Our Urgent Gift to the Planet
Based on last year’s irresponsible tax cut, Patagonia will owe less in taxes this year—$10 million less, in fact. Instead of putting the money back into our business, we’re responding by putting $10 million back into the planet. Our home planet needs it more than we do.
Our home planet is facing its greatest crisis because of human-caused climate disruption. All the extra heat we’ve trapped in the earth’s atmosphere is not only melting the poles and raising sea levels, it’s intensifying drought and accelerating the extinction of species. The most recent Climate Assessment report puts it in stark terms: the U.S. economy could lose hundreds of billions of dollars, and the climate crisis is already affecting all of us. Mega-fires. Toxic algae blooms. Deadly heat waves and deadly hurricanes. 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.
We have always paid our fair share of federal and state taxes. Being a responsible company means paying your taxes in proportion to your success and supporting your state and federal governments, which in turn contribute to the health and well-being of civil society. Taxes fund our important public services, our first responders and our democratic institutions. Taxes protect the most vulnerable in our society, our public lands and other life-giving resources. In spite of this, the Trump administration initiated a corporate tax cut, threatening these services at the expense of our planet.
We recognize that our planet is in peril. We are committing all $10 million to groups committed to protecting air, land and water and finding solutions to the climate crisis. We have always funded grassroots activism, and this $10 million will be on top of our ongoing 1% for the Planet giving. It will go a long way toward funding grassroots groups; including those dedicated to regenerative organic agriculture, which may be our greatest hope for reversing the damage done to our overheated planet.
In this season of giving, we are giving away this tax cut to the planet, our only home, which needs it now more than ever.
Enterprise Architecture Community Lead at PTC
12moThank you for this gift to the world Patagonia. This is far more than a gift to the planet as it sets a standard for responsible business practices with civil society as a core part. Showing that businesses can be successful while supporting overall societal benefit over individual monetary profit is the key. We cannot expect the needed results from global collaboration when our actions and decision making are self-serving and competitive in nature.
Retired at private
4yI am a PhD geologist and former principal Research Scientist at the largest research organisation in Australia, in the pay on no one and have studied the climatic evidence in depth. Climate changes and there is absolutely no empirical evidence that human emissions of carbon dioxide drive climate in any appreciable way. If you cared to look at the evidence instead of accepting group think, you would stop calling informed people like me evil. A few facts - 1. North America covered in ice 15000 years ago and all melted by 10 000 years with no human cause, 2. warming comes before carbon dioxide rise (proven beyond dispute from ice cores), 3. most of the slight warming in last century was before industrialisation, 4. no hot spot at 1,0000 m over tropics showing climate models to be useless (as if we didn't know from their false predictions) 5. warmer in the first millennium with farming in Greenland, 6. no correlation over multiple ice ages between Carbon dioxide and warm periods although 7. there is good correlation with the Sun's output and planetary movements, 8. we are now in an inter-glacial time between 4 major advances and retreats of glaciation over the last 500,000 years all independent of carbon dioxide and 9. there is lots more. It is interesting to note that all the young advocates of AGW under 20 have (on definitive evidence from satellites and weather balloons,) never experienced any Global warming despite the rise in aerial carbon dioxide. If all this doesn't make you think then carry on with your approach of believing corrupt self interested scientists and calling qualified realists evil. Same old - if one can't argue facts then make personal attacks. (97 % of scientist say is an easily dis-proven lie - science doesn't operate under consensus anyway). Our climate is currently remarkably stable in historic and geological time frames and claims like those of Extinction Rebellion are an absolute disgrace and fantasy..
Director at AccessiblePRS
4yI've only just seen this article. I treated myself to a wonderful jacket at about the same time. I didn't need this article to justify it because I already favour the company ethos and credentials. But this gives me a warm and fuzzy (recycled down) glow :)
Founder / CEO of Palm Silage, Inc.
4yMy palm feed technology is global and we must use less water, stop exporting hay PALM IS GRASS! I got this! Have Yvonne call or please message me! 500 million tons of actual feed wasting globally and Im the ONLY US FARMER who has IP to grind and make feed with! Need a titans heart to help me go. Video teaches you what and how!!! https://youtu.be/6ru498TkH_8
Communication + Connection | Marquette & Royal Oak
4yIncredible. Thank you! More leaders like you, please!