Elon Musk, an iconic business magnate in the United States, said Thursday he would quit White House advisory councils against President Donald Trump's withdrawal from Paris agreement on climate change.
"Am departing presidential councils. Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world," said a message Musk posted on his Twitter social media account about an hour after Trump announced his decision in White House.
Musk, founder or co-founder of SpaceX, Tesla and a number of other technology companies, had promised to step down from his advisory roles with the administration if the president walks away from U.S. obligations under the accord signed in April 2016.
As the chief executive officer (CEO) of SpaceX, an aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California, and of Tesla, an automaker, energy storage company, and solar panel manufacturer based in Palo Alto, California, Musk served on Trump's economic advisory board and manufacturing jobs initiative council.
He had been criticized for having close relationship with the current administration.
In a related message also posted Thursday afternoon, Musk cited a latest Scientific American article and noted that "under Paris deal, China committed to produce as much clean electricity by 2030 as the U.S. does from all sources today."