Elon Could be a Climate Hero

Elon Musk should be considered a real climate hero, Azimuth Advisor Aseem Prakash writes, if only liberal commentators could bring themselves to ignore his other political views.

As Prakash and co-author Nives Dolsak wrote recently in Forbes online, "bipartisanship might require that climate policy is decoupled from non-climate issues. This gets complicated if we believe that climate progress requires structural changes in the economy and society. But as climate policy begins to encompass other policy domains, it picks up new opponents (sometimes supporters as well). This is where the ongoing controversy about Elon Musk’s potential buyout of Twitter comes in."

Musk deserves the support of climate change activists, Prakash and Dolsak argue, because he is a leading figure in the vital process of electrifying automotive transport. But liberals have denied Musk his due because of his conservative political statements and apparent willingness to let Donald Trump back on to Twitter.

Climate change heroes come in all shapes and sizes, Prakash and Dolsak note. It's both illogical and bad politics to insist that the only true ecological heroes are those whose entire political worldview aligns with that of the liberal left.

To read more, check out the Dolsak and Prakash column in Forbes online.