Patagonia, the outdoor company that specializes in premium outerwear and environmental awareness, is making a big statement about climate change. A $10 million statement, to be exact.
Patagonia CEO Rose Marcario posted a letter on LinkedIn Wednesday announcing the company will be donating $10 million it saved in recent tax cuts to environmental programs, and named President Trump’s recent denial of a dire climate change report as a main reason for the move.
Marcario explained the company saved the money as a results of “last year’s irresponsible tax cut” — referring to tax cuts enacted by the Trump administration.
“Our home planet is facing its greatest crisis because of human-caused climate disruption,” she wrote. “…Far too many have suffered the consequences of global warming in recent months, and the political response has so far been woefully inadequate—and the denial is just evil.”
She says the money will go toward “groups committed to protecting air, land and water and finding solutions to the climate crisis.”
On Monday, President Trump shrugged off a wide-ranging nonpartisan climate change assessment produced by his own administration, saying, “I don’t believe it.” The report warns that, if left to continue unabated, climate change will cause “substantial damages to the US economy, environment, and human health and well-being over the coming decades.”
Patagonia is no stranger to wading into the increasingly large intersection of partisan politics and scientific activism. Before November’s midterm elections, the company officially endorsed two Democratic candidates, the first political endorsements in the company’s history. Jacky Rosen, who ran for Senate in Nevada, and Senator Jon Tester who ran for re-election in Montana, both won their races.
The company also threatened legal action against President Trump and his administration in 2017, when Trump decided to shrink the size of Utah’s Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and Bears Ears National Monument.
The company changed its website and sent out messages on its social media channels to display a back background with the statement, “The President stole your land.” That lawsuit is ongoing.
