Patagonia said it will owe about $10 million less to the U.S. government following tax cuts approved by the Trump administration last year. And it pledged to put all that money toward environmental groups and combating climate change.
Patagonia has not been a big fan of Donald Trump. The California company has countered the president’s claims on Twitter, sued the administration over its stance on public lands, and even publicly endorsed anti-Trump Congressional candidates.
But today, Patagonia revealed it actually benefited from the Trump administration’s controversial 2017 tax reform — to the tune of $10 million.
“Based on last year’s irresponsible tax cut, Patagonia will owe less in taxes this year — $10 million less, in fact,” Patagonia CEO Rose Marcario wrote in a statement. “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.”
The announcement is the latest move by a company that has positioned itself as one of the most outspoken and influential private advocates for social and environmental issues. It comes on the heels of one of America’s most destructive natural disasters, the Camp Fire, and at a time when the president finds himself at odds with the most sweeping climate report in history.
‘Irresponsible Tax Cuts’: Patagonia Donates $10 Million
Marcario said Patagonia’s windfall is the result of the tax cuts Republicans passed in 2017. Part of that legislation cut the corporate tax rate by 15 percent, a move many critics — and Marcario — claimed benefitted the oil and gas industry at large.
“We have always paid our fair share of federal and state taxes,” Marcario wrote. “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.”
“In spite of this,” she continued, “the Trump administration initiated a corporate tax cut, threatening these services at the expense of our planet.”
As such, Marcario promised the entirety of the money saved as a result of the tax cuts would go toward “groups committed to protecting air, land, and water and finding solutions to the climate crisis.”
You can read Marcario’s full statement here.
