Patagonia blacklists Wyoming ski resort over GOP support, will reverse if owners 'protect the planet'
The company said it will reconsider its decision if the owner commits to 'protecting the planet'
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Outdoor clothing brand Patagonia announced it would stop supplying inventory to Jackson Hole Mountain Resort after the ski resort's owner hosted a fundraising event for the conservative House Freedom Caucus.
The company decided to blacklist the resort – which operates retail stores selling Patagonia products – following news that one of the owners, Jay Kemmerer, co-hosted an August 5 event featuring former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., WyoFile reported.
"We join with the local community that is using its voice in protest," Patagonia's head of communications and policy, Corley Kenna, told The Hill. Kenna noted that her company "stopped advertising on Facebook and Instagram over a year ago as part of our commitment to stop the spread of hate speech and misinformation on climate."
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"We will continue to use our business to advocate for policies to protect our planet, support thriving communities and a strong democracy," Kenna added.
Protesters at the fundraiser, which reportedly cost $2,000 per head, carried signs reading, "JHMR passes fund treason?" and "Hey JHMR, your Greene washing is showing," The Associated Press reported.
Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., celebrated Patagonia's move.
"I’m going to buy a Patagonia jacket this Fall. I’ve had one for years and while still stylish it’s getting a little smaller," he wrote. "Hoo ray for Patagonia for taking a righteous stand!"
Mary Trump, the former president's niece, also pledged to purchase a new coat. "Way to walk the walk, Patagonia," she tweeted.
Although Patagonia made its announcement in wake of the fundraiser, Kenna told The Washington Post that the company would reconsider its decision if the owners committed to "protecting the planet."
Yet the resort's president told WyoFile that Jackson Hole is committed to environmental action.
"JHMR retail will continue to offer world-class brands across our retail locations with the aim to provide the best service and product assortment for our guests," Mary Kate Buckley, the firm's president, said in a statement. "We have been a leader in the ski industry in adopting initiatives to reduce our energy consumption, recycle the consumables used by our employees and guests, and treat the spectacular natural habitat which surrounds us with vision and care."
Buckley also boasted that the resort is "the largest mountain resort operating on 100% wind today."
Scott Shepard, director of the Free Enterprise Project at the National Center for Public Policy Research, blasted Patagonia's move as extremely irresponsible.
"Patagonia's executives are too toxically political to keep their jobs. They put their employees' livelihoods and their shareholders' investments at risk not only by refusing to work with partners and customers who don't share their extreme politics, but by demanding that retailers discriminate in the same ways they do," Shepard told FOX Business.
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"Consenting to do business only if an already very green resort inefficiently adopts Patagonia's eco-demands amounts to incoherent blackmail," he added. "These executives are violating their fiduciary duty, and thus breaking the law. They have to be replaced, and Patagonia's legal department should have its collective head examined."
Patagonia and the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort did not respond to FOX Business' requests for comment.