A forthcoming British Geological Survey advisory report on fracking for the UK government may not be properly impartial and objective, since several companies in the fracking industry have been funding the British Geological Survey. These include companies like Chevron, Conoco Phillips and Exxon. Neither the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) nor the British Geological Survey has noted this conflict of interest.

This isn’t the first time DECC has blurred the lines between government and industry interests. Quite a few energy industry employees work on secondments in DECC, advising the government on energy policy. This cannot be right. No-one voted for industry to take over government policy making.