The fiasco in Alaska could spell serious trouble for BP, as the US Congress begins hearings. It is easy to cheer them on and urge them to take drastic actions against this corporate wrong doer. We should move beyond this knee-jerk reaction. BP has, in fact, been a model of responsible corporate citizenship on environmental matters. In a survey I conducted, BP was the most transparent big oil and gas company on key climate change issues debated in Congress. What is more, BP is practising what it preaches. It has established an emissions-reduction programme more stringent than that required in the US and many other parts of the world. Of the five oil and gas companies I surveyed, Royal Dutch Shell is the only company similar to BP in this regard. In contrast, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Exxon-Mobil are all interested in technological solutions to the greenhouse emissions reduction...[which] are by no means the panacea with which to combat climate change... To make matters worse, the American Petroleum Institute...confirms the environmentalists' worst stereotypes of corporate irresponsibility. Red Cavaney, chief executive and president of API, has tried to undermine the Kyoto treaty... BP's position is in stark contrast. Lord Browne, BP's chief executive, has consistently recognised that CO2 is, indeed, a key element in global warming. If he is discredited, we would lose a very important voice in our political life.