The UK Infrastructure Act was passed on February 12, 2015 by David Cameron’s coalition-government after much controversy and debate. The new act will see national parks and groundwater protection zones at risk from fracking as a result of government backtracking on amendments previously agreed to under the Infrastructure Bill – these originally aimed to increase the safety of hydraulic fracturing for shale gas.

Last-minute additions to the bill by the Liberal Democrats also saw a new definition of fracking enter the statute books. The Infrastructure Act also contains a clause which legally binds all future governments to maximise the economic recovery of UK petroleum. This means that every last drop of oil and gas must be extracted, directly contradicting the UK‘s 2008 Climate Change Act which requires the UK to reduce emissions by 80% and become a low-carbon economy. But as this DeSmog UK investigative series reveals, this controversial act has all the hallmarks of industry influence.