in (or at least have the best chance of doing so) if he joined in with the MAGA brigade.
He clearly does align with the movement in some ways, but he also is responsible for SpaceX, for example. Don’t you think that marks him out as being a bit different from the others?
Also, there are observable actions. If you listen to some of the podcasts he’s been on recently (as painful as they can be) you’ll hear him very flatly rejecting suggestions of quackery and ‘vaccine scepticism’. He’s so obviously not stupid, even if he’s degenerated somewhat, as many of us have, by constant exposure to poisonous social media.
He had some wins (SpaceX, Tesla) certainly, but that doesn't mean his bizarre behavior and clear display of bizarre beliefs aren't concerning or he's somehow immune believing other nonsensical things.
You can't predicate the fact he has had success with those companies and somehow say his actions are some undercover operation to gain a position of power that will help average Americans or moderate the administration or whatever you want to say with that.
We should be focused on public actions and as it sits over the last 4 years in particular, Musk's actions are very concerning and there is serious cause for concern.
You haven't proven he isn't fully bought on MAGA bullshit with this. Its fantasy thinking running contrary to available evidence. He's broadly bought into Trump and the policies that brings, that much is clear.
Yes I have, he's broadly comfortable with MAGA ideas. Taken together with rhetoric and how he acts, it seems like a rationale conclusion.
Just because someone does a sit down interview and nudges around the edges about things they disagree with doesn't mean he's not fully bought in. There is zero evidence he meaningfully disagrees with Trump on anything of consequence
He donated at least $132 million dollars to the Trump campaign and GOP allies[0], for god sakes. Do you really think anyone donates $132 million dollars to something they aren't fully bought in to?
When someone shows you who they are, you should believe them.
He's not bought in to the anti-vax movement, and he doesn't deny anthropogenic climate change. Aren't those both quite MAGA?
> There is zero evidence he meaningfully disagrees with Trump on anything of consequence
What I just said above is evidence, I think. There certainly isn't zero evidence.
> Do you really think anyone donates $132 million dollars to something they aren't fully bought in to?
Yes — absolutely. People make compromises all the time, and employ strategies that exchange short-term (even reputational) cost for long-term benefit.
> When someone shows you who they are, you should believe them.
He has shown us who he is, so far, by his actions in building companies and promoting rationality and science. Yes, he's also recently gone down the rabbit hole of nonsense on Twitter, but for now I don't think that fully represents his underlying nature.
I have no particular dog in this fight. I'm not American and nor do I have any particular love of Musk. However, I think you're overreacting.
As for your source: I know how much he's donated, and it is a shocking amount. However, in the wake of Trump's re-election, the share price of Tesla has just gone up 15% making Musk $15 billion richer. Makes that $132 million seem like pocket change. At worst, he's a self-interested opportunistic capitalist. But he's not a moron or a religious zealot as others are.
I expect he will either indeed be a moderating influence on the administration (remember this is in the context of Trump; I'm not saying he counts as a moderate in the usual sense) or will quickly lose favour or otherwise become disenchanted with Trump and Trumpism and vacate whatever position he's granted and move on.
Also remember: I'm not arguing he's particularly sensible or even acts like a grown up (he doesn't). I'm arguing that he's not 'literally Hitler' as some seem to be insinuating.
What makes people think Trump is going to run the show? I have a feeling he's going to be the rubber stamp while Vance, Thiel and Musk and gang will run the show behind the scenes.
The way I see it, he will continue with the transition whenever it benefits him/the country. Which means some programs might be canceled, especially if they go against such interests.