BP: Beyond the Pale
BP: Beyond the Pale
In 2000, British Petroleum adopted a new “green†public relations strategy, changing their slogan to “Beyond Petroleum†and their logo to an environmentally friendly flower image. The BBC called it “part of a rebranding exercise […] which the company hopes will boost profits.†Six years later, BP’s profits are surging (up 25 percent last year to $22 billion), but its self-created image as a “force for good†is taking a beating - and deservedly so.
The Wall Street Journal today reports that BP is facing criminal investigations into both its environmental and labor practices:
On the environment:
U.S. environmental regulators are conducting a criminal investigation into BP PLC’s management of pipelines in Alaska’s North Slope, according to people familiar with the matter, adding to mounting regulatory scrutiny of the British energy titan’s U.S. operations.
These people said the investigation, which has been under way for several months by officials at the Environmental Protection Agency, was expanded to include an early March spill of an estimated 134,000 to 267,000 gallons of crude from a BP-operated pipeline at Prudhoe Bay. Alaska state conservation officials say the pipeline ruptured from internal corrosion, causing what is considered the largest oil spill ever in the energy-rich North Slope.
And worker safety:
The North Slope allegations come as U.S. investigators continue to pore over details of an explosion last year at the company’s Texas City plant, which killed 15 and triggered a $21.3 million fine from workplace-safety regulators. The Labor Department referred the case to the Justice Department for possible criminal charges.
For BP, it isn’t easy being green.
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Greenwashing- The dissemination of misleading information by an organization to conceal its abuse of the environment in order to present a positive public image.
You can paint a smiley face on just about anything, but it doesn't change what it is.
April 6th, 2006 at 12:05 pmFor BP, it isn’t easy being green.
Just when the green is money.
April 6th, 2006 at 12:06 pmI remember seeing a BP commercial shortly after the news came out about the safety violations at the Texas plant.
I remember thinking that so many people do not even bother with the news or informing themselves on events that affect their lives that they would watch this commercial and this is what they would believe about this company.
April 6th, 2006 at 12:10 pmSlick.
April 6th, 2006 at 12:11 pmits about time Thinkprogress takes on corporations
April 6th, 2006 at 12:14 pmUntil America's love affair with greed and the almighty dollar fizzles...
...BP has nothing to worry about...
...Ted Stevens is GOD in Alaska...
...and the trinket loving natives continue to sell their souls tothe oil gods...
April 6th, 2006 at 12:18 pmI was so pleased to see that the insurance industry and the oil industry set record high profits for last year. Sarcasm off. "You say you want a revolution....
April 6th, 2006 at 12:23 pmLooks like BP's got a big-assed carbon footprint.
April 6th, 2006 at 12:26 pm7- Add in Big Pharma, and you've hit the trifecta on that one.
April 6th, 2006 at 12:28 pm6
Bob Dylan's 115th Dream, Bob Dylan.
April 6th, 2006 at 12:29 pmThat's where i get my gas. unfortuantely, it's bp or exxon.
April 6th, 2006 at 12:30 pmPC
Go to Citgo. It is the Venezuelan oil company. Just one way to stick a finger in Bush's & Pat Robertson's eye
April 6th, 2006 at 12:38 pmIf you can't make a profit, you are out of business.
22 billion is not that much.
Exxon makes more.
If you don't want those big corps to make money, then stop buying cars and gas.
Get a horse and buggy. Buy a bike.
Walk.
How to control millions of people? Let them sit at a computer and complain all day long.
April 6th, 2006 at 12:39 pmOK - so 22 billion is not that much? Only a republican would think that!
I suppose you believe that violating the few safety regualtions that this administration will actually enforce is no big deal either? What are a few human lives when there are profits to be made!!
April 6th, 2006 at 12:46 pmDon't take me seriously, bitte.
22 billion here, 22 billion there. No big deal.
200 billion plus in Iraq to garner control of 400 billion barrels of oil is worth it.
picture this
April 6th, 2006 at 12:52 pmRon - that scared me. You should warn a person before they open something that scary!
April 6th, 2006 at 12:55 pm200 billion plus in Iraq to garner control of 400 billion barrels of oil is worth it.
For whom? And where, pray tell, did you find that number?
April 6th, 2006 at 1:00 pmI always thought that BP stood for Big Profits.
April 6th, 2006 at 1:03 pmRon, you realise that spreading Vogon poetry is considered a war crime in most galaxies don't you?
April 6th, 2006 at 1:07 pmIf you read various publications, it sounds like the oil business is a really dirty, militaristic, environmental destroyer, and landscape waster. And even though they are making record profits, it is questionable if they are even maintaining their infrastructures; certainly we know SA is not. You read about places like Equatorial Guinea and you wonder what the heck is going on, or the Alaskan oil spills. Far away places seldom make the news in the US. The local people (usually with corrupt leaders) are getting trampled, or worse, and their environment destroyed.
NAFTA sounds like an utter failure when it comes to the environment, human right, and law. No wonder the Mexicans are running up here.
We should be careful, the next natural resource we will be fighting over is water. Certain leaders, and corporations want water privatized. And in Africa, companies like Bechtel make legal stipulations in their contract - no private water and they wouldl meter private collection of water (rain water from the roofs).
If I recall the advertising firm that BP used, to perk up its image, has also done other controversial ads.
We need true cost accounting, so the entire cost of bringing a product to market is realized and accounted for. Corporations can't rape the land, and leave the mess, in the US or any other place on the planet.
http://adbusters.org/metas/eco/truecosteconomics/
Remember April 22 is Earth Day.
April 6th, 2006 at 1:16 pmJourney to Planet Earth
19- Jeez, I thought that ham-joweled face looked disturbingly familiar.
20- But, unfortunately, they are still in the business of resource extraction, with it's attendant ecological consequences.
April 6th, 2006 at 1:16 pm#19 - *snort* Perfect...
April 6th, 2006 at 1:20 pm21- What Shell, Mobil and Chevron have done in Nigeria is pretty much a return to the colonial system the British imposed. And it is far from an isolated case. Big Oil loves dictatorships, almost as much as profits.
April 6th, 2006 at 1:22 pmYeah you have to watch those Progressive/British companies.
Sure on the surface they can make people believe they care about the environment and employees. In the end, the all mighty dollar prevails.
Perhaps they were just using the solar energy as a cover for their reckless and dangerous business practices?
April 6th, 2006 at 1:31 pmSINCE BUSH DOESN'T ENFORCE ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS, I'M ASSUMING EXXONMOBIL RATTED BP OUT.
April 6th, 2006 at 1:33 pm26
SINCE BUSH DOESN’T ENFORCE ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS, I’M ASSUMING EXXONMOBIL RATTED BP OUT.
Which just goes to show how much Exxon cares about the environment. They said Enough is enough and the environment is too important to let these non-caring British companies ruin it. I applaud Exxon if they did!!
April 6th, 2006 at 1:53 pmTundra,
Or maybe they attacked BP, because they're one of the few oil companies investing in alternative energy, saying global warming is real, and admitting that we've reached peak oil. Possible?
April 6th, 2006 at 2:43 pmOr maybe they attacked BP, because they’re one of the few oil companies investing in alternative energy, saying global warming is real, and admitting that we’ve reached peak oil. Possible?
Sure anythings possible. But investing in alternative energy and holding a position on global warming is no excuse for failing to maintain their pipelines and endangering employees. If Bush Bites is right (Pronounced correct) then regardless of the reason, Exxon should be commended.
April 6th, 2006 at 2:55 pm"include an early March spill of an estimated 134,000 to 267,000 gallons of crude from a BP-operated pipeline at Prudhoe Bay."
Spills on tundra are especially pernicious, since the BLACKENING of frozen soil dramatically increases THEIR MELTING.
"Global warming? At BP we consider it our responsibility."
Btw, BP now owns ARCO.
CITGO is a good alternative if you live near one, but it is hardly practical to drive across town to fill-up at a CITGO.
HOW MANY OF YOU KNOW ABOUT THE DAVIS-BESSE NEAR-NUCLEAR DISASTER IN FEBRUARY 2001? (40 miles west of Toledo, Ohio). Now THERE was some failure of 'pipeline maintenance.'
April 6th, 2006 at 3:50 pmSpills on tundra are especially pernicious
I Agree, protect the Tundra!! Tundra is good!! Tundra is important!! All Hail Tundra!!
:)
April 6th, 2006 at 4:09 pmI Agree, protect the Tundra!! Tundra is good!! Tundra is important!! All Hail Tundra!!
:)
Comment by Tundra — April 6, 2006 @ 4:09 pm
Down boy... ; )
April 6th, 2006 at 4:16 pm#17, do a google search. It will reveal that there are some 115 billion barrels of known oil reserves in Iraq alone.
I have a comment submitted to this thread with a few links, but it has been stopped as 'spam.' Which is fine. If the editors of Thinkprogress approve it, it will be published.
April 6th, 2006 at 7:10 pmhere is a link to the estimated total of 400 billion barrels of oil reserves in Iraq.
April 6th, 2006 at 7:15 pmoops, wrong link. This one.
April 6th, 2006 at 7:18 pmBP and all the other Oil Cartels are full of crap! The entire petroleum industry is criminal and filled with despicable CEO swindlers! Shame on them!
April 6th, 2006 at 9:10 pmgood
April 8th, 2006 at 2:05 amWhile I abhore the oil companies as much as anyone, I'm also a realist. They're not going anywhere until consumption drops dramatically and I just don't see that happening anytime soon. We're the problem, not them. They make obscene profits because BILLIONS of people consume oil/gas EVERY DAY.
April 9th, 2006 at 7:16 pmRyan, I have also heard that BP and some of the other oil companies have been investing into alternative energy sources, which I am very pleased about.
Tundra, these alternative energy sources will help save you! :)
Jay, various government entities (Senate, SEC, and FTC to name a few) have investigated the energy industries and have all come back with no improprieties. Is there something you know about that they don't?
SDC, I hear what you're saying. Unfortunately, we can't do without oil until we come up with a viable alternative...let's hope the research that Ryan mentioned BP is investing in will pay off!
April 9th, 2006 at 9:50 pmWhat gets me isn't so much Exxon or BP, at least we have some laws and activists like us to keep them honest (sort of).
But what about the state run oil companies in Venezuela, Russia, Mexico, Nigeria, Chad, and all of the Middle East? Who's watching their safety practices and pipeline maintenance logs? I think we'd all be apalled at what they do on a daily basis to foul up the environment.
A smart energy policy for us would be to do more of our own energy production. At least we can keep tabs on it.
April 10th, 2006 at 12:33 amOdyssey, Are you suggesting that we open up ANWR, the Rockies, etc. to reduce our dependence on foereign oil?
April 10th, 2006 at 4:19 pm[...] Despite people moaning that Starbucks is taking over the world, at least Starbucks not only talks the talk of corporate social responsibility, but also walks the walk. A perfect antithesis of Starbucks is a company like British Petroleum that talks a good game about environmental protection, but fails dramatically in its execution to the point that they are facing criminal investigations. [...]
November 3rd, 2006 at 4:14 amVery entertaining issue. I haven't heard of this one. It will be necessary to visit you on a thicket!
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