Sausalito, CA (March 7, 2023) - Patagonia Provisions, the food & beverage division of Patagonia, is thrilled to announce its acquisition of Moonshot, a Planet Forward, Inc. brand. This acquisition - a first in more than 20 years for Patagonia - was made as part of an effort to invest in businesses and products that support the company's mission to save our home planet.
Recall Summary
Name of Product: Infant Capilene Midweight Base Layer Sets
Hazard: The snaps in the bodysuit of the recalled base layer sets can detach, posing a choking hazard if mouthed by infants.
Remedy: Refund
Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled Patagonia Infant Capilene Midweight Base Layer Sets and contact Patagonia for a full refund. Patagonia will provide consumers with prepaid labels to return the recalled product, and a full refund upon receipt of the product.
Consumer Contact: Patagonia at 800-638-6464 from 6 a.m. through 6 p.m. PT weekdays and from 7 a.m. through 3 p.m. PT on weekends, email at infantsetrecall@patagonia.com or online at www.patagonia.com/infantsetrecall or www.patagonia.com and click on “Product Safety Recall” at the bottom of the page for more information.
Recall Details
Units: About 8,000 (In addition, about 217 were sold in Canada)
Description: This recall involves Patagonia Infant Capilene Midweight Base Layer Sets, sold in sizes 0 months through 24 months with style number 60910. Each set consists of a knitted polyester long sleeved bodysuit with snaps at the left shoulder and at the crotch, and a pair of matching knitted polyester pants with an elastic waistband. The style number is printed on a sewn-in label inside the garment in the form STY60910FA21 for the Fall 2021 style and STY60910FA22 for the Fall 2022 style. They were sold in five designs: pink and white with “My Planet,” pink hearts and pink trim; blue with “Patagonia” and “Fun Hogs”; pink with small graphics; pink with “Patagonia Mountain Kids” and gray and black with “Patagonia Mountain Kids.”
Incidents/Injuries: Patagonia has received one report of a snap detaching from the shoulder of the bodysuit and being mouthed by a baby.
Sold at: Patagonia, REI and other stores nationwide and online at www.patagonia.com, www.rei.com, www.backcountry.com and other websites from August 2021 through January 2023 for about $55.
Importer: Patagonia Inc., of Ventura, California
Distributor: Patagonia Inc., of Ventura, California
Manufactured in: Sri Lanka
Notes: Health Canada's Press release is available at:
Recalled Infant Capilene Midweight Base Layer Set in pink and white with “My Planet,” pink hearts and pink trim
Recalled Infant Capilene Midweight Base Layer Set in blue with “Patagonia” and “Fun Hogs”
Recalled Infant Capilene Midweight Base Layer Set in pink with small graphics
Recalled Infant Capilene Midweight Base Layer Set in pink with “Patagonia Mountain Kids”
Recalled Infant Capilene Midweight Base Layer Set in gray and black with “Patagonia Mountain Kids”
Sewn-in label with style number STY60910
Sewn-in label with style number STY60910FA22
Fast Track Recall
Individual Commissioners may have statements related to this topic. Please visit www.cpsc.gov/commissioners to search for statements related to this or other topics.
About the U.S. CPSC
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risk of injury or death associated with the use of thousands of types of consumer products. Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer product-related incidents cost the nation more than $1 trillion annually. CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products has contributed to a decline in the rate of injuries associated with consumer products over the past 50 years.
Federal law prohibits any person from selling products subject to a Commission ordered recall or a voluntary recall undertaken in consultation with the CPSC.
For lifesaving information:
- Visit CPSC.gov.
- Sign up to receive our e-mail alerts.
- Follow us on Facebook, Instagram @USCPSC and Twitter @USCPSC.
- Report a dangerous product or a product-related injury on www.SaferProducts.gov.
- Call CPSC’s Hotline at 800-638-2772 (TTY 301-595-7054).
- Contact a media specialist.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is using Clean Water Act protections to prevent construction of Pebble Mine at the headwaters of Bristol Bay, Alaska.
“After extensive review of scientific and technical research spanning two decades, and robust stakeholder engagement, EPA has determined that certain discharges associated with developing the Pebble deposit will have unacceptable adverse effects on certain salmon fishery areas in the Bristol Bay watershed,” the EPA said in a statement today.
The EPA’s Final Determination can be read here.
“This is a hard-won victory for the Bristol Bay Tribes and community whose livelihoods depend on a thriving fishery, and it’s a victory for the millions more who are fed by Bristol Bay salmon around the globe,” Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert said in response to the EPA decision. “Nearly four million people from all walks of life spoke out against Pebble Mine over the last decade, including Native communities, outdoor athletes, environmental activists, hunters and the commercial fishing industry. I want to thank the Biden administration and EPA for listening. Patagonia has worked in solidarity with the community to protect this region since 2006. Preventing further development in Bristol Bay is exactly the kind of step we need to take toward addressing the root causes of the climate and ecological crises.”
The President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20500
CC: Deb Haaland, Secretary of the Interior; John Podesta, White House Deputy Chief of Staff; Ali Zaidi, Deputy White House National Climate Advisor
Dear President Biden,
I am writing to express Patagonia’s strong opposition to the Willow Master Development Project in America’s Western Arctic.
The Willow Project does not enjoy the full support of the local Indigenous community in Alaska. Rosemary Ahtuangaruak, the mayor of Nuiqsut, Alaska — the town that’s closest to the project site — has warned the project would bulldoze through crucial habitat for caribou, fish and moose, which her people rely on for subsistence hunting.
Furthermore, the new climate guidance from the Council on Environmental Quality states, “Given the urgency of the climate crisis and NEPA's important role in providing critical information to decision makers and the public, NEPA reviews should quantify proposed actions' GHG emissions, place GHG emissions in appropriate context and disclose relevant GHG emissions and relevant climate impacts, and identify alternatives and mitigation measures to avoid or reduce GHG emissions.
The Inflation Reduction Act represents a first-of-a-kind, critical move on our nation’s part to address the climate crisis. Your leadership on this is noted and appreciated — thank you. However, the Willow Project would result in the release hundreds of millions more metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and hinder your administration’s 2030 greenhouse gas pollution reduction target.
I am requesting that further study be completed to analyze the impacts of this project on caribou and on subsistence hunting, as well as quantify the projected greenhouse gas emissions that this project would generate.
The Willow Project would have grave impacts for future generations, and our window to act on climate is rapidly closing. We need to continue developing an economy focused on protecting people and the environment by harnessing the power of conservation and clean-energy jobs, not harmful fossil fuels. Let’s work together to make sure we don't undermine your historic leadership in facing the environmental crisis. Saving our planet will require action from all levers of society. Patagonia and our community are here to work with you. As the conservationist David Brower said, “There is no business to be done on a dead planet.”
Sincerely,
Ryan Gellert, CEO, Patagonia
This demonstration marks the first installation of NEXT’s photovoltaic window technology on a building
VENTURA, Calif. — NEXT Energy Technologies has installed windows that are generating solar power at Patagonia’s corporate headquarters, marking the first time NEXT’s window technology is being demonstrated on a building and furthering Patagonia’s commitment to using business to implement solutions to the environmental crisis.
NEXT developed a proprietary transparent photovoltaic (PV) coating that transforms commercial windows into energy-generating windows. Patagonia, the outdoor apparel company based in Ventura, worked with NEXT to install 22 of the windows on the south-facing facade of the Olive Building on Patagonia’s main campus. The building houses offices, an employee gym and climbing wall. The windows are a production demonstration of how NEXT’s transparent solar technology can be seamlessly integrated into commercial buildings to generate electricity to power the building and alleviate strain on the grid.
NEXT’s windows installed at Patagonia deliver dedicated power to the building for charging phones and other devices while employees use the community spaces. Employees also have access to proprietary metrics with real-time power output and charging information to inform users of the benefits of the windows.
Partners in Creating Better Buildings for Tomorrow
NEXT estimates that its windows are capable of producing 20-30% of the power produced by conventional solar panels alone. However, by leveraging the underutilized surface area of the building facade, as opposed to isolated rooftops, NEXT’s windows have the potential to produce significant onsite renewable power, offsetting anywhere from 10-40% of a typical commercial building’s energy load. The windows also capture and convert infrared light, which reduces the building’s heat load and further alleviates the existing strain on a building’s power infrastructure.
“Deploying this technology with Patagonia, one of the most respected brands in sustainability, is a huge milestone for us. It demonstrates Patagonia’s commitment to leading by example on climate change and shines a light on innovations that can help commercial buildings achieve net-zero energy and sustainability goals,” said Daniel Emmett, CEO and co-founder of NEXT Energy Technologies. “We’re grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with Patagonia to demonstrate our technology in action and share the numerous benefits to building owners, developers and occupants, including reduced operating expenses, increased building value, improved building resilience, relieved pressure and reliance on the grid, and reduced carbon footprint.”
“Global building stock is expected to double by 2060, and if transparent PV windows can be deployed widely on buildings during this timeframe, they have the potential to reduce GHG emissions from the built environment by over 1 gigaton per year, a huge opportunity for climate impact,” Emmett continued.
“We’ve been using solar power at our headquarters in Ventura since 2005 and at our Reno Distribution Center since 1996,” said Corley Kenna, head of Communications and Public Policy at Patagonia. “We rely on 100% renewable electricity for our owned and operated facilities in the United States and 76% globally, achieved through on-site and off-site installations. We have funded more than 1,000 solar arrays on homes across the U.S. and have helped install more than 600 kilowatts of solar power globally to support agriculture. Finding better ways of doing business is something we always strive to do and we’re pleased to partner with NEXT Energy to help us be a more responsible company.”
Printing Photovoltaic Film
Partners on this project include Walters & Wolf, who designed, fabricated, and installed the glazing system integrating NEXT’s energy-harvesting windows. The glass fabricator of the module units was performed by SolarFab, a division of GlassFab Tempering Services. NEXT’s windows are created by printing a transparent photovoltaic coating directly onto architectural glass. The coating is then sealed behind a secondary sheet of glass and subsequently integrated into a traditional glazing system which carries cables that deliver renewable energy to be used onsite in the building.
“We spent years of R&D to design façade systems for Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV). The dream of a seamless plug and play BIPV façade is a reality, we are all very excited for the possibilities,” said Shiloh Kocelj, BIPV Director of Walters & Wolf.
This installation is the first time that NEXT has demonstrated its technology on the facade of a building. This project follows the demonstration of three other freestanding facade units containing the window technology, one each in Santa Barbara, CA, Fremont, CA, and Paris, France. For more information on the installation, please visit NEXT’s website at www.nextenergytech.com.
About NEXT Energy Technologies, Inc.
NEXT Energy Technologies is a Santa Barbara, California company developing transparent photovoltaic window technology that allows architects and building owners to transform windows and glass facades into producers of low-cost, on-site, renewable energy for buildings. NEXT's technology is enabled by proprietary organic semiconducting materials that are earth-abundant, low-cost, and are coated as an ink in a high-speed, low-cost, and low energy process. For more information, visit www.nextenergytech.com.
About Patagonia
We’re in business to save our home planet. Founded by Yvon Chouinard in 1973, Patagonia is an outdoor apparel company based in Ventura, California. As a certified B Corporation and a founding member of 1% for the Planet, the company is recognized internationally for its product quality and environmental activism, as well as its contributions of nearly $200 million to environmental organizations. Its unique ownership structure reflects that Earth is its only shareholder: Profits not reinvested back into the business are paid as dividends to protect the planet.
Contacts
James Conway | nextenergy@104west.com | 104 West for NEXT Energy Technologies
J.J Huggins | John.Huggins@patagonia.com | Patagonia
In 2021, we closed our stores, warehouse and offices in the United States and Canada for the last week of the year and gave employees paid time off. The purpose was to provide our employees with a much-needed break, and our customers were overwhelmingly gracious about it.
We’re doing it again this year: Our North America stores, customer service operations and warehouse will be closed from December 25 through January 1 because we believe in providing quality of life for our people. I want to thank Patagonia’s incredible employees for an amazing year of working to save our home planet, and I want to thank our nonprofit partners and customers for their continued support and friendship.
We’ll be back at work and recharged on January 2, ready to ship the orders, help exchange unwanted gifts and repair clothing that was broken while people were outside having fun. Until then, seasons greetings to you and yours.
Ryan Gellert, CEO, Patagonia, Inc.
This message was originally posted on LinkedIn and can be found here.
For 30 years, we’ve provided health insurance and other benefits to our employees and their domestic partners, proving that businesses can be leaders on social justice issues. The practice started when an employee came to us requesting health insurance for their partner, and we responded by amending our benefits to include domestic partners as well. And while we’ve always been proud to support employees and their families in this way, there are many other protections for married people that only laws can provide—from making healthcare decisions to equitable tax treatment and including Social Security survivor benefits and immigration status.
Today, we celebrate the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act in the United States. The legislation will soon be signed into law by President Biden and transcends the work of business and protects the rights of LGBTQ+ and interracial couples. This moment is also a reminder that we need to vote for legislators who will protect Americans’ rights, not take them away.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TIERRA DEL FUEGO, ARGENTINA (Dec. 6, 2022) – At the Southernmost tip of Argentina, the community of Tierra del Fuego has protected the entirety of Peninsula Mitre – over 1.2 million acres overall are being protected - including 700,000 acres of land and 500,000 acres of ocean – forever. Peninsula Mitre is a massive carbon sink, home to a myriad of threatened species and includes some of the region’s most significant natural and cultural heritage sites. Protecting this area permanently is a historic victory for the planet and local communities.
In a special legislative session, the local legislature in Tierra del Fuego unanimously approved to designate the Mitre Peninsula, Argentina's largest carbon reservoir, as a provincial protected natural area. This final vote to protect this area is the result of local community support and 33 years of collaboration from all sectors of society including government leaders and contributions from Patagonia, Tompkins Conservation, Rewilding Argentina, scientists and academia.
“There is only 10% of the planet left to protect, while we are now facing challenges like the loss of blodiversity, climate change, and increasing pollution. That's why this legislation is the best way to protect the ecosystem and biodiversity of the Mitre Peninsula, which is one of the biggest natural lungs in both the country and the world," said Nahuel Stauch, a local activist.
Yvon Chouinard, founder of outdoor apparel brand Patagonia and a stalwart advocate for the region, recounted his first experience there, “In 1977, my friend Paul Bruun and I backpacked along the coast of Peninsula Mitre looking for streams to fish and adventure. We found old shipwrecks, kelp forests, peat bogs, and sea trout in one of the wildest places left on the planet. I’m proud to have been a small part of creating this park at the end of the world.”
Patagonia and its founder, Yvon Chouinard, contributed $605,000 USD through its 1% for the Planet grassroots giving program to protect this rich carbon and biodiversity ecosystem. The Holdfast Collective, a new nonprofit supported by Patagonia, is also committing $200,000 USD. The company also helped to convene and support local activists who share an interest in seeing this area protected.
Peninsula Mitre is located at the eastern end of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. Due to its huge expanse of peat, the peninsula is the largest area of carbon capture in the country and the presence of well-preserved underwater forests increases the importance and biodiversity of this amazing ecosystem. Various species inhabit, migrate to, and find food in its terrestrial and marine areas, including: the endangered southern river otter, the humpback whale, the Fuegian steamer duck. Also, the area is home to some of the region’s most significant natural and cultural heritage, such as traces of the Haush (a hunter-gatherer people), the remains of shipwrecks, and a plethora of flora and fauna.
It will require all sectors of society working together to protect our planet, and this historic accomplishment in Argentina represents a model to protect intact ecosystems and the biodiversity within them that can be scaled globally. “This is exactly what the protection of key habitats should look like, taking into account not only land but also the coastal waters. This park is a new highwater mark for global conservation and the fight against climate change.” said Kristine Tompkins, President of Tompkins Conservation.
MEDIA KIT
General map, detailed map (in Spanish)
About Patagonia
We’re in business to save our home planet. Founded by Yvon Chouinard in 1973, Patagonia Works (“Patagonia”) is a certified B Corporation based in Ventura, California. A founding member of 1% for the Planet, the company is recognized internationally for its product quality and environmental activism. Its unique ownership structure reflects that Earth is its only shareholder: Profits not reinvested back into the business are paid as dividends to protect the planet.
About Tompkins Conservation
A driving force to curb the worldwide climate emergency and the biodiversity crisis, Tompkins Conservation has spent three decades working to rewild a healthy planet with big, wild, and connected landscapes where human communities, animals and plants can thrive. Collaborating with public and private partners, the organization has driven the creation and expansion of 15 national parks. In Argentina, Tompkins Conservation provides support to its offspring organization, Rewilding Argentina.
###
Today, the Biden administration announced a $135 million commitment to support the relocation of Tribal communities affected by climate change, including the Alaskan village of Newtok, which Patagonia has been working with in recent years.
Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert released the following statement:
“We’d like to publicly thank President Biden and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland for providing this much-needed assistance to Indigenous communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis. Patagonia has been honored to work with the Newtok Village Council since February 2021 to support their plans to relocate from Newtok, Alaska upriver to Mertarvik to provide a more climate-resilient home where the hundreds of Yup’ik residents will be safe from sea level rise and erosion. We’d also like to thank the leaders in Newtok who are working to keep their culture and community intact, as well as the kids of Newtok and Mertarvik who spoke up and wrote letters to D.C., and the entire community who never lost hope. The other villages receiving the federal assistance that was announced today all face similar imminent threats. Globally, an estimated 1.4 billion people may have to relocate by 2060 due to rising seas, so this funding from the Biden-Harris administration will help inform future decisions to benefit other communities. It’s critical for the administration to keep pursuing aggressive climate goals that prioritize people and planet and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.”
View the Newtok film here.
Note: Patagonia submitted the following letter to officials in Montana today.
Trevor Taylor
Bureau Chief, Minerals Management Bureau
Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation
Dear Trevor,
I’m writing express my opposition to the DSL pit gravel mine expansion and proposed asphalt plant on the banks of the Madison River.
This project is only one mile from Ennis and 1.6 miles from McAllister. It will cause air, noise, visual and water pollution. This mine already produces noxious dust, noise and water pollution, which will be exacerbated with its expansion and the removal of the geologic bench that currently keeps the mine largely unexposed to the Madison River Valley. The area is a critical habitat and home to ecologically significant species: brown and rainbow trout, Grayling (listed as a Sensitive Species (S1) in Montana), Trumpeter, Tundra Swans and other waterfowl as well as game species such as Moose, Elk, Whitetail Deer and Pronghorn Antelope.
Of note, this mine and plant is:
Less than 3,000 feet from Arctic Grayling release site.
Less than 1,000 feet from spring creek flowing into the Madison River.
One mile upstream of Ennis Lake.
Upstream of the Lee Metcalf Wilderness and Beartrap Canyon.
Directly adjacent to the Madison River.
Patagonia has had a store in in Dillon for the last 25 years and we work with dozens of local fly-fishing shops, outdoor gear retailers and environmental nonprofits throughout the state. Outdoor recreation accounted for 4.4% of Montana’s gross domestic product last year — the second highest percentage of any state, behind only Hawaii at 4.8%. On behalf of Patagonia’s Montana-based staff and customers, I believe the only solution to protect the Madison River and its surrounding community is to cease all mining expansion and immediately initiate the reclamation obligation of A.M. Welles.
Thank you,
Yvon Chouinard, Founder, Patagonia
CC:
NRC Director Amanda Kaster
Governor Greg Gianforte Attn: Michael Freeman, Natural Resource Advisor
Madison County Commissioners
Concerned Citizens, info@protectthemadisonvalley.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
VENTURA, Calif. — Patagonia will close all of its U.S. stores and offices, as well as its distribution center in Reno, NV on Tuesday, Nov. 8 and provide employees with paid time off. Patagonia has been doing this on Election Day since 2016.
As a co-founder of the Time to Vote movement, Patagonia is committed to ensuring its employees don’t have to choose between voting and earning a paycheck. Employees who voted early or voted by mail are encouraged to serve as poll workers, or by volunteering as poll watchers with reputable civic engagement groups, or by helping to get out the vote in other ways.
Time to Vote, which Patagonia created in 2018 with Levi Strauss & Co. and PayPal, has recruited 2,002 companies to date. All of the companies are committed to providing time off so their employees can vote.
Other ways Patagonia is supporting the midterms:
At least one representative from each Patagonia location nationwide is serving as a poll worker, poll watcher or in other ways. This is done on a voluntary basis, and employees are provided paid time off.
Employees from Patagonia’s distribution center in Reno are fully staffing the Reno and Hug High School polling locations.
Patagonia recruited more than 1,500 people from its community to sign up through Power the Polls to apply to become poll workers.
Patagonia employees from around the U.S. sent 1,000 postcards from The Civics Center to 18-year-olds in Reno, encouraging them to register and vote.
Patagonia employees and their community are responsible for sending about 3,000 letters to low-propensity voters in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Texas through Vote Forward.
Patagonia supported Rise in mobilizing 18,000 young voters in Atlanta and 15,000 young voters in Pittsburgh.
Patagonia helped My School Votes engage 252 high schools around the country and to register 2,291 young voters.
Press inquiries: patagoniapress@patagonia.com
###
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
VENTURA, Calif. — Amid record-breaking early voting turnout, Patagonia is running a digital advertisement targeted at young voters in Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Reno, illustrating the power they have in the upcoming November 8 midterms. This is one part of Patagonia’s larger elections strategy to contribute to a healthy democracy and healthy planet.
Link here: https://pat.ag/YouScareThem
The ad was directed and produced in Atlanta, and all the participants in the ad are activists and voters who live in Atlanta. The ad will appear on online outlets such as YouTube, Snapchat, Apple TV+, HBO Max and Roku. Narrating the ad is Evan Malbrough, who founded the Georgia Youth Poll Worker Project.
Note: Patagonia stopped paid advertising on Facebook and Instagram in 2020. Therefore, Patagonia continues not to pay for advertising on Meta properties.
“A strong democracy creates the foundation for progress on every issue we care about,” said Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert. “Patagonia’s goal with this ad is to motivate and mobilize young voters. They have the power to decide policy on climate and everything else facing their generation.”
Why Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Reno?
Patagonia has stores and employees in each city, including an outlet and distribution center in Reno that employ more than 700 people. Patagonia has one store in Buckhead in Atlanta and will soon open a second Atlanta store on the BeltLine, and a store in the Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh.
Each city is home to large populations of young people of color who are on the frontlines of the climate crisis.
Those cities are located in states that are critical for future climate legislation and need more policies at the state and federal level to advance conservation, climate and biodiversity goals.
In addition to Patagonia’s media buy, Patagonia is supporting several nonprofits to help young voters learn their options for registering to vote and voting on or before Election Day, including:
My School Votes to reach 18-year-olds in high schools
Rise to reach college students
The ACLU of Georgia to recruit and train youth poll workers in Atlanta
Patagonia has encouraged its community to vote for climate leaders for decades, and the upcoming midterms are no exception. Visit patagonia.com/midterm-elections for more information.
###
Patagonia announced new ownership today, nearly 50 years since founder Yvon Chouinard began his experiment in responsible business. Effective immediately, the Chouinard family has transferred all ownership to two new entities: Patagonia Purpose Trust and the Holdfast Collective. Most significantly, every dollar that is not reinvested back into Patagonia will be distributed as dividends to protect the planet.
August 29, 2022
Stephanie Rice, Willow Master Development Plan Project Manager
Bureau of Land Management
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20240
Dear Stephanie Rice,
I am writing to express Patagonia’s strong opposition to the Willow Master Development Project in America’s Western Arctic.
The Willow Project is the largest oil extraction project currently proposed on U.S. federal lands and would significantly increase oil and gas development in the Western Arctic at the expense of the health of the planet, the Western Arctic ecosystem, and the Indigenous communities who have resided in this area for thousands of years and who rely on this area for traditional food sources.
This unprecedented industrial development in a pristine and ecologically valuable part of our planet would lock in long-term destruction to the entire Western Arctic and would require huge investments in new fossil fuel infrastructure. The Bureau of Land Management’s environmental review process for this project has not properly addressed the serious impacts to public health, wildlife, land or water – all important pieces to us enduring and mitigating the climate crisis we currently face.
Preventing oil and gas extraction in the Western Arctic is essential to President Biden’s climate and conservation goals of reducing U.S. emissions, increasing land protections to reverse biodiversity loss, and growing natural carbon sinks by 2030.
Current estimates used in the DSEIS dramatically understate Willow’s potential climate impacts. The resource estimates used in federal environmental analyses do not capture the full range provided by ConocoPhillips. According to the analysis done by the BLM, an estimated 629 million barrels of oil would be produced across the life of this project between 2024 and 2050. In November 2019, ConocoPhillips released a resource estimate as high as 800 million barrels of oil equivalent for the Greater Willow Area.
Our window to act on climate is rapidly closing. Every new fossil fuel project makes it much harder for us to do what we need to avert truly catastrophic climate change. Burning the oil produced from the Willow project would release hundreds of millions more metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This project is of such a massive scale, and it would open more potential for development in the Western Arctic, that it represents a true departure from the Biden administration’s critical climate goals. In short, it is a terrible idea that would have grave impacts for our planet and future generations.
At a June 2021 market update (p. 10), ConocoPhillips SVP for Global Operations, Nick Olds, told investors that Willow Oil Project could be the next great Alaska hub. Olds also announced that ConocoPhillips has “identified up to 3 billion [barrels of oil equivalent] of nearby prospects and leads with similar characteristics that could leverage the Willow infrastructure. He also added that “this offers significant long-term upside to this project.”
We urge the BLM to choose the No Action Alternative, protect one of our last wild places, and leave a habitable planet to future generations. We need to transition to clean energy and end our dangerous, dirty, and costly dependence on fossil fuels, not double down on decades of oil development.
Sincerely,
Hans Cole, VP Environmental Activism
Patagonia
The lawsuit filed by Utah officials challenging President Biden’s restoration of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments is not only in direct opposition to the wishes of Indigenous Peoples, local activists, and the outdoor recreation community, it is an attempt to gut the Antiquities Act and chip away at the federal government’s ability to protect public lands and waters. Patagonia remains committed to protecting nature in partnership and solidarity with local and indigenous people. That’s why, alongside the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition and local conservation groups in Utah, we called on President Obama to establish Bears Ears National Monument, and it’s why we joined our partners to sue President Trump when he tried to rescind President Obama’s designation. At a time when significant progress is being made toward historic cooperative management of the monument between federal agencies and tribes, this lawsuit works to undermine the years of advocacy and overwhelming public support for this effort. We will continue to work closely with partners to protect this unique and sacred landscape, as the shortsighted greed of extractive industries knows no end.
Ryan Gellert, CEO, Patagonia
This statement was originally published on LinkedIn.
BAKERSFIELD, Calif.— Community and conservation groups and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management reached an agreement today to suspend new oil and gas leasing across more than 1 million acres of public lands in California’s Central Valley and Central Coast.
A separate agreement also requires the Bureau to conduct new environmental analysis before drilling is allowed on 4,000 acres leased in December 2020 in Kern County.
“These agreements require federal officials to disclose the harm that fracking does to the air, water and communities of Central California,” said Liz Jones, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “For decades this region’s people and wildlife have been paying the price of filthy fossil fuel extraction. That has to end, and we’ll do everything possible to make sure these pauses become permanent bans.”
Today’s agreements resolving the two cases follow two previous successful lawsuits filed by climate and community groups that prevented new onshore oil and gas leasing in California from 2012 to 2020.
“Protecting public lands is not only a step forward, but also a way to prevent several steps back,” said Cesar Aguirre, a senior organizer with the Central California Environmental Justice Network. “Using public lands to prop up the oil industry is dangerous to our green spaces and communities. We must protect our public lands not only for us to enjoy, but for us to protect Earth. Green spaces should not fall victim to oil drilling, especially because the extraction sites are the epicenter of the climate crisis. The less epicenters that are approved the less steps back we take.
In 2019 the Bureau broke the leasing moratorium and reopened 1.2 million acres of federal public land to drilling and fracking in Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare and Ventura counties. That came despite opposition from 35,000 people and 85 community and advocacy groups.
Environmental justice, conservation and business groups and the state of California filed lawsuits to challenge the management plan, citing the Bureau’s failure to fully evaluate the significant harms of fracking to communities and the environment.
“Today’s agreement protects the iconic landscapes that define central California, safeguards public health, and moves us closer to a cleaner energy future,” said Jeff Kuyper, executive director of Los Padres ForestWatch. “Fossil fuel extraction has wreaked havoc on our public lands, our farms and our neighborhoods for far too long. We now have an opportunity to chart a new course for safe and healthy communities throughout our region.”
“This agreement provides a long overdue reprieve for local communities and nearby national parks like Sequoia and Kings Canyon, which already face climate change driven drought, high temperatures and annual wildfires, as well as some of the worst air quality in the nation,” said Mark Rose, Sierra Nevada program manager with National Parks Conservation Association. “Opening up over one million acres for oil and gas drilling in one of the most polluted regions of the country was an egregious decision by the Bakersfield Bureau of Land Management under the previous administration, and we are happy to see the Biden administration taking steps to protect California’s overburdened communities and environment.”
“Central Valley residents and grassroots activists work every day to make their communities healthy, and today they got a win in the fight against air and groundwater pollution from oil and gas development,” said Daniel Rossman, California deputy director with The Wilderness Society. “This agreement represents an important step towards ensuring our public lands are managed to prioritize people, clean air, clean water, and climate over fossil fuel industry profits.”
“The future of our business depends on the health of the planet, especially the wild places loved by our community,” said Hans Cole, head of environmental activism at Patagonia. “We’re grateful to have worked with our NGO partners to require a full evaluation of the impacts of drilling and fracking on public lands in Central California. This is a win for the environment.”
In December 2020 the Trump administration relied on the same flawed environmental review to auction seven parcels of public land in Kern County for drilling and fracking. Conservation groups also challenged that decision. Parcels sold include land within an area of critical environmental concern and land neighboring Carrizo Plain National Monument.
“Today’s win is a testament to the grassroots activism of Central Valley communities, who have fought oil and gas leasing in their backyards and supported people, public health, wildlife and climate,” said Nathan Matthews, a Sierra Club senior attorney. “Temporarily halting drilling on these lease parcels in Kern County is an important step toward stopping the unconscionable move of opening up new federal public lands for oil and gas leasing in the Central Valley, a region already overburdened by impacts of oil and gas extraction. The Biden administration should implement a moratorium on oil and gas leasing on federal public lands.”
Developed leases would disproportionately harm people who live in the region. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than half of Kern County residents are Latinx and nearly 20% of residents live below the poverty line.
“This is a win not only for the environment and climate, but for the people who call Kern County home,” said Hallie Templeton, legal director for Friends of the Earth. “It is a disgrace that the federal government attempted to greenlight these leases without fully analyzing impacts on communities living nearby. Our victory has also worked to secure Spanish translation of pertinent documents, and live translation at public hearings, so that all stakeholders can truly have a seat at the table.”
New drilling would have intensified air and water pollution in the region, which already has some of the most polluted air in the nation and faces water scarcity and drought.
“The Bureau has repeatedly authorized oil and gas development in Central California without taking a hard look at the severe consequences to local communities or the environment,” said Michelle Ghafar, senior attorney with Earthjustice. “The agency must stop and fully evaluate the community and environmental impacts of all the oil and gas expansion it is authorizing on public land in order to comply with the law.”
Several analyses also show that climate pollution from the world’s already-producing fossil fuel developments, if fully developed, would push warming past 1.5 degrees Celsius. Avoiding such warming requires ending investment in new fossil fuel projects, including new federal oil and gas leasing, according to the International Energy Agency.
“Fracking on California’s public lands in the midst of our climate crisis and drought was always a pretty dubious idea and was straight-up unacceptable without proper environmental review,” said Ann Alexander, a senior attorney with Natural Resources Defense Council. “It’s crucial that the BLM takes the time to evaluate what opening up these lands to drilling would look like for local communities, who already live with crippling water shortages and some of the worst air in the country.”
Today’s agreements are subject to court approval.
Background
Fossil fuel extraction on federal public lands causes nearly a quarter of U.S. greenhouse gas pollution, worsening the climate and extinction crises and disproportionately harming Black, Brown, Indigenous and low-wealth communities.
Peer-reviewed science estimates that a nationwide federal fossil fuel leasing ban would reduce carbon emissions by 280 million tons per year, ranking it among the most ambitious federal climate policy proposals in recent years.
Oil and gas extraction uses well pads, gas lines, roads and other infrastructure that destroys habitat for wildlife, including threatened and endangered species. Oil spills, leaks and other harms from drilling have done immense damage to wildlife and communities. Fracking and drilling also pollutes watersheds and waterways that provide drinking water to millions of people.
The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.7 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
Central California Environmental Justice Network has been promoting environmental justice in the San Joaquin Valley since 2000. Our mission is to preserve our natural resources by seeking to minimize or eliminate environmental degradation in the San Joaquin Valley. CCEJN focuses on advancing community resilience in disadvantaged communities by increasing the level of recognition of adverse health effects caused by pollution and serving as a hub for environmental activism in the Central Valley.
Los Padres ForestWatch is a community-supported nonprofit organization working to protect the Los Padres National Forest, Carrizo Plain National Monument, and other public lands throughout central California.
Since 1919, the nonpartisan National Parks Conservation Association has been the leading voice in safeguarding our national parks. NPCA and its nearly 1.6 million members and supporters work together to protect and preserve our nation’s most iconic and inspirational places for future generations.
The Wilderness Society is the leading conservation organization working to protect wilderness and inspire Americans to care for our wild places. Founded in 1935, and now with more than one million members and supporters, The Wilderness Society has led the effort to permanently protect 111 million acres of wilderness and to ensure sound management of our shared national lands.
Patagonia is a Certified Benefit Corporation based in Ventura, CA that is recognized internationally for product quality and environmental activism. Patagonia has contributed more than $145 million in grants and in-kind donations to date to grassroots nonprofits working to protect people and the planet.
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action.
Friends of the Earth fights to protect our environment and create a healthy and just world. We speak truth to power and expose those who endanger people and the planet. Our campaigns work to hold politicians and corporations accountable, transform our economic systems, protect our forests and oceans, and revolutionize our food & agriculture systems.
Earthjustice, the nation’s premier nonprofit environmental law organization, wields the power of law and the strength of partnership to protect people’s health, to preserve magnificent places and wildlife, to advance clean energy, and to combat climate change.
NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at http://www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.
Senator Patty Murray Senator Maria Cantwell
154 Russell Senate Office Building 511 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510 Washington, D.C. 20510
Governor Jay Inslee Senator Jeff Merkley
PO Box 40002 531 Hart Senate Office Building
Olympia, WA 98504-0002 Washington, D.C. 20510
Senator Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Re: Patagonia’s support for breaching the lower Snake River dams
Dear Senators Murray, Cantwell, Merkley, Wyden and Governor Inslee:
I am writing to express Patagonia’s strong support for breaching the four lower Snake River dams to prevent salmon extinction and to enable recovery of abundant, wild salmonid runs and other endangered species that depend on them. As you develop your plan for the Snake River, I urge you to produce a solution that protects salmon and other critical species, honors our nation’s commitments to Northwest tribes, invests in real clean energy replacement, and brings sustainable irrigation and transportation solutions for local communities.
Patagonia has been engaged in protecting wild, free-flowing rivers and the fish and communities that rely on those waters for decades. Our engagement with the Snake River goes back more than 25 years. In the last 10 years alone, we have provided $1.2 million in funding to grassroots groups working on this issue. In 2014, we produced a full-length documentary and associated campaign, DamNation, which featured the Snake River prominently, and followed up with a short film Free the Snake. At that time, as part of the film launch, we engaged our national and global audience in a campaign asking regional elected leaders and then-President Obama to take critical steps to remove the four lower Snake River dams.
We have continued these efforts at every opportunity, and given this long engagement and investment in the issue, we appreciate the public release of the “Lower Snake River Dams: Benefit Replacement Draft Report” and the opportunity to share these comments. First and foremost, we appreciate the focus of the report, which brings an opportunity for a thorough evaluation of dam removal as the critical solution and keystone component of a comprehensive salmon recovery strategy for the Pacific Northwest. To put it bluntly: we see no viable biological path for salmon and steelhead recovery and ESA delisting with the lower Snake River dams left in place. And, there is broad consensus among scientists that removing the dams and allowing for a free-flowing lower Snake River is essential to recovery of both wild, self-sustaining salmonid runs and the many other species that rely on them, notably the Southern Resident Killer Whale.
If the lower Snake River dams remain in place, the costs of maintaining the dams and funding mitigation programs that haven’t succeeded in recovering salmon populations will not only continue, but almost certainly increase as infrastructure ages and impacts from climate change require more expensive mitigation measures. We know that, to date, regional billpayers and national taxpayers have footed the more than $19 billion bill to attempt to save endangered runs of Snake River salmon, with little to show for it. Without dam removal, scientists tell us the salmon and steelhead will likely go extinct, and the costs to society will only mount.
However, we know that the current benefits of these dams can be replaced. For example, a 2022 study of power replacement options by Energy Strategies LLC found that “replacement portfolios will generate power at times when the region needs it the most, resulting in $69M - $131M million per year of energy value above and beyond what the LSR dams provide for the same time period.” We can keep the dams in place and pay more for less, or invest in truly clean energy resources that would provide more value than the output of the lower Snake dams. Over the long term, dam removal is the cheaper and more responsible solution.
We appreciate that the Draft Report acknowledges the direct and devastating impact that these dams have had on Northwest tribal nations and people. Tribal fishing has been gravely impacted by declines in salmon, steelhead, lamprey and other species. The Draft Report estimates that recovery of these stocks would boost annual tribal harvest by at least 29%. And, dam removal would enable access to more than 34,000 acres of land important to tribal peoples.
And, of course, these benefits would extend beyond tribes, to the larger fishing community. As late as 1978, there were more than 3,000 Washington-based commercial salmon trollers. Today, with depressed salmon populations, there are barely 100 — a loss of 6,000 jobs in the fishing fleet and more in onshore businesses that sell services, supplies and equipment. Opportunities for recreational fishing, and the jobs and economic activity they generate, have likewise been limited by the decline of salmon. According to the Draft Report, though, a restored salmon fishery could generate an additional $1 billion annually in income, and it would support up to 25,000 more jobs.
We request that the Final Report, in addition to its continued emphasis on the above points, address the following:
· While the Draft Report provides for a thorough analysis of the costs of both dam removal and the various replacement strategies for current services provided by the dams (energy, agriculture, transportation, etc.), it does not outline a similar analysis for the costs of keeping the dams in place, including all of the associated artificial and non-volitional fish passage programs meant to mitigate dam impact. Without a thorough cost comparison, final decision-making and public understanding of the true costs will be undermined. We request that this cost comparison include:
o Annual operating and capital costs for the four lower Snake River Dams, over 50 years.
o Current cost of mitigation programs (fish hatcheries, artificial/ non-volitional fish passage, trucking/ barging of fish, sediment management in the reservoirs, etc.) over 50 years.
o Potential or projected costs of new/ added mitigation programs, given current and likely impacts of climate change (e.g., reduction in river flows, increased temperatures in reservoirs, potentially less favorable ocean conditions, etc.), over 50 years.
o Calculation of likely cost savings with potential elimination and/or sunsetting of mitigation programs post-dam removal.
· The Final Report must address the fact that dams contribute significantly to climate change through emissions and amplification of other climate impacts. As noted in a recent petition to the EPA signed by more than 140 organizations, Petition-for-rulemaking-to-add-dams-and-reservoirs-as-a-source-category-under-the-Greenhouse-Gas-Reporting-Program.pdf (tellthedamtruth.com), a growing body of research shows significant greenhouse gas emissions (including CO2 and CH4) from reservoirs and other dam and reservoir operations. In order to truly understand and compare the climate-related costs and benefits of dam removal vs. continued dam operation, we need to quantify or at least estimate these climate impacts, over 50 years, including:
o Annual and projected carbon equivalent emissions from dam and reservoir operations.
o Current loss of carbon sequestration from submerged landscapes and riparian forests downstream, and potential gains in carbon storage from restoration of those same landscapes.
o Annual and projected carbon equivalent emissions from mitigation programs, including fish hatcheries, non-volitional fish passage, and sediment management.
Finally, we request that the Final Report focus on the planning and programs needed to reach an ultimate goal: full recovery and delisting of endangered species. Current Lower Snake River Dam fish mitigation measures rely heavily on hatchery production and non-volitional fish passage programs. Neither of these programs lead to self-sustaining ESA recovery goals and metrics. In addition, the current Lower Snake River dam reservoirs increasingly exhibit inadequate water quality (for example, increased water temperatures) to support listed salmon and steelhead life histories and migration along the river. An assessment of current and projected reservoir water quality and suitability for listed fish species using available climate projections, for at least 50 years, would indicate whether or not such forecasted water quality and availability conditions can support wild, self-sustaining fish populations with the dams left in place.
We must aim for this ultimate goal: bringing wild species back to natural, self-sustaining abundance. Failure to recover endangered salmonids would be a failure to honor treaties between the U.S. government and tribes. It would also be a failure for the planet.
Thank you for your efforts to deliver a holistic solution to this problem. Patagonia’s community — which includes avid anglers, paddlers, and conservationists — stands ready to support a strong plan in whatever way we can.
Please reach out if you have questions about any of the above comments. Our team would welcome the opportunity for more dialogue.
Hans Cole, VP Environmental Activism
Patagonia
The Honorable Chuck Schumer
Majority Leader
United States Senate
322 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Re: Patagonia’s support for climate investments
Dear Majority Leader Schumer:
On behalf of Patagonia’s employees and the planet we all depend on, I strongly urge your support for the once-in-a-generation opportunity to avoid the direst impacts of the climate crisis by supporting investments in clean energy in the budget reconciliation package.
The negotiations over the Build Back Better budget reconciliation package have identified a critical list of funding priorities to help address the climate crisis and move our country toward President Biden’s goal of 100 percent clean electricity by 2035, which will be even more important in the wake of last week’s Supreme Court decision in the West Virginia v. EPA case.
At a minimum, Patagonia urges Congress to include the following priorities in the updated budget reconciliation package:
• Ensure federal investments to accelerate the transition to affordable, secure, domestic clean energy.
• Seize the opportunity to lead the world in clean energy manufacturing and deployment to create jobs, strengthen supply chains and reduce costs for customers.
• Reduce inequity by targeting climate and clean energy investments in disadvantaged and frontline communities.
• Repeal the establishment of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge oil and gas leasing program.
Patagonia is a Certified Benefit Corporation that has contributed more than $145 million to grassroots nonprofits working to protect people and the planet. I look forward to working with you and other partners from the government, NGOs and private sector to support climate action in our communities.
Thank you for your leadership,
Hans Cole
VP of Environmental Activism, Patagonia
Today’s decision by the Supreme Court has made it harder to address the existential threat posed by the climate crisis, which affects all Americans, but disproportionately impacts low-income and historically marginalized communities. It’s clear from our early reading of today’s opinion that the Court has restricted the executive branch’s ability to protect those who are most affected by climate change and to support communities on the front lines of climate activism. Despite the misguided opinions of this Court, we’re more determined than ever to save our home planet. This is our purpose.
Ryan Gellert, CEO, Patagonia
June 28, 2022
The Honorable Deb Haaland, Secretary
U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20240
CC: Brenda Mallory, Council on Environmental Quality Chair; Adrian Saenz, White House Office of Public Engagement; Gina McCarthy, White House National Climate Advisor; Ali Zaidi, Deputy White House National Climate Advisor
Dear Secretary Haaland:
I am writing to express Patagonia’s strong opposition to the Willow Master Development Project in America’s Western Arctic.
The Willow Project is the largest oil extraction project currently proposed on U.S. federal lands. This unnecessary production would cause devastating, long-term destruction to the health of the planet and the Western Arctic ecosystem, which supports caribou, geese, loons, salmon, polar bears and bowhead whales, along with Indigenous communities who rely on these traditional food sources.
The Willow Project calls for construction of up to five drill pads with up to 50 wells on each pad, a road system, an airstrip, pipelines, a gravel mine and more. Burning the oil produced from this project would release more than 260 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, equivalent to the emissions from 66 new coal-fired power plants per year.
Patagonia respectfully asks the Bureau of Land Management and Biden Administration to require a comprehensive review of the climate and conservation consequences of the Willow Project. Essential to this is ensuring a robust public process that allows time for a diversity and depth of input, especially during busy summer months (and subsistence seasons). We ask that you hold a comment period of 120 days to allow for that input and to ensure permitting decisions are made in accordance with the Administration’s climate and conservation goals.
Thank you,
Ryan Gellert
CEO, Patagonia
