Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has just responded to Joe Biden’s new plans to make electric cars more readily available in the United States
by saying that he supports the government’s support of sustainable energy sources and that we as Americans will be better off with innovative companies like Tesla than without them. Musk stated that These are not normal times, this is a time when we have to ask ourselves ‘what kind of world do we want to live in?’ And if we do not figure this out soon, then what kind of world will we leave behind for our children?
What Joe Biden said
I think we should look at where innovation is taking us.
I believe that cars should not be driven by people, but there will be autonomous cars. I’m going to get out of here before it ends. Tesla and all those guys are making great progress. Have you heard about what happened recently? Some guy drove his car into a pond so he could save his dog, OK? I just don’t know when human beings are going to learn … we need more oversight on self-driving cars. And I really mean it! It is really getting dangerous now! And anybody who tells you different either isn’t paying attention or doesn’t understand what they’re talking about. We have got a long way to go before my friend, Bob Lutz from General Motors can give up driving altogether. He loves driving too much, okay? We need more safety rules around driverless vehicles because life and death are at stake here. Do you know how many people die in America every year from auto accidents alone? More than 30,000! That’s an incredibly high number of unnecessary deaths every single year!
What Elon Musk said
Elon Musk also took to Twitter to respond to reports that former Vice President Joe Biden wants to ban federal pre-orders of Tesla vehicles
. It’s getting harder and harder for those of us working hard on sustainability to ignore those who seem determined to undermine our future, he wrote in a tweet. Support for new fossil fuel projects — which make me feel ill — is growing at a furious pace, he continued. The science is clear: we must move away from fossil fuels toward a renewable energy future, but time is running out. We need capable leaders prepared to meet today’s global challenges. Stand up.
The reactions
Elon Musk took to Twitter on Thursday evening and addressed a few of Joe Biden’s comments about him.
First, he tweeted out an excerpt from one of his old tweets that referenced both Biden and Musk: One can’t love batteries and solar; oil and wind, he wrote. Then, in response to word that Biden was endorsing a plan to save American manufacturing from China by establishing new tariffs on Chinese imports, Musk suggested maybe it was time for another presidential candidate endorsement. Do you think we can get @elonmusk some support? A friend of mine lost all 3 bids in Nevada for solar power states yesterday! wrote Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) back in May. Please do not forget your roots, Let us know if you need any help? Onward!, Musk replied on Thursday night to Sanders’ tweet mentioning Biden’s name alongside Rhea Litre, who is running against Sen.
Tesla Tweets
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, has responded to Vice President Joe Biden’s recent promises to help take down gas-powered cars.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, let me catch you up. A few days ago on an episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, he revealed that he had plans to essentially bust up and take the market cap away from gas-powered cars by making them essentially illegal. Not only will they go after oil companies in Congress and encourage Americans to stop using their products altogether—but they also want to make sure no one can drive a gasoline-powered car anymore. And how are they going to do that? Well, just recently, Gov. Jay Inslee announced that he was going to introduce legislation at a national level banning all combustion engine vehicles by 2040! Basically eliminating all competition for Tesla in America forever. Here’s my point – if you are pro-environment…you have got to be anti-fracking, said Joe Biden on John Oliver’s show Last Week Tonight. Because why not give yourself some self-respect: Why would we ever drill when it causes local pollution, kills our environment? No reason at all.
What We Can Learn From All Of This
Joe Biden has become such a well-known political figure in America, people sometimes forget he also served as one of our country’s most important Presidents.
In fact, his accomplishments during his eight years as VP might have overshadowed his accomplishments in politics up to that point. And since leaving office, he’s kept himself quite busy with many different ventures. One of those is leading an initiative to put more alternative energy projects on our nation’s military bases. Another venture has been getting into politics himself; these days, you’ll often find him campaigning for various Democrats across America…and sticking it to Trump at every turn!
Joe Biden is the President now but there’s already one person who thinks he should be paying attention to Tesla and Elon Musk instead: Joe Biden himself. According to CNN Money, Biden recently penned a letter to Musk saying that: It’s past time we get started on all of them…the longer we wait to start fixing things like climate change, technology loses its luster…Why sit around and wait? I hope you will agree we must act now—the future depends on what we do today. Let me know if I can help accelerate progress where we are falling behind or complement your goals here or abroad. It was actually kind of surprising because after all – no matter how much support folks give cleantech companies like Tesla – our current political leaders haven’t been doing much about climate change (unless they’re trying to push back against China). But not Joe Biden…he wants action NOW!
Conclusion
The Twitter exchange began with a tweet from @JoeBiden declaring that if we want to keep America competitive and innovative, we need to support electric vehicles like Tesla. In response, Musk pointed out that if Electrek is to be believed, there’s now some ~$25k worth of tax incentives available for U.S. customers who purchase electric vehicles. That said, many feel that these incentives should apply not only to car buyers but also those who purchase electric charging stations—something Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey actually did on his first day in office . . . at least for EV owners living in his state!
As for Elon himself? Well, he recently announced his intentions to reach Mars by 2022 and aims to have humans on Mars by 2024. Do you think he could have an eye toward federal funding? At any rate, President Trump has previously referred to wind turbines as spinning rusting generators so it seems unlikely that POTUS would take any advice from Biden on clean energy. One thing is certain: If POTUS does plan on cutting funding for clean energy, Mr. Musk will likely do everything in his power to fight back . . . likely using social media just like he did today! Who do you think came out on top in this Twitter exchange? Will we see more banter between Musk and other political figures? Let us know what you think by tweeting us or commenting below!
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