BP Makes Another Massive Renewables Investment

Further cementing themeselves as "Beyond Petroleum", BP announced an $8 Billion investment package in renewable energy (from WBCSD). The investment doubles the company's efforts in the areas of Wind, Solar, Hydrogen and other non-fossil fuel based energy sources.

It's important to rememeber though, that BP will very much remain primarily an oil and gas company for a long time. The "beyond petroleum" campaign is mostly a highly funded marketing campaign, and a philosophy for the distant future. Still, the steps BP have taken go way beyond those of most other extractive industries and are most definitely worth applauding with both praise and patronage.

What is greenwash anyway?

As the next industrial revolution continues to gain ground, organizations will continue to use green performance on many levels to assist in differentiating themselves in the marketplace.

As this process continues to snowball, greenwashing will inevitably continue to be slung at consumers and other corporations (in the case of B2B) by the organizations that either cant figure out how to do it right, or that dont want to do it right.

What is Greenwashing?

To me an organization is greenwashing when the percentage it waves the flag of sustainability is out of whack with the reality of that organizations situation. In other words if I am running around waving the flag 90% of the time but my operations are continuing to increase in impacts and green is not obviously a core business value that can be substantiated, then there you have it folks.... green wash.

Example 1.

Waste Managment. a zillion landfills, and a hand full of landfill gas to energy operations, but based on the organizaitons advertising one would think that every landfill has a baseball field or a methane to energy plant on it. Eh Eh. Burying things in ground is bad MMmm kay.

Example 2.

Large hazardous air pollutant (HAPs)emitting plant in NE Ohio that waves flag of sustaino happyness yet www.scorecard.org shows the company's air emmissions going up along the same lines as their jolly green rhetoric. Unforutnatly the methyl ethyl death from stack emmissions floats into surrounding neighborhoods..

Example 3.

Large extractive energy based corporation with fully integrated operations (exploration, refining, and gas stations)purchases a growing percentage of the pv / solar panel manufacturing capacity and claims its moving beyond petrol. they are moving beyond petrol when their solar output surpasses the embodied energy assocaited with their petrol output. shazaam.

Bug Spray Green Wash?

"Green, or Greenwash?"

Is your neighborhood corporation really turning over a new, sustainable leaf, or a wolf in sheep's clothing? As consumers become more concerned with healthy living, the producers of goods and services we crave are eagerly bellying up to the bar of corporate environmental responsibility. If "Greed is Good" was the mantra of the Eighties, then certainly "Green is Good" has become the rallying cry of many marketing departments. SustainThis! wants you to be informed. The universal buyer's warning "caveat emptor" could'nt be more true today.

If It sounds too good to be true, it might be "Greenwash"

green*wash: (n) Disinformation disseminated by an organisation so as to present an environmentally responsible public image. Derivatives greenwashing (n). Origin from green on the pattern of whitewash. The Tenth Edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary

green*wash: (gr~en-wosh) -washers, -washing, -washed 1.) The phenomenon of socially and environmentally destructive corporations attempting to preserve and expand their markets by posing as friends of the environment and leaders in the struggle to eradicate poverty. 2) Environmental whitewash. 3) Any attempt to brainwash consumers or policy makers into believing polluting mega-corporations are the key to environmentally sound sustainable development 4) Hogwash. CorpWatch Definition

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." It touted its $45 million purchase of the largest Solarex solar energy corporation. But BP will spend $5 billion over five years for oil exploration in Alaska alone.

Shell, the world's third largest oil company, continues its clever but misleading ad series "Profits or Principles" which touts Shell's commitment to renewable energy sources and features photos of lush green forests. But Shell spends a miniscule 0.6% of its annual investments on renewables. In true greenwash fashion, Shell's actions do not match its words.

For Earth Day 2000, Ford Motor Company announced that all corporate brand advertising will have an environmental theme. It expects to spend as much on this greenwashing as it does to roll out a new line of cars, such as the global warming gas guzzler Ford Excursion.

Monsanto, Dow, Dupont, Novartis, Zeneca, BASF and Aventis launched the "Council for Biotechnology Information," in April 2000. The Council will spend up to $250 million over 3-5 years to win public approval for genetically engineered foods under the slogan "Good Ideas Are Growing."

As the pitchmen on latenight TV say "but wait, there's more...."

Find out more:
http://www.thegreenlife.org