The International Herald Trib has a revealing article this morning regarding the recent wave of greenwashing that is hitting corproate America. The piece opens with a direct hit on Ford Motor Company and spells out how companies from Ford to General Electric to BP are blitzing airwaves to prove who is more “green” friendly in their business practices.

BP, the largest European oil company, advertises its investments in solar and wind power as it rebrands itself with the label “Beyond Petroleum.” BP’s solar division accounted for 0.14 percent, or $400 million, of its $295 billion in sales in 2004.

“Our recent advertising has focused on renewable energy because we created a separate business entity last year,” a BP spokeswoman, Wendy Silcock, said in London. “It’s a business that we are investing in. But we’ve never pretended that the bulk of our business isn’t in oil and gas.”

Actually, when you run an advertising campaign focused on renewable energy and you re-brand your entire company from British Petroleum to Beyond Petroleum, but only have 0.14% invested in a major renewable resource, I’d say you’re doing some serious pretending. I have to wonder if companies started choosing to put more than 2% of their budgets into renewable energy research we really would be, Beyond Petroleum.

It’s a good sign these companies recognize that American consumers are beginning to develop a green ethic when it comes to purchases, it’s too bad that they’ve relegated that market possibility to a ton of advertising hooey. If only the greenwashing was actually true!

What ever happened to selling products AND being honest about their drawbacks? I’m all for the “buyer-beware” ideal but when the market’s reactions affect everyone and not just the gullible buyer, the seller becomes responsible, no?