Last week it emerged that the accounting firm was being investigated for its work at MG Rover. This move undermined rival proposals from, on one hand, Senator Jeff Bingaman and, on the other, Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman for tougher controls on pollutants. Beyond petroleum, maybe, but not as far beyond as most experts believe you need to go to have an impact on global warming.If BP were the company Lord Browne professes that it is, I would be the first to applaud it. And it was criticised for extracting oil from the Atlantic Frontier, an environmentally sensitive area west of the Shetland Islands.BP has also angered some of its US friends by supporting a proposal by Senator Chuck Hagel that would offer tax breaks for companies to cut emissions. Initially it was assumed Hurricane Dennis was to blame, but then it emerged that a 10-ton winch had been dropped by accident. Bad luck or poor controls?The greens have been on BP's case as well. Its decision to lead the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline in central Asia led to widespread protests on political as well as environmental grounds.
It has been involved in sensitive moves to drill oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, something heavily opposed by the Clinton administration but given a green light under President George Bush. And by that measure, BP's reputation is unravelling.The US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board accused it last week of "systemic lapses" in safety at its Texas City plant, where an explosion in March killed 15 people and injured 170. It differentiated BP as one of the good guys - a position it attempted to reinforce with its "Beyond Petroleum" catchline. BP was cited as one of the UK's two most-admired companies last week - Tesco being the other. It projects this image as one of the most progressive companies on the planet. But is it?People should be judged by what they do, not what they say. It called for a review of safety at all five of BP's US refineries.Reports after the Texas City disaster appear to reveal a culture of poor controls - not only to do with safety but also in the environmental area that BP has staked out as its "unique selling point".Meanwhile, BP is still without its $1bn Thunder Horse oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, which nearly sank last month.
It is more than eight years since Sir John Browne, as he was then, made his famous speech at Stanford University. There he became the first head of a major polluter to admit that his company was harming the environment, and committed BP to doing something about it It was a brave and brilliant move. Has been moved from September to improve Depp's Oscar chances.. The operation will be run by Daniel Battsek, who until last month was based in London as head of distribution and production at the company's Buena Vista International division.Disney's plan is for Miramax to have a much smaller budget, and for it to go back to focusing on making art-house and foreign films.
