Greenpeace Awards BP with ‘Emerald Paintbrush’ for Worst Greenwashing of 2008

‘Beyond Petroleum’. That was the slogan for BP’s ad campaign that sought to convince us that they’re a green company, investing in renewables and turning toward a clean energy future. Of course, they weren’t fooling anyone who knew better – BP was dropping mere pennies into renewable energy while continuing to make billions of dollars in profits off fossil fuels.

That’s how they managed to earn Greenpeace’s ‘Emerald Paintbrush’, awarded in a humorous ceremony at BP’s headquarters in London.

From Treehugger:

Greenpeace evidently chose BP as their first award recipients due to their expansive 2008 ad campaign which emphasized the company’s commitment to developing and investing in alternative energy sources. According to Greenpeace’s sources, BP instead devoted 93 percent of its investment fund for 2008 for development and extraction of fossil fuels.

Solar power development allegedly received just 1.39 percent, and total renewable energy investments were under 7 percent.

The Greenpeace spokesman who presented the award said, “You wouldn’t know it from their adverts, but BP bosses are pumping billions into their oil and gas business and investing peanuts in renewables. They’ve won the 2008 Emerald Paintbrush award because their slogans suggest that they are serious about clean energy, while their actions show they’re still hell-bent on oil extraction.”

According to Greenpeace, BP is responsible for the same amount of emissions as the entire nation of Portugal (64.96 metric tons).

BP definitely deserves the criticism. The Huffington Post called them out a couple weeks ago on having put $3 billion into the tar sands industry while simultaneously bragging about their so-called environmental responsibility. BP obviously thinks we’re an incredibly gullible bunch, so they deserve the little show Greenpeace put on in their lobby – and much, much worse.

Link [Treehugger] + [The Huffington Post] + [Greenpeace UK]

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