Outdoor retailer Patagonia announced Wednesday that it plans to donate the $10 million it is saving from President Trump’s corporate tax cuts this year to environmental groups.
“Based on last year’s irresponsible tax cut, Patagonia will owe less in taxes this year — $10 million less, in fact,” CEO Rose Marcario wrote in a LinkedIn post Wednesday afternoon. “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.”
“Taxes protect the most vulnerable in our society, our public lands and other life-giving resources,” she continued. “In spite of this, the Trump administration initiated a corporate tax cut, threatening these services at the expense of our planet.”
{mosads}Marcario added that the donation will be made on top of the company’s ongoing “1% for the Planet” campaign, which gives 1 percent of the company’s sales to the environment’s preservation and restoration.
“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,” she said.
The announcement comes less than a week after a report released by the Trump administration on Friday cautioned that current global and regional efforts to stave off the devastating effects of climate change are insufficient.
Patagonia has been vocal about its political activism since Trump took office.
Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard has publicly criticized Trump and other administration officials. The company has also spoken out against the Interior Department’s shrinking of some national monuments.