World oil summit long on pledges to better protect the environment<\/p>\n
Bill Cormier, Associated Press, Rio de Janeiro<\/p>\n
The world's oil producers met here Monday for an industry
\nsummit aimed at cleaning up their image as enemies of the
\nenvironment.<\/p>\n
More than 3,000 delegates from 59 oil producing or consuming
\nnations opened the 17th World Petroleum Congress, amid pledges to
\nsafeguard the environment, seek cleaner-burning fuels and reduce
\nthe gases blamed for global warming.<\/p>\n
For the first time, environmental defenders such as
\nGreenpeace, Conservation International and the World Wildlife
\nFund were invited to the meetings to witness the industry's
\nconcern for \"sustainable development.\"<\/p>\n
\"Oil companies have to continuously seek out new, alternative
\nways of doing business which will have the least impact on the
\nenvironment,\" India's oil minister, Ram Naik, told the
\nconvention.<\/p>\n
Naik urged governments and oil companies to share \"clean\"
\ntechnologies and redouble efforts to protect the environment. He
\nsaid that India, with a market of about 1 billion people, has
\nfollowed Brazil's lead in mixing gasoline with ethanol to reduce
\nemissions of polluting greenhouse gases.<\/p>\n
\"It is no longer possible for any of us to carry out our oil
\nor gas exploitation activities without proper regard to the
\nbroader issues of environmental protection,\" said Lew Watts,
\ngroup managing director of Shell Sustainable Development and
\nLatin America.<\/p>\n
He told delegates that the energy industry is at least
\n\"partially responsible\" for the damage inflicted on the
\nenvironment by extraordinary population growth and human activity
\nthis past century.<\/p>\n
Under the banner of \"The Petroleum Industry: Excellence and
\nResponsibility in Serving Society,\" the delegates invited 35 non-
\ngovernmental organizations to recommend social and environmental
\nprograms for the oil industry. Even a recycling center for the
\ntons of garbage produced by the congress was set up at the site.<\/p>\n
But for some groups, the environment-friendly spin was simply
\nfor show.<\/p>\n
\"I think it's greenwash,\" said Frank Guggenheim, executive
\ndirector of Greenpeace in Brazil. \"We are participating so they
\ncan't say we're against dialogue, but I don't think the people at
\nthe conference are serious about protecting the environment ...
\nThey talk about environment, but from the point of view of
\naccidents, you have to be a little skeptical.\"<\/p>",
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