Jim MulvaConocoPhillips has become the first major US oil company to urge Congress to require mandatory limits on greenhouse.

The company says it has joined the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, an alliance of big business and environmental groups that in January sent a letter to President Bush stating that mandatory caps are needed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

“We recognize that human activity, including the burning of fossil fuels, is contributing to increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that can lead to adverse changes in global climate,” said Jim Mulva, ConocoPhillips’ chairman and chief executive.

This fits into the classic 3-D PR strategy the oil industry has employed on climate: Deny the problem, delay action for as long as possible and then dominate the business response. The oil industry has employed the first two and now they are moving to the last D.