Fact Check: Did Musk file $150M lawsuit against Climate Action Now for interfering with SpaceX?

WASHINGTON, DC: A claim has been circulating on social media platforms that Elon Musk has filed a $150M lawsuit against former Vice President Al Gore’s "Climate Action Now" for interfering with the operations of SpaceX. The claim has sparked concerns and criticisms against the tech mogul, with many calling for a fact-check.

Claim: Elon Musk filed a $150M lawsuit against Al Gore's ‘Climate Action Now’

A Facebook post with the claim stated that Musk has filed a $150 million lawsuit against Al Gore's "Climate Action Now" nonprofit for interfering with SpaceX operations.

"His company does nothing useful," Musk allegedly said. "They have no authority, yet they snoop around launch sites and landing zones with government clearance given to them by Joe Biden."

According to the post, "Musk says their only job is to stop him, at all costs." "Al Gore once told me to my face that he would ruin me. I don't know why he hates me so badly. Maybe because I didn't have to lie my way to success," he apparently added.  

The claim mostly drew criticism directed at Musk, indicating that many believe it to be authentic, but a few others remained skeptical.

Fact Check: The claim originated as satire

However, the claim is false, as there is no evidence of the Tesla CEO making such a move against the organisation. 

There are no official announcements, statements, social media posts, or press releases from Musk about filing a $150M lawsuit.

If Musk had really made such a move, it would not go unreported by prominent news media outlets, but a search on Google for the claim yielded no such media reports.

The claim also includes several factual errors, such as linking Gore to "Climate Action Now." Although the former vice president is known for environmental advocacy, his initiative is known as "The Climate Reality Project."

Moreover, the claim originated from a popular Facebook parody account called America’s Last Line Of Defense, which describes itself in the bio as "Nothing on this page is real."

Elon Musk says space satellites could help control Earth's temperature

The claim surfaced after Musk recently said that a system could potentially address global warming for up to one billion years, suggesting that “sentient satellites” launched to Earth-Sun Lagrange points using mass drivers built on the Moon could one day regulate the planet’s temperature.

“Space satellites to control temperature and massive geo-engineering will be needed or it will be game over,” Musk wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter).