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From ArcticWild Update # 218, June 04, 2004

BP: "ARCTIC DRILLING NOT PART OF CURRENT BUSINESS PLAN"

In a victory for a campaign to persuade the London-based oil giant to stay out of sensitive and protected areas, BP Chairman Peter Sutherland announced at its annual general meeting in April that drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge is "not part of its current business plan."

"Drilling in the Arctic Refuge doesn't make sense from an environmental standpoint and the company's announcement today shows that BP recognizes that it doesn't make good business sense either," said U.S. PIRG Arctic Campaign Director Athan Manuel. "We hope that we can build on a productive annual meeting and develop a long-term no-go zone policy for sensitive areas."

Manuel and the Right Reverend Mark MacDonald of the Episcopal Diocese of Alaska presented the resolution at Thursday's annual general meeting. The resolution, filed by a trans-Atlantic coalition of environmentalists, religious organizations, and socially responsible investors, directs BP to report on the risks associated with operating in sensitive and protected areas such as World Heritage Sites, IUCN categories, and national parks, monuments, and wildlife refuges. More than six percent of BP shareholders voted in favor of the resolution.

"For centuries, the Christian moral tradition and the Western legal tradition have consistently promoted aboriginal rights as fundamental elements of basic and minimal commitment to justice," said Reverend MacDonald. "Though these traditions are accepted almost unanimously in theory, government, corporations and sadly, even religious institutions have far too consistently undermined or stolen capacity for aboriginal peoples to survive," he concluded.

The Special Resolution, drafted by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG) Education Fund in December 2003, was co-filed by a broad coalition of environmental, financial, and religious groups, along with over 90 individual investors. This year's lead co-filers include the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, the Sierra Club, Clean Yield Asset Management, and some members of Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility, including the Congregation of La Retraite.

"Today's vote sends a strong message to BP that the best way for the company to go beyond petroleum is to stay out of protected areas like the Arctic Refuge," said U.S. PIRG's Athan Manuel. "Adopting a no-go zones policy will make BP the industry leader on environmental issues and corporate responsibility."

In the last five years, the PIRG Arctic Wilderness Campaign has targeted oil companies that have an interest in drilling in the Arctic Refuge. ConocoPhillips shareholders will vote a similar resolution on May 5, 2004. The campaign has filed 14 shareholder resolutions and generated more than 50,000 e-mail, phone calls, and letters to BP, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and ChevronTexaco.

For more on the campaign visit www.savethearctic.com.