Famous historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat discovered herself within the crossfires of billionaire Elon Musk on Saturday when she referred to as him out for his “fake selflessness.”
What Occurred: Following stories of SpaceX writing to the Pentagon asking the latter to foot the invoice for offering Starlink web providers to Ukraine, Musk got here again to make clear that he would proceed to fund the Ukrainian authorities freed from price.
Commenting on the tweet, Ben-Ghiat stated, “the fake selflessness is among the many grossest issues about @elonmusk who himself acquired virtually $5 billion in authorities subsidies.” She additionally included the hyperlink to a 2015 Los Angeles Instances story that stated Tesla, Inc. TSLA, SolarCity and SpaceX have acquired an estimated $4.9 billion in authorities assist.
Musk fought again with a reply, asking the historian why she was “perpetuating propaganda concocted by the oil & fuel trade.” The propaganda, based on the billionaire, is to distract from the $6 trillion per 12 months of subsidies the oil and fuel firms obtain.
The Tesla CEO additionally shared an IMF report on fossil gas subsidies, which stated globally, fossil gas subsidies have been $5.9 trillion or 6.8% of GDP in 2020 and can seemingly enhance to 7.4% of GDP in 2025.
Why are you perpetuating propaganda concocted by the oil & fuel trade to distract you from the 6 trillion {dollars} per *12 months* of subsidies these firms obtain?https://t.co/XZxDJAPE9a
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 22, 2022
Why It’s Necessary: Though Musk’s ventures present an alternative choice to non-renewable vitality sources, he has stated previously the world nonetheless wants oil and fuel.
“Realistically I believe we have to use oil and fuel within the brief time period, as a result of in any other case civilization will crumble,” he beforehand stated on the sidelines of an vitality convention in Stavanger, Norway.
Musk is of the view it will take some many years for the world to transition to sustainable vitality. That stated, previously, he has come out in opposition to the subsidies doled out to grease and fuel firms.
Whereas talking on the Wall Road Journal CEO Summit in December 2021, he referred to as for scrapping the Biden administration’s infrastructure bundle, including that his EV firm doesn’t want subsidy to drive demand. Likewise, assist isn’t wanted for fuel stations or charging networks, he added.
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