BOGUS press brief?

 
Published: Monday 31 December 2007

Environmentalists opened up a new front for climate change, by sending a bogus press release committing bp, Shell and other oil majors to a 90 per cent cut in carbon outputs by 2050 with no strings attached.

bp's press office in London denied it would commit itself to a 90 per cent reduction in emissions without conditions. A spokesperson of the oil major said that he believed the release was a hoax. Similarly, a Shell spokeswoman came back saying: "From what we understand this is a bogus press release."

Greenpeace also believed it was all a hoax, but said it was not dissimilar to the group's own direct actions and could be an effective way to show corporations acting in an "unacceptable" way. A us- based environmental group, Rising Tide North later claimed responsibility for the release.

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