Companies that 'cause global warming' furious Trump won't penalize them
Many big companies are sorely disappointed that President Trump is pulling out of the Paris global warming agreement. Given the totally unproven nature of man-made global warming, this action has about the same importance as President Trump turning down a seat on the Jedi Council.
But these big companies are acting outraged, even though if Trump had enforced the agreement, they, as big users of fossil fuels, would have been the first to feel the pinch of energy taxes meant to punish people and companies who "cause global warming."
Elon Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX, said he would leave an advisory council for Mr. Trump. "Am departing presidential councils. Climate change is real. "
If Musk is so worried about "climate change," why is he in a business that burns tens of thousands of gallons of petroleum fuel in just a few seconds – perhaps the only business on the planet that burns so much fossil fuel in such a short time?
Jeff Immelt, G.E.'s chairman and chief executive, said in a Twitter message: Disappointed with today's decision on the Paris Agreement. Climate change is real.
G.E. makes appliances. What do those appliances run on? Wind power?
Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Facebook, wrote on his Facebook page:
Withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement is bad for the environment, bad for the economy, and it puts our children's future at risk.
If it puts our children's future at risk, why does Mr. Sugar Mountain (that's what "Zuckerberg means") have tens of thousands of servers running on fossil fuel energy?
For our part, we've committed that every new data center we build will be powered by 100% renewable energy.
Note that Mr. Sugar Mountain says nothing about existing data centers. But if true, does that mean that Facebook pages powered by these new data centers will stop working at night and when it is not windy?
Sundar Pichai, the chief executive of Google, said on Twitter: Disappointed with today's decision. Google will keep working hard for a cleaner, more prosperous future for all.
What powers the millions of servers that makes Google work, I wonder? Sundar was born in India, an underdeveloped third-world country, and now that he has attained the peak of corporate power in America, he uses his microphone to try to de-industrialize America so we will be as poor as his home country. What's next on the agenda – removing toilets and toilet paper from 80% of the country?
Brad Smith, Microsoft's president, said in a statement that the company was disappointed in the decision.
What kind of appliance does Microsoft's products run on? And what kind of energy powers those appliances?
Amazon continues to support the Paris climate agreement and action on climate change. We believe that robust clean energy and climate policies can support American competitiveness, innovation, and job growth.
If Trump had taken the Paris agreement seriously and started slapping energy taxes on businesses, what would Amazon, which uses tons of energy for both its servers and its delivery system, have had to do absorb the increase in costs? Why, raise prices. What would that have done for competitiveness, innovation, and job growth?
Andrew Salzberg, who oversees transportation policy and research at Uber, wrote on Medium: Today's announcement from President Trump that the United States will not honor the agreement is a huge disappointment.
What do Uber's cars run on – solar and wind?
Shell Oil wrote: Our support for the #ParisAgreement is well known. We will continue to do our part providing more & cleaner energy.
What? Shell is really getting in bed with those who want to drive it out of business? It's just like watching Israelis who support a "two-state solution." When the lamb lies down with lion, the only thing that happens is that the lion eats well.
Companies have fiduciary duties to their shareholders. That means that they are required to look out, first and foremost, for their own financial survival. Advocating policies that would harm themselves violates their fiduciary duties. Shareholders should challenge them and petition to have management removed.
Ed Straker is the senior writer at NewsMachete.com.