Lack of transparency "Greenwashes" BP.

• Position: British Petroleum - YOUR LIFE - Brief article

At a 2002 Earth Summit, a group of nongovernmental organizations offered a tongue-in-cheek critique of BP's "Beyond Petroleum" campaign, naming it winner of the "Greenwash Academy Awards." Today, the company's reputation as an environmental steward and good citizen is in tatters.

The British Petroleum oil spill offers a classic case of the potential downside for companies that place greenwash ahead of transparent disclosure. Greenwash, as defined in the study, is "the selective disclosure of positive information about a company's environmental performance without full disclosure of negative information on these dimensions."

Explains John Maxwell, chair and professor of business economics and public policy at Indiana University, Bloomington: "Greenwash makes sense from a business perspective as it's logical to emphasize the positive outcomes and slay away from problem areas. However, as...