Elon Musk Resigns From Trump's Advisory Panels Following President's Withdrawal From Paris Agreement

HAWTHORNE, CA — SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk said Thursday he is stepping down from various presidential advisory panels in response to Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement.

"Am departing presidential councils," Musk wrote on Twitter following Trump's announcement. "Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world."

Musk served on the president's Strategic and Policy Forum, a business advisory group, and also served as an adviser on various jobs and manufacturing efforts.

Musk indicated Wednesday that he would step away from those panels if Trump opted out of the Paris agreement, tweeting that he has "done all I can to advise directly to POTUS, through others in WH (White House) & via councils, that we remain."

After confirming Thursday he will depart the presidential advisory board, Musk took aim at one of Trump's claims about the agreement -- that the pact will allow China to continue increasing emission for the next dozen years.

"Under Paris deal, China committed to produce as much clean electricity by 2030 as the US does from all sources today," Musk wrote on his Twitter page.

Trump's announcement and Musk's response came just hours before Hawthorne-based SpaceX was set to launch a supply mission to the International Space Station from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

-- City News Service, photo credit: Steve Jurvetson/Wiki Commons