Not Even Elon Musk Could Convince Donald Trump To Stay In The Paris Climate Accords

Multiple press outlets reported Wednesday that President Donald Trump is expected to withdraw the United States from the 2015 Paris Climate Accords. Environmental activists, politicians and business leaders alike came out in favor of the agreement, in which nearly 200 nations agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Now that the U.S.’s status as a signatory is in doubt, the Paris Accords have found two strange bedfellows as allies: green energy evangelist and Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk and fossil fuel conglomerate Exxon Mobil Corporation XOM.

Related Link: The Paris Climate Agreement's Most Surprising Defender: Exxon Mobil

Musk, who is a member of a CEO panel Trump consults for advice on trade, tweeted Wednesday he has done “all he can” to convince the president to remain in the climate agreement.

Exxon Mobil CEOs past and present have argued in favor of the climate deal. Current CEO Darren Woods said in February that climate change poses risks that government and business must partner to combat.

Former Exxon CEO and current Secretary of State Rex Tillerson agrees, noting that withdrawing from the agreement reduces the U.S.’ negotiating power in future trade and climate deals.

Despite the two-pronged attempt at intervention from energy industry leaders, the U.S. seems set to pull out of the agreement. However, Trump left customary room for backtracking in a tweet Wednesday morning, saying he would make the final decision “over the next few days.”

_______ Image Credit: By Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America (Donald Trump) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (