Bloomberg’s hit piece on Tesla calls on Elon Musk to “come clean on rising Tesla’s emissions”

Before Tesla came into the scene, legacy automakers including old automakers like Ford and General Motors and upstart companies, have all tried and failed, for one reason or another, to build the world’s next great electric vehicle. For example, at least six electric car companies—Aptera, Fisker, Coda, Baker, Detroit Electric, Studebaker—all failed in their attempt to achieve what Tesla has accomplished.

Instead of applauding Tesla as an example of American success stories and for its innovation, Bloomberg wrote a hit piece last week asking Elon Musk to come clean on Tesla’s rising emissions. The story starts with this:

“At a time when most major companies are working on plans to cut their carbon emissions, one of the darlings of green investing is working to increase its emissions footprint. You read that right. Thanks to its explosive expansion in China and a planned car plant in India, Tesla Inc. is in the process of not just increasing the total sum of its emissions — a pretty inevitable consequence of growth in our current carbonized world — but increasing the amount of pollution each of its vehicles generates, too.”

In a series of tweets yesterday, Bloomberg said, “Not only are Tesla’s total emissions set to grow — an inevitable consequence of growth in our carbonized world — but the amount of pollution each of its cars generates will, too, thanks to: An explosive expansion in China.”

At a time when most major companies are working on plans to cut their carbon emissions, one of the darlings of green investing is working to increase its emissions footprint https://t.co/EagR85tX86

— Bloomberg Opinion (@opinion) February 21, 2021

In another tweet, Bloomberg notes that not all-electric cars are equal. Bloomberg gave an example of a fuel pump Petrol car emits 284 grams of CO2 per km while BatteryEV with a battery produced and charged in an average EU nation emits 88 grams. Bloomberg went on to say that electric plug EV charged in a country with a low-carbon grid-like Sweden emits 50 grams or less.

https://twitter.com/bopinion/status/1363480404456579076

Bloomberg corrected noted that “an essential element of electric vehicles is that they’re able to switch to lower-carbon fuels over the course of their lifetimes, as heavily-emitting power plants are disconnected from the grid and replaced with renewables.”

Then deep down into the tweets, Bloomberg gets down to the real intent of the story: Tesla stock price is too high. Bloomberg wrote:

“However, this is the sort of information that climate-focused investors who’ve driven Tesla’s stock price so high ought to be given, so they can make their own decisions about how their shareholdings reflect their own emissions-reduction commitments.”

In response to Bloomberg’s tweets, one Twitter user said this: “You know the legacy industry (the guys paying for the ads) is really desperate when you see articles like this! “Oh, look, that green energy you think will save the world is actually dirty!” Let’s all lose hope then, and let’s just keep burning oil bc it’s all the same, right?”

https://twitter.com/tavi_chocochip/status/1363546970938347526

Another Twitter user by the name of Chris said this: “This article is a stretch. Walking through a city full of electric cars is much better for my lungs than breathing exhaust fumes from gas-powered cars and trucks. These clickbait hit pieces show desperation.”

This article is a stretch. Walking through a city full of electric cars is much better for my lungs than breathing exhaust fumes from gas powered cars and trucks. These click bait hit pieces show desperation.

— Chris (@chrisrealtime) February 21, 2021

In the end, Tyler Mann best summarized Bloomberg’s piece with the following:

 “Ok, maybe Tesla is helping with half of the problem, but the countries still need to transition their grid to renewables to solve the other half. Let’s blame Tesla for not doing everything at once.”

Summary: “Ok, maybe Tesla is helping with half of the problem, but the countries still need to transition their grid to renewables to solve the other half. Let’s blame Tesla for not doing everything at once.”

— Tyler Mann (@wtylermann) February 21, 2021