Independent review committee reaches conclusion on the ethically ambiguous UT Austin shale gas report

Today The University of Texas at Austin has announced the findings of the independent review committee that was investigating the ethically ambiguous cracking report led by Dr. Charles "Chip" Groat and the UT Energy Institute in February 2012. It was discovered back in July 2012 that Dr. Groat had a financial interest in the outcome of the study. Quoting from State Impact in my initial post on the topic : Groat, a former Director of the U.S. Geological Survey and professor at the Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas at Austin, also sits on the board of Plains Exploration and Production Company, a Houston-based company that conducts drilling and fracking in Texas and other parts of the country. According to the new report (and a review of the company's financial reports by Bloomberg) Groat received more than $400,000 from the drilling company last year alone, more than double his salary at the University. And one of the shales examined in Groat's fracking study is currently being drilled by the company, the report says. [More]