Patagonia CEO: The EPA is ‘endangering’ America’s businesses on climate

ary·EnvironmentPatagonia CEO: The EPA is ‘endangering’ America’s es on climateBy Ryan GellertBy Ryan Gellert Ryan Gellert is the CEO of Patagonia

He has served on the boards of Access Fund, tect Our Winters, the European Outdoor Group, and the Soil Heroes Foundation

Last Tuesday, EPA administrator Lee Zeldin made official his plan to overturn a 16-year-old ruling allowing the government to tect the country and economy from the greenhouse gas pollution fueling the climate crisis

The announcement effectively gifts the largest and most dangerous polluters in the country the right to unregulated emissions

People around the world will be harmed for generations

It is truly Orwellian to see the EPA—an agency signed into existence by Richard Nixon to tect the public from environmental degradation—divesting itself of the responsibility to address the ravages of the climate crisis during a summer of extreme weather and ing the hottest year in recorded history

But it is not surprising

Zeldin has made no secret of his ambitions to use the EPA as a means for deregulation and driving “a dagger straight into the climate change religion to drive down cost of living for American families, unleash American energy, bring back auto jobs to the U.S. and more.” He is of course wrong on every point

Prices are up partially due to the market his bosses have created

Random trade wars have caused es to charge more and others to consider shutting down entirely

Energy duction was largely “unleashed” at the start of the year

The U.S. duced more crude oil than any nation at any other time in history while renewable energy duction grew to record levels simultaneously

An “American vehicle manufacturing renaissance” was under way thanks to investments from the Inflation Reduction Act and resulted in a 34-year peak in vehicle-manufacturing jobs

The “Endangerment Finding” was considered settled law, and countless innovations arose as a result

This move by Zeldin puts all of that at risk

These es will be left between government mandates—or lack thereof—and market momentum

Corporate leaders are already overwhelmingly invested in climate grams because they’re good and build resilience, but an erratic regulatory environment throws those practices into question

Performative orders this leave es scrambling to understand what it means for them

Add in legal challenges to the directive, and es will be stuck in limbo as cases play out in court

While the administration frames this as a rebuke against an ideology, companies worldwide will feel the effects

Deregulation to this level will only add to the skyrocketing costs caused by the climate crisis on our collective bottom line

Whether a company has emissions targets or not, extreme weather disasters are increasingly affecting more es

The Census Bureau found that nearly one out of 10 es experienced monetary loss because of extreme weather

Yet the Trump administration would have us believe the greenhouse gases that directly contribute to intensifying storms and fires do not pose a danger to the public

Taken in tandem with the targeted evisceration of the renewable energy industry, Zeldin is indeed “driving a dagger”— twisting it in the back of years of stability, investments, science, facts, gress, and tections for es and people that deserve clean air, clean water, and some degree of security

So who benefits? The administration’s powerful fossil fuel benefactors

For them, a reversal that undermines years of hard work, investment and time from the public and private sector to tect us counts as a win

The simplest response to the turmoil this policy will cause is to continue doing the work

If you’ve made climate commitments, don’t back down

The widespread corporate “greenhushing”—or when es are afraid to reaffirm their bottom-line-driven climate action policies for fear of drawing the administration’s ire—must end

To compete globally and create long-term stability, we must speak out

We are past the point of corporate “optics.” The climate crisis will worsen whether Zeldin and the Trump administration believe it or not

No executive order, law or statement can wish it away

For our part at Patagonia, we will stay the course

We will continue to invest in decarbonization

It is good for , customers and community

It is also staying true to our purpose

A committed corporate sector can ve this administration’s invitation to irresponsible behavior will not undermine commitments to holders, employees and customers

Our es and communities depend on it

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