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User:Arturo at BP/Environmental record

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Environmental record

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In the 1990s and 2000s, BP has had a mixed environmental record, according to government regulators, journalists, activist groups and environmental monitors.[1] In 1997 BP was the first oil company to acknowledge and take steps to address climate change, including establishing a carbon emissions reduction target in 1998 and an alternative energy business in 2005.[2][3][4] By 2000, the company's environmental record was viewed by the media and critics of the company as better than that for other large oil companies particularly due to its investment in alternative energy, although it continued to draw criticism from groups including Greenpeace for its focus on increasing oil production.[5]

Two accidents during the 2000s negatively impacted the company’s reputation, the 2005 Texas City refinery explosion and 2006 Prudhoe Bay oil spill. The environmental impact of the company’s operations from the mid-2000s onwards was questioned and criticized in the media, though the company continued to receive praise in the media for its investment in alternative energy and its focus on greenhouse gas emissions.[2][1] In 2008, BP became the first company to be prosecuted under a 1990 Clean Air Act amendment for the release of emissions that occurred in the 2005 Texas City refinery explosion.[1] The following year, after Tony Hayward announced that safety was the company's "number one priority", environmental groups claimed that BP had refocused on "responsibility" at the expense of its environmental commitment.[3][6]

After the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, BP's environmental record was increasingly criticized in the media and by environmental groups.[7][8] Critics of the company claimed that the incidents in Alaska, Texas and the Deepwater Horizon spill demonstrated that BP did not have as great an environmental commitment as suggested by its advertising.[9]

BP has appeared in a number of rankings comparing companies' environmental performance. In 2006, BP was listed as the top company for its attention to climate change in a Ceres ranking of 100 companies across different sectors;[1] in 2008, Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, a company that produces rankings based on social responsibility, rated the company second for its environmental record out of the nine oil companies it assessed;[1] in 2009, "greenwashing" watchdog Greenopia listed BP as the most "green" oil company, for its environmental reporting and investment in alternative energy, however Greenopia noted that BP's efficiency of production and response to oil spills were not as highly rated and it raised concerns about the company's hazardous waste production and water usage.[10][11] A 2010 ranking by RiskMetrics, a consulting group that assesses companies' environmental, health and safety records, named BP as having the worst record compared to other oil companies.[7] The company was listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index until June 2010 and FTSE4Good Index until September 2010. It was removed from both following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.[12][13]

  1. ^ a b c d e Ann Woolner (8 February 2008). "BP Shows It's the Best and Worst at Once: Ann Woolner (Correct)". Bloomberg. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  2. ^ a b Daren Fonda (29 June 2006). "Is BP Really That Green?". Time. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  3. ^ a b Shanta Barley (11 May 2009). "BP brings 'green era' to a close". BBC News UK. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  4. ^ "Green audit puts BP Amoco in pollutions reduction lead". Petroleum Economist. 1 June 1999. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
  5. ^ Geoffrey Lean (3 September 2000). "Does BP mean 'Burning the Planet'?". The Independent. Retrieved 27 February 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "BP, Shell Lead Oil/Gas Sustainability Ranking". Environmental Leader. 8 March 2010. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
  7. ^ a b Jad Mouawad (8 May 2010). "For BP, a History of Spills and Safety Lapses". Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  8. ^ Richard Mauer (8 May 2010). "Gulf oil spill: BP has a long record of legal, ethical violations". McClatchy Newspapers. Retrieved 28 February 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ Kate Sheppard (3 May 2010). "Back to petroleum". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  10. ^ Mat McDermott (27 April 2009). "BP, Sunoco & Shell Ranked Greenest Oil Companies in Sustainability Survey". Treehugger.com. Discovery Communications. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  11. ^ "How Green Is Your Gasoline?". Fox News.com. 18 June 2009. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  12. ^ John Collins Rudolf (24 September 2010). "Ejecting BP and Anointing Halliburton". New York Times: Green. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  13. ^ Terry Macalister (10 September 2010). "BP thrown off FTSE4Good ethical index". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 February 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
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