Elon Musk, owner of the electric car company Tesla and author of the vision of humanity’s transition to a “sustainable energy civilization,” made an unexpected statement during an interview with former President Donald Trump on X, his social network. Musk advised not to vilify the oil and gas industry, despite the fact that he is in favor of using renewable energy sources, The Verge reports.

The interview, which ran for more than 40 minutes due to technical issues, eventually touched on topics such as immigration, inflation, and foreign policy before moving on to energy and climate change. It was here that Musk came to the defense of the fossil fuel industry, stating: “I don’t think we should vilify the oil and gas industry and the people that have worked very hard in those industries to provide the necessary energy to support the economy,”

Musk, who described his views on energy as “pretty moderate,” claimed that the economy would “collapse” if oil and gas companies were forced to shut down. He suggested that the transition to a sustainable energy economy could take “50 or 100 years,” much longer than scientists warn to avoid catastrophic climate change. (Trump later exaggerated this timeframe to “500-1000 years,” but Musk did not correct him.)

“So it’s not like the house is on fire immediately,” Musk said. “But I think it is something we need to move towards… It’s probably better to move there faster than slower. But like without vilifying the oil and gas industry and without causing hardship in the short term.”

However, Musk’s comments soon contradicted themselves. He acknowledged that continued use of fossil fuels would worsen air quality, causing “headaches and nausea,” but still insisted that there was no need to rush the transition away from fossil fuels. He suggested that society may not be in a hurry to transition to sustainable development.

“We still have quite a bit of time,” he said. “We don’t need to rush.”

Trump, who appeared to slur his words at times, joked that rising sea levels would mean more “oceanfront real estate,” a comment that was quickly criticized by Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign.

Трамп також коротко згадав про електромобілі, зазначивши, що наразі вони покладаються на виробництво енергії на викопному паливі. “[We] can’t get away from it at this moment,” he said, although the conversation did not delve into his usual criticism of electric cars or threats to stop subsidizing them, which could affect Tesla’s sales.

Trump also suggested that Musk add solar panels to the roofs of his cars, an idea Musk had previously explored by obtaining a patent for a solar-paneled hood for the Cybertruck truck.