SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk said Thursday he is stepping down from two 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 was followed Thursday by Robert Iger, the CEO of Disney, who also announced his resignation from the Strategic and Policy Forum, a business advisory group.
Musk had indicated Wednesday that he would step away from from the Strategic and Policy Forum and a manufacturing jobs initiative 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."
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After confirming Thursday he would 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.
The agreement — negotiated by 195 nations in Paris — was designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that are contributing to climate change.
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. But the launch was scrubbed.
In March, Iger defended his involvement on the panel to shareholders, quoting the Broadway hit "Hamilton" when he said, he wanted to be "in the room where it happens" so he can have influence, the Los Angeles Times reported.
See more reactions from world leaders to the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris accord here.