Elon Musk says fossil fuels shouldn’t be shunned amid green transition (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Elon Musk, chief executive of electric-car pioneer Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), on Saturday said oil and gas shouldn’t be shunned in the medium term but it is important to cut carbon emissions to address climate change.

“I don’t think we should demonize oil and gas,” he said. “It will take several decades to become sustainable. I think if we, without getting too worried about it, seek to have a sustainable energy future gradually, then that’s what will happen.”

He spoke in Rome at a gathering of conservatives organized by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party.

“Climate change alarm is somewhat overblown in the short term – it’s still a concern in the long term,” he said. “What really matters is over the course of the next several decades that we gradually reduce how many millions or billions of tons of carbon that we move from underground to the atmosphere.”

When asked if he would consider investing in Italy with his various businesses, which also include commercial-launch company SpaceX (SPACE), he said he was concerned about the country’s falling birth rate.

“Italy is a great place to invest, but I do want to emphasize that I worry about a low birth rate,” he said. “If the workforce declines, then who will work in the country?”

He said the Italian government should provide more incentives for having children because the country couldn’t expect immigration to boost the population.