...he [Lord John Browne, group chief executive of BP] has shown the ambition to redefine the very nature of Big Oil: pushing BP to confront global warming, candidly acknowledge the company's mistakes (environmental penalties against the company appear on its Web site), enter into dialogue with environmental groups, hire people with strong environmental ethics and opinions...But to persuade the public that BP is no rapacious multinational, that it is instead an organization thinking first and foremost of the public good, may not come so easily as long as BP remains an oil company, deriving the vast majority of its profits from the black stuff that -- from drilling rig to oil tanker to refinery to gas station -- scars the earth, pollutes the air and eventually warms the planet.