Companies: Stop hiding behind the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Business Roundtable

After a year and a half of negotiations, the federal government is on the precipice of funding historic investments in environmental justice, climate and clean energy, in addition to lowering prescription drug costs, increasing access to health care and reducing the federal deficit. Thankfully, the activist community and a handful of staff and lawmakers in our nation's capital never gave up on finding solutions to advance policies to reduce carbon emissions and protect our planet.  

The legislation — now dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 — could pass the U.S. Senate within a week. As scientists have said for years, business, government and civil society must work together to slow the climate crisis. And if the business community can unite behind this bill, it will send an important signal that all sectors of society are united in the effort to save the planet. 

However, once again, both the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable are trying to block the will of the people and our government from making meaningful progress because the organizations don’t want their members to pay their fair share of taxes. The Inflation Reduction Act calls for a domestic corporate minimum tax rate of 15% applied to companies with revenue of more than $1 billion. 

Patagonia believes all companies should pay their taxes. We support the 15% minimum tax as a mechanism to accomplish that goal and agree with Sen. Joe Manchin that, “It is wrong that some of America’s largest companies pay nothing in taxes while freely enjoying the benefits of our nation’s military security, infrastructure and rule of law.”   

If you’re a business leader and a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce or Business Roundtable, tell those groups you support climate legislation. And if you work for one of those companies, make sure your company’s leadership knows where you stand.    

Many companies that belong to these organizations talk a big game on climate — just look at their websites. They should no longer remain silent while the Chamber and Business Roundtable do their dirty work. If you talk about how your company is going to protect the planet, you need to pay your fair share to help scale solutions for things like clean power, transportation and manufacturing. It’s time for the business community to unite in support of the Inflation Reduction Act.