Tech industry thumps Trump's rump over decision to leave Paris climate agreement

Combined might of Microsoft, Musk and other tech titans couldn't persuade Prez to stay in climate pact

United States President Donald Trump's decision to walk away from the Paris climate change agreement has been met by a chorus of disgruntlement from the technology industry.

Elon Musk has followed through on his threat to consciously uncouple from the Presidential councils on which he serves and Apple CEO Tim Cook has declared the decision “wrong for our planet”.

Am departing presidential councils. Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 1, 2017

Decision to withdraw from the #ParisAgreeement was wrong for our planet. Apple is committed to fight climate change and we will never waver.

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) June 2, 2017

Keep launching the rockets and air-freighting phones around the world, though, guys.

It will come as no surprise that Mark Zuckerberg took to Facebook with his protest.

Microsoft's message spilled over LinkedIn and Twitter. On the former, Redmond's president and chief legal officer Brad Smith reveals that “In the past few months, Microsoft has actively engaged the Trump Administration on the business case for remaining in the Paris Agreement.”

All for nothing, it appears, leading Satya Nadella to this Tweet.

We believe climate change is an urgent issue that demands global action. We remain committed to doing our part. https://t.co/Gfu7P2ESlL

— Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) June 1, 2017

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff added his voice to the “this is bad and we think a carbon neutral cloud is a fine idea” chorus.

Deeply disappointed by President's decision to withdraw from ParisAgreement. We will double our efforts to fight climate change. pic.twitter.com/cmCLf9CoVY

— Marc Benioff (@Benioff) June 1, 2017

“At Uber,” wrote head of transportation policy and research Andrew Salzberg on Medium, “we also believe that fighting climate change opens up new opportunities for American innovation and ingenuity to tackle the world’s biggest problems.” Which is one reason the company thinks Trump did the wrong thing.

The technology industry is not united. The Register understands that the likes of Intel and IBM will continue to engage with the Trump administration. But the ire and disengagement spreads well beyond tech: Disney CEO and Chair Robert Iger has resigned from the President's Council. And he's the boss of Darth Vader, Iron Man and Mickey Mouse. ®