The BBC dropped a Panorama ‘exclusive’ this morning on UK energy firm Drax, claiming that it burns the wrong type of trees from Canada. At first glance the BBC’s story – bylined by BBC One Show talking head Joe Crowley – looks like a piece of mind-numbingly technical environmental journalism. But if you check the receipts, all is not as it seems…

The BBC’s claims are uncannily similar to those contained in a report by hard left campaign group BiofuelWatch – which was published simultaneously. Funded by a raft of eco nut left-wing foundations, this group of greenie campaigners has been present on joint demonstrations with climate loony ambulance blockers Extinction Rebellion. The BBC report seems to lift statistics straight from BiofuelWatch’s research:

The BBC’s news piece (and accompanying Panorama programme) also relies on ‘timber marks’ to trace the origin of the offending trees. The BiofuelWatch report reveals these ‘timber mark case studies’ were originally carried out by another group of lefty campaigners….

To be fair to BiofuelWatch, they are a public campaign group aiming, in their own words, to “call for an immediate end to most of Drax’s subsidies” and effectively put the company out of business. The BBC does not mention BiofuelWatch’s findings as a source for their report. Has Panorama and the BBC splashed ‘research’ by a left-wing environmental campaign group all over its website without admitting a group of greenies are the primary source for its ‘investigation’? Just how much reporting did Panorama actually carry out? Surely silently taking a hand out from a group of eco warriors and badging it as journalism would breach the BBC’s high ethical standards…