Recently, Greenopia released its updated ranking of “green” oil companies. Now, I know what you’re thinking. How can an oil company that produces greenhouse gases and OIL be considered “green”? Rather, we ranked their companies in terms of “responsibly sourced” oil. We looked at which companies were the most progressive, efficient, and transparent environmentally. Sunoco, Hess and Shell all received high marks. But sitting at the top of the list was British Petroleum Oil.

And just why is British Petroleum (BP) Oil considered so green-slash-responsibly sourced? Our research shows that the British oil giant is leading the way by aggressively and effectively investing oil profits into alternative fuel research. The company also earned high marks for the transparency, breadth and accuracy of its environmental reporting. Further, the company is decreasing its emissions per unit of production. As our Director of Research Doug Mazzefa points out, “when you normalize its emissions against revenue and/or production it comes out as one of the more efficient companies.”

BP is also slightly better than average in amount of oil spilled (normalized against production) and in number of oil spills (also normalized against production). Finally, the company publishes one of the best sustainability reports of all the major oil companies. The report contains just about every environmental variable you would want to see and is relatively easy to use and understand.

BP Oil is also experimenting with green gas stations. Last year, we took you on a tour of Los Angeles’ Helios House, perhaps one of the most-eco-friendly stations around. This location uses 16 percent less electricity than a traditional gas station. There are 90 solar panels in the building’s canopy that produce the amount of annual energy needed to power two to three average American homes. There is 100% recycled glass mixed into the concrete, and rainwater is collected in the canopy that is reused for the onsite landscaping irrigation. Among other green deeds.

But some feel that BP’s commitment to green initiatives is starting to fade. Last year, Greenpeace accused the company of changing its policy. In April, 2009, BP CEO Tony Hayward announced to the press that safety, not green policies, were now going to be their primary concern. Charlie Kronick is Greenpeace's senior climate change adviser. As he told the BBC News, "Now that BP is blissfully released from its pledge to invest in clean energy, it has a carte blanche to sell off its unprofitable green energy arm." BP counters that they are still committed to environmental progress.