[CTRL] BP

[William Shannon]

BP: Beyond Preposterous
http://www.alternet.org/print.html?StoryID=10230
Kenny Bruno, Corporate Watch
December 19, 2000Viewed on January 2, 2001
------------------------------------------------------------------- British
Petroleum's recent ad campaign with the theme of "Beyond Petroleum," led us
to think about more appropriate phrases for the company's re-branding:
British Petroleum: Beyond Pompous, Beyond Protest, Beyond Pretension, Beyond
Preposterous, Beyond Platitudes, Beyond Posturing, Beyond Presumptuous,
Beyond Propaganda... Beyond Belief. Recently BP, the world's second largest
oil company and one of the world's largest corporations, advertised its new
identity as a leader in moving the world "Beyond Petroleum." Such leadership
would benefit the world's climate and many of its communities immensely,
according to British Petroleum. Sound too good to be true? Let's see. BP says
Beyond Petroleum means "being a global leader in producing the cleanest
burning fossil fuel: Natural Gas." It's true that natural gas is not
petroleum, but is it true that gas is a radica! l improvement over oil for our
climate? In theory, natural gas emits somewhat less carbon dioxide than oil
for the same energy produced. But when fugitive emissions, or leaks, are
counted, the difference is slim to none. For the climate, natural gas is at
best an incremental improvement over oil, and at worst a distraction from the
real challenge of moving our societies away from fossil fuels. That challenge
is what is meant by "moving beyond petroleum" when used by environmental
groups. Rainforest Action Network, for example, says their Beyond Oil
campaign works to "move our societies out of our devastating dependence on
fossil fuels and into renewable energy options..." BP's re-branding as the
"Beyond Petroleum" company is perhaps the ultimate co-optation of
environmentalists' language and message. Even apart from the twisting of
language, BP's suggestion that producing more natural gas is somehow akin to
global leadership ! is preposterous. Make that Beyond Preposterous. BP's claim
to be "the largest producer of solar energy in the world" is a little more
serious. But being #1 for BP is so easy. It was achieved by spending $45
million to buy the Solarex solar energy corporation. That's a tiny fraction
of the $26.5 billion it spent to buy ARCO in order to increase BP's
production capacity for...oil. BP will spend $5 billion over five years for
oil exploration in Alaska alone. And, according to one group of BP
shareholders, BP spent more on their new eco-friendly logo last year than on
renewable energy. When a company spends more on advertising its environmental
friendliness than on environmental actions, that's greenwash. Speaking of
greenwash, BP's Herald Tribune ad (pictured here) is a bizarre classic of the
genre. It is difficult to guess what their ad firm was trying to convey with
the picture of partially submerged trees. Perhaps its just an unu! sual nature
photo, or perhaps its meant to remind us of the frightening potential for
rising sea levels and flooding from global warming. Or perhaps it's a
Freudian slip, an unintentional reminder that BP's massive fossil fuel
production is responsible for a substantial portion of global carbon
emissions, and therefore, climate change. The ambiguity continues with the
copy, "...starting a journey that will take the world's expectations of
energy beyond what anyone can see today." Pretentious stuff for a company
serving mainly oil and gas, with just a sliver of solar on the side. Make
that Beyond Pretentious. Text of the BP advertisement Beyond... - means being
a global leader in producing the cleanest burning fossil fuel. Natural Gas. -
means being the first company to introduce cleaner burning fuels to many of
the world's most polluted cities. - means being the largest producer of solar
energy in the world. - means starti! ng a journey that will take a world's
expectations of energy beyond what anyone can see today.