How serious is BP? Erik Assadourian asks, what does it mean when one of the world's largest oil companies starts using the marketing slogan "Beyond Petroleum"?

• Author: Assadourian, Erik
• Position: Between the Lines - British Petroleum Company PLC

BP, once known as British Petroleum, is neck-and-neck with ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell in the race to be the world's largest oil company. (In 2002, BP had revenues of $178.7 billion, just under Shell's $179.4 billion and Exxon's $182.5 billion.) Yet BP's current ad campaign seems to promote the company at least as much as a provider of renewables, like solar and hydrogen, as of oil and gas. How much of this is an actual change in strategy, and how much is just greenwashing?

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Yes, a start. But what is BP's real plan? Even as the company works to make its solar business "economically viable" (though it declines to provide a numerical goal), it invests heavily in exploring new oil and gas fields, recognizing that "hydrocarbons will be the mainstay of the world for decades to come." While it is working to clean up its act--providing cleaner burning fuels, reducing emissions, ending all facilitation payments (bribes) and political contributions--its efforts end there. BP is currently the 5th largest corporation in the world and with its capital could help drive the energy market to be genuinely sustainable. BP's leadership thus far has been encouraging. But will it lead the world in a sustainable energy revolution, truly moving beyond petroleum, or will it be content to profit from the exploitation of an increasingly taxed planet while draping itself in green?

A powerful transformation: the BP shield morphed into a sun burst--nothing could connote renewable energy better than this.

Yes, George, there is a changing climate. Unlike the current U.S. president, BP CEO John Browne explicitly recognized the dangers of climate change and, in 1998, set a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from production to 10 percent below 1990 levels by 2010. BP succeeded in achieving that goal by 2001, saving $600 million in the process. (Recent acquisitions increased its 2002 output). Compared to ExxonMobil, which remains in denial, BP has shown itself to be an industry leader on climate change. However, now that the company is close to its original goal, its new goal is not further reductions, but simply no further increases in the absolute tonnage of emissions. If any argument can be made that that's a fair goal, it's only because BP's vast expansion plan would otherwise lead to an increase of 50 million tons of greenhouse gases.

Not exactly "beyond": In 2002, BP extracted over 736 million barrels of oil and 3.1 trillion cubic...