Tim Cook reportedly urged Trump not to withdraw US from Paris climate deal

President Donald Trump has yet to make a formal announcement on whether the US will remain part of the world’s largest climate commitment, but Apple CEO Tim Cook today joined the growing list of executives calling Trump to ask him not to back out. According to Bloomberg, Cook placed a call to the White House yesterday to try and convince the president that the 2015 Paris Agreement, which aims to lower greenhouse gases and mitigate the risks of climate change, was in the best interest of the country’s economic sector. News of Trump privately coming to the decision to withdraw the US from the agreement was first reported by Axios early this morning. 

Cook’s plea aligns with that of more than 25 major companies’ executives who have all signed a letter in favor of the climate pact to be published as a full-page ad tomorrow in both The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Though both Apple as a corporation and Cook in his personal capacity have been outspoken proponents of environmental protection, it appears Cook, as well as many other executives, are trying to appeal to Trump’s nationalistic tendencies by implying that the US would put at a global disadvantage by pulling out of the Paris Agreement, according to Bloomberg. Apple was not immediately available for comment. 

Alongside Cook, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk also voiced his displeasure with the possibility of the US leaving the climate accord. On Twitter earlier today, Musk wrote, “Don't know which way Paris will go, but I've done all I can to advise directly to POTUS, through others in WH & via councils, that we remain.” Musk was asked what his reaction would be if Trump does decide to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement. He responded, “Will have no choice but to depart councils in that case.” As it stands, Musk advises the president’s Manufacturing Jobs Initiative and his Strategic and Policy Forum.

The article was published on : theverge