Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s controversial local weather feedback throughout his interview with former president Donald Trump prompted backlash on X from fellow billionaire Vinod Khosla.
Quoting an article from the Guardian, Khosla, the cofounder of Solar Microsystems and enterprise capital agency Khosla Ventures, ridiculed Musk, saying his local weather dialog with Trump was “Infact soooo dumb, it should not be just called dumb.”
Musk shot again in a reply to Khosla’s put up by insulting the Guardian and asking if Khosla had really listened to the interview.
‘The dumbest climate conversation of all time’: consultants on the Musk-Trump interview. Infact soooo dumb, it shouldn’t be simply referred to as dumb. https://t.co/YUn04KEyV6
— Vinod Khosla (@vkhosla) August 14, 2024
Khosla replied that the dialog was “dumb” and that whereas he anticipated Trump to not be as nicely versed on local weather science, Musk skirted accountability along with his phrases on local weather change.
“I don’t expect @realDonaldTrumpto know the nuances of various CO2 ppm levels and their consequences, and him reaching out to the person who has arguably done more for climate than anyone else is pretty sensible. You had a responsibility that I think you largely abdicated by downplaying the reality of things,” he wrote.
Khosla, who invested in DoorDash and Affirm, was referring to atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, measured in elements per million. The atmospheric degree of the greenhouse fuel carbon dioxide is essential to environmental science and impacts the local weather. Khosla confirmed that he, in actual fact, heard Musk’s feedback within the interview. “I did listen to the climate part and yeah, I do think it was dumb,” he wrote.
For his half, Khosla is a serious clear tech investor throughout transit, vitality, and manufacturing by way of his enterprise capital agency.
Through the two-hour dwell interview on X Monday, the electrical automobile CEO minimized the affect of local weather change, saying that the worst elevated carbon dioxide ranges can do is make it more durable to breathe at a sure level.
“There is some risk, I think the risk is not as high as a lot of people say it is with respect to global warming, but I think if you just keep increasing the parts per million in the atmosphere long enough, eventually it actually simply gets uncomfortable to breathe,” mentioned Musk throughout the interview.
After the ambiance surpasses 1,000 elements per million of carbon dioxide, greater than double the focus now, individuals can get “headaches and nausea,” Musk mentioned. Though this degree of atmospheric carbon dioxide may result in these results, local weather scientists and activists have warned {that a} a lot decrease focus of co2 may wreak havoc on the surroundings. Atmospheric carbon dioxide 800 elements per million or extra hasn’t been seen on Earth for 50 million years, in keeping with the Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The environmental hit of surpassing 1,000 elements per million may result in melting polar ice caps, flooding, ocean acidification, and potential biodiversity loss.
Musk additionally referred to as for the U.S. financial system to wean off oil and fuel and transition to a sustainable vitality financial system “over time” as a result of fossil fuels aren’t infinite.
“I don’t think we should vilify the oil and gas industry,” Musk informed Trump. “If we had been to cease utilizing oil and fuel proper now, we might all be ravenous and the financial system would collapse.
Musk added that an vitality transition must happen, however there’s nonetheless loads of time earlier than an imminent local weather catastrophe, opposite to the opinion of local weather consultants.
“It’s not like the house is on fire immediately, but I think it is something we need to move towards,” he mentioned.
In April, the United Nations’ local weather chief mentioned authorities and enterprise leaders have two years to take motion and keep away from the worst results of local weather change.
