A Letter from NEMO Founder, Cam Brensinger, In Response to the Paris Agreement Withdrawal

Yesterday’s decision by the President to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement is very disappointing to our team at NEMO. As passionate participants in outdoor activities ranging from mountaineering and backpacking to skiing and climbing, surfing and paddling, and hunting and fishing, we are keenly aware of threats from receding glaciers, extended fire seasons, more extreme storms, weakening winters, rising sea levels, expanding tick populations, shrinking cold water fisheries, and much more.

The outdoors is part of our identity and livelihood and a cherished asset we hope to preserve and pass along to our children. We can disagree about the solutions, and the climate agreement may not have been perfect, but its measures were voluntary and embraced by nearly every country in the world, not to mention so many of the world’s most informed scientists and biggest businesses.

The business community knows addressing climate change is not only a moral obligation, but also the biggest economic opportunity of this century. And the U.S. military knows climate change is one of the top threats to our national security. If we care about our way of life, our economy and our security, tackling the difficult problem of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere and rising surface temperatures should be the patriotic endeavor of our generation, much like putting a man on the moon and winning the cold war was for our parents. Solving this problem as a nation could unite us together, heal some of our internal wounds, and provide the economic foundation and boost to our national morale we need to retain the mantle of the world’s only superpower for another hundred years.

Failing to step up to this challenge will signal our inadequacy for that privilege and responsibility. As Theodore Roosevelt said, “We have fallen heirs to the most glorious heritage a people ever received, and each one must do his part if we wish to show that the nation is worthy of its good fortune.”

Today we promise to double our own efforts toward sustainability. And because we are eternal optimists, we believe the historic misstep made by our government yesterday will ultimately have a paradoxical effect. Americans have a long and proud history of coming around to do the right thing. We aren’t always the first ones to embrace progress, but we usually finish strong.

Let’s not let a lack of federal leadership dissuade us. And let’s not point our fingers at each other. Let’s instead come together, regardless of our other differences, and tackle this threat so our children can someday speak proudly of us and enjoy the same wonderful adventures outdoors we have enjoyed.

— Cam Brensinger, Founder and CEO of NEMO Equipment

NEMO Believes in the Impact of Sustainable Business:

• NEMO was one of the first hard goods companies to adopt the Higg Index, evaluating our environmental impact throughout the supply chain.
  
  
• Our staff sit on the Sustainability Working Group for the Outdoor Industry Association, leading industry adoption of safe chemistry and working to remove harmful chemicals from the supply chain.
  
  
• CEO Cam Brensinger sits on the Board of the OIA and is a strong advocate for using business to address the issue of climate change. Cam has also been lobbying in Washington DC for ten years on behalf of industry issues such as conservation of public lands.
  
  
• Cam signed the CEO Alliance Pledge along with other industry leaders at the Outdoor Industry Climate Leadership Summit in May 2017.
  
  
• NEMO is a proud member of New Hampshire Businesses for Social Responsibility, having an impact in our home state and convening with other like-minded companies to push for social and environmental progress.
  
  
• NEMO is a member of the Conservation Alliance, supporting the preservation of public lands.
  
  
• NEMO strives to make the highest quality, longest lasting products possible with the most sustainable materials and processes available.