Silicon Valley Speaks Out Against U.S. Leaving Paris Accords

Tech leaders across Silicon Valley have attacked President Trump for his recent decision to pull the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Accord.

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of social media giant Facebook, was one of many tech elites to speak out against President Trump’s decision to leave the Paris Climate Accord. “Withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement is bad for the environment, bad for the economy, and it puts our children’s future at risk.” wrote the billionaire CEO in a public post on Facebook.

“For our part, we’ve committed that every new data center we build will be powered by 100% renewable energy,” he stated adding, “Stopping climate change is something we can only do as a global community, and we have to act together before it’s too late.”

Google CEO Sundar Pichai also tweeted his disapproval of Trump’s decision saying, “Disappointed with today’s decision. Google will keep working hard for a cleaner, more prosperous future for all.”

Brad Smith, the President and Chief Legal Officer at Microsoft took to LinkedIn to write a lengthy disapproval of the U.S. leaving the Paris Climate Accord saying, “We are disappointed with today’s decision by the White House to withdraw the United States from the landmark, globally supported Paris Agreement on climate change,” Smith writes. “We believe that continued U.S. participation benefits U.S. businesses and the economy in important and multiple ways. A global framework strengthens competitiveness for American businesses. It creates new markets for innovative clean technologies, from green power to smart grids to cloud-enabled solutions. And by strengthening global action over time, the Agreement reduces future climate damage to people and organizations around the world.”

Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote an internal letter to Apple staff where he too expressed his concerns and disapproval. The full letter, as reported by TechCrunch, reads,

Team,

I know many of you share my disappointment with the White House’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement. I spoke with President Trump on Tuesday and tried to persuade him to keep the U.S. in the agreement. But it wasn’t enough.

Climate change is real and we all share a responsibility to fight it. I want to reassure you that today’s developments will have no impact on Apple’s efforts to protect the environment. We power nearly all of our operations with renewable energy, which we believe is an example of something that’s good for our planet and makes good business sense as well.

We will keep working toward the ambitious goals of a closed-loop supply chain, and to eventually stop mining new materials altogether. Of course, we’re going to keep working with our suppliers to help them do more to power their businesses with clean energy. And we will keep challenging ourselves to do even more. Knowing the good work that we and countless others around the world are doing, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about our planet’s future.

Our mission has always been to leave the world better than we found it. We will never waver, because we know that future generations depend on us.

Your work is as important today as it has ever been. Thank you for your commitment to making a difference every single day.

Tim

Tesla CEO Elon Musk also tweeted that he would be removing himself from all future presidential councils,

Am departing presidential councils. Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 1, 2017

and was quickly shut down by former Republican Presidential candidate Ted Cruz,

In support of Paris, CA billionaires pledge to never again fly private, will only fly commercial. J/K–will quit symbolic councils instead. https://t.co/58QdYaoZVH

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 2, 2017