Is Elon Musk really that bad ?
That ’s both a interrogative sentence posed to me quasi - on a regular basis from strangers who discover I cover mood alteration , as well as the deed of conveyance of aNew York Times op - edposted last weekend from applied science editorialist Farhad Manjoo . As the tech billionaire vies to buy Twitter , his critics are coming out of the woodworking , indicate out his occupy connections withmisinformation ace like Joe Roganand the potential implications for the beleaguered platform .
But , as both Manjoo and random clotheshorse at parties like to point out to me , Musk owns Tesla . He helped revolutionize electric cars and battery technology . He ’s lend the projection to save the major planet . “ Through his endeavors in solar power and galvanic cars , Musk might do more to combat climate change than just about any lefty environmental activist or pol you could name , ” Manjoo writes . What an endorsement !
Photo: Britta Pedersen-Pool (Getty Images)
It ’s not an unfamiliar literary argument . American civilization , after all , loves a ratter boy genius who is out to fix the mankind . It ’s true that Musk , now the richest Isle of Man in the world , has had anuncertain roller coaster rideto get to his massive riches ; he could have gone into oil color production , emerald minelaying , or some other extractive industry that would have allowed him to make money in a more unchanging fashion , rather than betting big on an electric elevator car company . But hold someone like Musk , whose success is free-base mostly on the hope of these engineering science rather than their actual effects and a very specific vision of a climate - friendly future , is a slippery gradient , allowing us to potentially rationalise future bad actors see to make a Pearl Buck off the energy conversion simply because they ’re figure out to “ work climate change . ”
Let ’s face first at Musk ’s achievements in both electric cars and solar power , which Manjoo singles out . In many way , Tesla is certainly deserve of a lot of praise here : it ’s a behemoth of a company that has change the cultural narrative around electric elevator car , take them from dorky to a sleek imagination of the hereafter . Its groundbreaking fomite technology , particularly barrage , have help to drive a conversation about what the future could agree for transportation ; many of its alumni are alsohard at work on other technologieslike shelling recycling and long - term warehousing . That is implausibly helpful for reckon the reality of a world without fossil fuels .
In terminal figure of actual slaying , however , it ’s a bit of a dissimilar narrative . While Tesla ’s vehicle sale have grown imposingly over the last decade , with gaze to solar power , Tesla ’s track record is a mint more spotted : the rollout of its much - hype solar ceiling was amonumental failure , and the company is currentlyunder investigation by the SECfor not notifying shareholders and consumer of fire risks from its solar gore systems . ( So much for Manjoo ’s title that Musk has “ repeatedly deliver on his far - out promise . ” ) Meanwhile , the fellowship was recently ranked last in ananalysis of tech giantsin regards to working on reduce its own emanation ; it ’s “ an interesting case of a ship’s company that create products significant to the DOE modulation yet display a serious lack of disclosure related to its own emission , ” the report card said . Musk ’s other speculation , SpaceX , is aiming to jumpstart the quad touristry industry — which has potentiallyenormous downsidesfor the ozone level as well as nursery throttle discharge .
significantly , it ’s the hype of Tesla — the hope of the sight it ’s selling — that has mostly enriched Musk to particular date . And he ’s not afraid of wash his reputation as a climate Saviour to keep generating that hype for the ship’s company . In 2018 , he call Tesla ’s work “ very important for the future of the world,”claimingthe company ’s success “ supersedes political party , slipstream , credo , religion . ” Last calendar month , Musk claimed that heconfronted Bill Gates by text messageabout the Microsoft founder allegedly shorting Tesla farm animal . “ I can not take your philanthropic gift on climate variety seriously when you have a monolithic brusk position against Tesla , the company doing the most to solve climate change , ” Musk said he told his fellow billionaire . ( The commutation has not been confirmed by diary keeper . )
Meanwhile , Musk has dismiss the idea ofimproving existing public passage — which expert say is arguably more important in cutting emission than popularizing electrical cars . Instead , he’spitched larger - scale , private tunnel projectsspearheaded by — who else?—his own company , The Boring Company . His only public charitable contribution to anything remotely related to mood modification action is similarly skewed : a $ 100 million share to his X Prize undertaking , mean to encourage carbon capture engineering . While we perfectly need these types of technologies , Musk and other billionairesoverhype these solutionsin their own self - pastime of creating novel industriousness to suck up carbon from the sky , draw focus awayfrom the be — and much more authoritative — fixes we want now that can draw down emissions .
More loosely , the idea that Musk should get some kind of free pass on his unbelievably confutative morality and ideologies — theterribleworkingconditionsinTesla’sfactories , which were part of helping Musk rescue on those “ far - out promises , ” are only briefly mentioned in Manjoo ’s pillar — but because his company puzzle out on climate solutions is a uninitiated position to take as we get further into the clean energy revolution . As Musk himself has proven , work in clime solutions can be unbelievably profitable . Positioning yourself as an groundbreaking CEO working in galvanizing car , solar panel , or minelaying earth minerals for batteries should n’t be seen as a charitable move , but rather as a heavy business decision . It ’s a business decision that currently amount with ethnical greenwashed kudos that can allow a thousand Musk copycats to Thought Leader their agency into even more Davos invitation than they could imagine .
And letting those congratulations get in the way of valid critiques of a public figure is a mistake we ca n’t afford to make . Electric cars , renewable vigour , and other trappings of the clean energy transition are , after all , industries ; just because they will avail us not melt our planet into obliviousness does n’t mean that there wo n’t be bad actors or company essay to duck regulations or make extra money while convince the public they ’re Doing Good ™ . Meanwhile , someone who might be great at blab out up the future tense of renewable technology should not automatically be qualified to do other things — thing like go a societal media political platform grappling with enormous misinformation and misuse issues .
On Friday , just a solar day before Manjoo ’s column published , the Wall Street Journal rolled out alarge exposéon the billionaire ’s decision to bid for Twitter . According to the Journal , Musk called the editor program - in - chieftain of right - annexe “ liquid body substance ” website the Babylon Bee after the account published an fantastically transphobic article call transgender Biden functionary Rachel Levine “ Man of the Year . ” The right - wing news satire issue had beensuspended from Twitteras a result . On the call , “ Mr. Musk asked to substantiate that it was honest that the website had been set aside for the infringement , and contemplate that he might demand to purchase Twitter , ” the Journal cover .
For me , building a livable planet stand for following all type of scientific discipline — from climate skill to the levelheaded health science behind grammatical gender identity and transition — as well as back introductory human rights , like doing the incredibly easy thing of respect citizenry ’s pronoun or not putting your actor in dangerous place just to keep your boy - wizard public figure of speech . Or not creating an full damage industriousness just to let rich peoplespend a few minutes in space . That does n’t seem to really be the future Musk sees .
So apprise Tesla for what it ’s done : create visionary electric cars . But do n’t give Musk , and the copycats to amount , a free pass just because of it .
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