Elon Musk, whose Tesla and Tesla Solar have essentially dedicated their life to competing with gas-guzzling cars, oil, and coal, and which temporarily surpassed a market worth of $1 trillion and delivered almost 1 million EVs last year, is now officially in favor of more oil and gas production.
Late Friday, he tweeted:
Hate to say it, but we need to increase oil & gas output immediately.
Extraordinary times demand extraordinary measures.
Obviously, this would negatively affect Tesla, but sustainable energy solutions simply cannot react instantaneously to make up for Russian oil & gas exports.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 5, 2022
« Obviously, this would have a bad impact on Tesla, but sustainable energy solutions simply cannot react instantly to compensate for Russian oil and gas exports, » he wrote nine minutes later in a follow-up tweet. He’s most likely alluding to the world’s noteworthy reliance on Russian pipelines, which hasn’t stopped many governments from sanctioning Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, but has generated concerns about rising energy prices, notably in Europe.
When Musk publishes things on Twitter, it’s difficult to determine if he’s riffing, trolling, or truly putting plans into action, but there’s no doubting he’s tremendously influential, and many of his 76 million followers take him seriously even when he’s joking.
It’s not as if oil and gas aren’t crucial to Musk’s aspirations. Last year, we reported on SpaceX’s desire to dig for natural gas on land near their Starship operations in Texas. Musk’s rockets do not take off because of electricity.
« I’m not in favor of bashing the oil and gas business, » Musk said last year on Joe Rogan’s show. « For a long time, we’re going to have to rely on fossil fuels. » The question is, « How quickly are we moving toward a sustainable energy future? »
