Patagonia announced it will use the $10 million it saved from GOP tax cuts and donate the money to various environmental causes.
“This holiday season, Patagonia is giving away the $10 million in unplanned cash we saw as a result of last year’s irresponsible tax cut,” company spokeswoman Tessa Byars wrote in a Wednesday blog post. “This additional $10 million will go a long way for the groups defending our air, water and land. It will also include support for the regenerative organic agriculture movement, which we think will not only slow the climate crisis but could begin to reverse it.”
Patagonia is referring to the tax reform bill — which slashed corporate rates from 35 percent to 21 percent — passed by congressional Republicans and signed into law by President Donald Trump in December 2017. Over 160 U.S. companies have since announced employee pay raises, bonuses and added investments because of the money saved from the tax cuts.
However, Patagonia — an outdoor clothing company with a long history of environmental activism — is no fan of the new tax law. Byars accused the cuts of being a “windfall for the oil and gas industry” that puts more wildlife areas at risk of fossil fuel exploration.
When asked about where exactly the $10 million will be going, a Patagonia spokesman directed The Daily Caller News Foundation to a list of environmental causes that are current recipients of the company’s donations. Such causes include: the ending of new offshore drilling; protecting the Arctic refuge; protecting salmon in the Bristol Bay region; and a host of other initiatives.
“Patagonia has been giving grants to environmental non-profits for over 30 years and this $10M will be in addition to over $100M we have already given in our company’s history,” a company spokesman wrote to TheDCNF.
The California-based company has donated money to environmental organizations that initiate lawsuits blocking fossil fuel development. Earthworks — which has been party to a number of lawsuits against the Trump administration — touted its status as a Patagonia grantee on Thursday.
We are proud to be a @patagonia grantee. https://t.co/qxW9BmWYAT
— EARTHWORKS (@Earthworks) November 29, 2018
Patagonia has sued the Trump administration over a number of environmental and land issues.
“Our government continues to ignore the seriousness and causes of the climate crisis. It is pure evil,” Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard said in a statement Wednesday. “We need to double down on renewable energy solutions. We need an agriculture system that supports small family farms and ranches, not one that rewards chemical companies intent on destroying our planet and poisoning our food.” (RELATED: Democrats Will Use US Climate Report Against Trump In Court)
Penguin in Patagonia. Shutterstock
The donation announcement is another indication that the clothing company is becoming more politically engaged in the Trump era. Patagonia endorsed Democratic senatorial candidates Jon Tester of Montana and Jacky Rosen in Nevada, both of whom won their respective races in November.
Patagonia did not specify to TheDCNF when exactly the $10 million will be doled out.
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